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Swimming · the Western CapeSwimming training plans in Cape Town
Cape Town is essentially at sea level, in the Western Cape. For swimmers altitude matters far less than it does on land — the pool paces a plan sets come from your own Critical Swim Speed test, done where you train. What does change with place is the season, the water temperature and whether open-water practice is realistic.
Build my Cape Town swimming plan — freeTell it where you train and it corrects for the altitude automatically.
| Altitude | 25 m |
|---|---|
| Province | Western Cape |
Pool paces
| Critical Swim Speed | 1:59 per 100 m |
|---|---|
| Recovery | 2:09/100 m — Easy enough to think about your stroke rather than your lungs. |
| Endurance | 2:04/100 m — Steady. You could keep going for a long time. |
| CSS | 1:59/100 m — Threshold. Hard but repeatable across a whole set. |
| VO₂max | 1:56/100 m — Faster than threshold, in short reps with real rest. |
| Speed | 1:53/100 m — Short and quick. Technique first, effort second. |
From a 400 m in 7:30 and a 200 m in 3:32, using the two-trial protocol (Wakayoshi et al., 1992). Your own CSS comes from your own two swims.
Training through the year in Cape Town
Winter rainfall: cold fronts bring rain and wind from roughly May to August. Summers are dry and often windy, with the south-easter at its strongest in the middle of summer.
Wind is the constant. Plan exposed long sessions around the forecast rather than the calendar, and use effort rather than pace on windy days — a headwind kilometre is not a slow kilometre.
Common questions
When is the best time of year to train in Cape Town?
Wind is the constant. Plan exposed long sessions around the forecast rather than the calendar, and use effort rather than pace on windy days — a headwind kilometre is not a slow kilometre.
Where do my paces come from?
From two timed swims, 400 m and 200 m, which set your Critical Swim Speed.
Swimming plans elsewhere in South Africa
- Johannesburg — 1 753 m
- Durban — 8 m