AI: A new source for swim training inspiration

Artificial Intelligence can provide ideas for coaches and swimmers, Simon Griffiths reveals

In about 15 seconds, I moved from sceptic to impressed. And slightly worried!

You might have seen news about a new artificial intelligence chatbot created by OpenAI: ChatGPT. In its current form, it’s free to use and journalists from various fields have been testing its capabilities.

I decided to challenge it with a question about swimming. I asked: “Please could you create me a 3km swimming training session suitable for a long-distance swimmer.” (Don’t ask why I used “please” when sending a message to a chatbot).

The cursor flashed for a few seconds and I thought, I’ve got you! Then, text began to appear on my screen and produced this: “Sure, here is a sample 3km swimming training session for a long-distance swimmer:

1. Warm up with 400 meters of easy swimming, using a mix of strokes.
2. Do 4 sets of 200 meters, with 30 seconds rest in between each set. Focus on maintaining a steady pace and good form.
3. Do 4 sets of 100 meters, with 15 seconds rest in between each set. Try to increase your speed on each set.
4. Do 4 sets of 50 meters, with 10 seconds rest in between each set. Focus on sprinting and pushing yourself to the limit.
5. Cool down with 200 meters of easy swimming, using a mix of strokes. Remember to listen to your body and adjust the workout as needed. It’s also important to properly stretch before and after your swim to prevent injuries. Good luck with your training!”

Honestly, I was expecting gobbledygook. This is pretty good. However, the sharp-eyed among you will have noticed that the total distance is only 2km, and I asked for 3km. No worries. It’s an endlessly patient chatbot, so I said: “This is good, but it looks like the total distance is 2km rather than 3km. Can you revise it?”

And here’s the response: “Of course, here is a revised 3km training session:

1. Warm up with 500 meters of easy swimming, using a mix of strokes.
2. Do 4 sets of 250 meters, with 30 seconds rest in between each set. Focus on maintaining a steady pace and good form.
3. Do 4 sets of 100 meters, with 15 seconds rest in between each set. Try to increase your speed on each set.
4. Do 4 sets of 50 meters, with 10 seconds rest in between each set. Focus on sprinting and pushing yourself to the limit.
5. Cool down with 500 meters of easy swimming, using a mix of strokes.”

Almost, but not quite. This one adds up to 2,600m. Coaches, you’re not out of a job quite yet, but AI capabilities are increasing fast. This is a training set I would happily do. It can easily be amended to bring it up to the required distance or expanded for those of you training for longer events.

Why not give one of these a go? And then let us know what you think about AI creating training sessions.

This article is from the February issue of Outdoor Swimmer. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.

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