Special Sets: The Training of Jude Burkhart, NBAC’s Latest Age-Group Standout
Last year, North Baltimore Aquatic Club’s Jude Burkhart set two national boys 11-12 marks, one in the 1650 freestyle (16:05.52) and one in the 800-meter freestyle (8:48.44). On top of those NAG records, Burkhart, at the end of the 2023-24 short course season, held the top time in the nation in six short course and nine long course events. Many of these times put him in the top 20 all-time:
While Burkhart, who has been with NBAC since he was 7, is beginning to make a name for himself nationally, closer to home he is already a known commodity. At NBAC, he holds 11 team 9-10 records and all the 11-12 records except the 50 free, 50 and 100 breast marks. His best SCY 13-14 400 IM time is a 4:05. By comparison, Michael Phelps went 3:56.
IS PAST PROLOGUE?
The financial community is quick to remind us that present performance does not guarantee future results. All of which is to say, for Burkhart, it’s early yet.
The six-foot Burkhart turned 13 on Halloween, but that hasn’t stopped him from attacking practices and opponents in meets. Says Tom Himes, his current mentor and former coach of future Olympians Michael Phelps and Beth Botsford: “Jude is the real deal because he works hard at what he does. There is certainly talent there. He never misses a practice. When he finishes, he asks, ‘Can I warm down a little longer?’ He is very competitive and doesn’t like to be beaten.
“The thing that makes him even more amazing is he is not doing anything special from what everyone else is doing. He has those NAG distance records, but we don’t spend a lot of time on distance free. He’s just that good. What we try and do is make everybody good at everything at a younger age.
“A couple of years ago, his weaknesses might have been backstroke and breaststroke. We’ve worked on those things a lot. Now he has AAAA times in both the 200 back (1:55.53) and the 200 breast (2:16.96). With some of our better kids, I honestly try not to overdo things, but rather recognize how well they have done—and also how much better they can be.
“As a seventh-grader, Jude is not doing doubles or anything crazy from a practice standpoint. He goes six times a week for 1:30-1:45, no 10,000 sets. What makes it special is there is so much more room for him. Next year, he’ll move to our top group.
“We haven’t tried to make him a superstar yet as far as training to make him faster and faster. I’m convinced that if we’d focused on a couple of more things, he could have broken several more NAG records while he was 12. Right now, he’s set to take off at some point because he can do pretty much anything. (Coach) Paul Yetter and I think his 400 IM is going to be pretty awesome.
“I’m Old School. I used to be into yardage. Now I’ve gone to shorter, more quality stuff. Many of my fly sets are 25s on short intervals. I’d rather have swimmers hold stroke together than push through a 10 x 200 fly set.
“I tell our swimmers anybody can make these sets. It’s HOW you swim them. In Jude’s case, he swims them hard all the time. So, yes, we do a lot of fairly fast swimming in our practices.”
THE FUTURE?
“I imagine at the next Olympic Trials, he wants to be there. At the rate he is going, it is certainly a possibility,” says Himes.
Burkhart Best Times (SCY as of 2-19-25)*
* All age 13 except for 1650, 100-200 Breast, 100 IM, when he was 12
BURKHART WORKOUTS
NBAC coach Tom Himes oversees and explains Jude Burkhart’s workouts:
“Jude’s road to success is led by his desire to be the best he can be and to not put limits on himself,” says Himes. “He will pretty much do whatever he is asked…and beyond. Hard work, dedication and commitment to excellence is the fuel that makes Jude the quality swimmer he is.
“Our primary focus with all of our swimmers is IM-based. We want each swimmer to excel in each stroke. While Jude has broken two distance-event national records (800 meter free/1650 yard free), there was no focus on those events.
“Jude trains all strokes each week: generally, one-to-two IM-focused practices, one fly, one back and one breast plus one-to-two free-focus practices per week. Nothing crazy…just fairly simple sets swum fast.”
Butterfly
“Most of the fly sets are short distance with fast intervals—lots of 25s and 50s of fly. We’re looking for fast swimming and holding the stroke together. Following are some sets that Jude has done recently.”
