Ruby5 Lake Wanaka Swim Training Session 32

Swimming, December 19, 2025

Build the endurance, confidence, and open-water skills to conquer your 5 km Ruby Island challenge. Are you ready to take on the iconic Ruby5 Swim in beautiful Lake Wanaka? 🏊‍♀️🏊‍♂️ Whether it’s your first 5 km open-water swim or you’re looking to improve your performance from previous years, the Ruby5 Lake Wanaka Swim Training Plan is designed to get you to the start line feeling confident, prepared, and ready to enjoy every stroke. 🌊

This series of workouts, the sessions are all targeting athletes looking to swim the Ruby5 swim in Lake Wanaka.

Read this article here for an explanation of Swim Intensity.

Session 32

  • 600 WU;
  • 200 Pull;
  • 8x 50 Drill 15RI;
  • 4x 800 60RI;
  • 10x 100 20RI;
  • 200 CD (5,600)

For the Warm Up (WU) start with a 600m swim. During the warm-up feel free to stop and stretch as needed.  It doesn’t need to be a continuous swim.

Next up is a rep of swimming 200m of with a Pull Buoy.

Follow that with a drill set. There are eight, 50m Drills. Feel free to use fins whilst doing this set.  Do the drills below twice through:

  1. Kick On Side (KOS) left side 
  2. Kick On Side (KOS) right side 
  3. 6/1/6 
  4. 6/3/6

The main set is made up of four, 800m reps. Take a 60-second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.

The final set is made up of ten, 100m reps. Take a twenty-second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.

For the Cool Down (CD) swim 200m. Unlike the previous sets which have to be freestyle, the Cool Down (CD) (like the Warm Up (WU)) can be any stroke you wish to swim.  You can also stop and rest after any length.  I encourage you to stop and stretch during the cool-down.

If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.

I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi Coaching.

I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729.

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