2x:
- 2 x 100 free @ 1:30
- 4 x 25 fly (fast) @ :30
- 2 x 100 free @ 1:30
- 3 x 50 fly (fast) @ 1:00
- 2 x 100 free @ 1:30
- 2 x 75 fly (fast) @ 1:00
- 2 x 100 free @ 1:30
- 1 x 100 fly (fast) @ 1:30
- 2-min. swim & rest @ 2:00
Round 1 held times:
25s: 12.5/12.9/13.1/12.9
50s: 26.9/26.9/27.2
75s: 42.5/42.6
100: 57.9
Round 2 held times:
25s: 13.0/13.2/12.9/12.9
50s: 27.4/27.2/27.6
75s: 42.9/42.6
100: 57.9
* * *
Backstroke
“Sets consist of 50s, 100s, 150s and 200s. Occasionally, we may do 25s or up to 300s of back, but generally, the sets range from 50s to 200s. Most are done descending or to maintain specific pace. Jude does both well.”
4x:
- 200 (50 back/kick – 50 back/drill) @ 3:30
- 4 x 50 back (25 back/25 free) @ :50
- 200 back – 100% @ 2:30
- 1 x 100 free – easy @ 2:00
Jude: 2:04/2:04/2:04/2:01
* * *
Breaststroke
“A lot of breast sets focus on negative-splitting. We are looking for good stroke counts and building tempo.”
- 1 x 100 (50 kick/50 drill) @ 1:50
- 4 x 50 breast (negative-split) @ :55
- 1 x 100 free or back @ 2:00
- 1 x 100 (50 kick/50 drill) @ 1:50
- 3 x 100 breast (negative-split) @ 1:40
- 1 x 100 free or back @ 2:00
- 1 x 100 (50 kick/50 drill) @ 1:50
- 2 x 150 breast (negative-split) @ 2:20
- 1 x 100 free or back @ 2:00
- 1 x 100 (50 kick/50 drill) @ 1:50
- 1 x 200 breast (negative-split) @ 3:00
- 1 x 100 free or back @ 2:00
“Often, Jude does some great 200 times while negative-splitting. Recently, he did a best time in the set, going under 2:20 while negative-splitting the swim.”
* * *
Freestyle
“We use these free sets to work on aerobic type of training. Not all are limited to this, but most free sets are aerobic-based.”
Recent freestyle set:
- 6 x 50 free (perfect with strong kick) @ :50
- 3 x 100 free (500 pace) @ 1:30
- 6 x 50 free (perfect with strong kick) @ :50
- 2 x 200 free (500 pace) @ 3:00
- 6 x 50 free (perfect with strong kick) @ :50
- 1 x 300 free (500 pace) @ 4:00
- 6 x 50 free (perfect with strong kick) @ :50
- 2 x 200 free (500 pace) @ 3:00
- 6 x 50 free (perfect with strong kick) @ :50
- 3 x 100 free (500 pace) @ 1:30
- 6 x 50 free (perfect with strong kick) @ :50
“Most swimmers are not quite at 500 pace, but the challenge is there. For example, Jude has gone (4:37 – 500 free / 55.5 pace). He was around 54s on the 100s, 1:52-1:54 on the 200s and 2:48 on the 300.”
* * *
Individual Medley
“We do variations of IM sets—odd distances / free IMs / backstroke-breaststroke sets as an example. Here’s one of my favorite IM sets.”
2-3x:
- 100 free @ 1:20
- 100 free IM (no fly) @ 1:20
- 100 IM @ 1:20
- 4 x 50 free or back @ 1:00
- 200 free @ 2:30
- 200 free IM (no fly) @ 2:30
- 200 IM @ 2:30
“Our swimmers have done various iterations of (these workouts), but all did a free, then a free IM and then the IM. Distances have been up to 300s and 400s. For various reasons, we have not done many of these types—with the majority being 200s.
“Jude does a great job with this set—usually ending in the 2:00-2:04 range on the final 200 IM from a push.
“There are many more sets in each stroke and IMs that we use. The idea is that we do not do just freestyle and/or work on just a swimmer’s best strokes. As a result, they improve their IMs and become more efficient in all four strokes.”
Michael J. Stott is an ASCA Level 5 coach, golf and swimming writer. His critically acclaimed coming-of-age golf novel, “Too Much Loft,” is in its third printing, and is available from store.Bookbaby.com, Amazon, B&N and book distributors worldwide.
Jude is the real deal.I have been following him for a while.NBAC hasn’t seen this level of talent in quite some time! Maybe the next MP?