5 Halloween Swim Workouts (Including Spooky Games) 

Are you a swim coach looking for a Halloween swim workout? Or a swimmer trying to find a fun but festive swim set? 

Then look no further! 

We are sharing our 5 favorite Halloween-themed swim workouts that will ensure swimmers will have a blast at practice before heading out to trick-or-treat. 

Keep reading for a list of sets to inspire Halloween swim sets for club swimmers, high school swimmers, masters swimmers, or gym swimmers. Gain inspiration from our Halloween practice game ideas plus get our FREEBIE PDF WITH OUR 5 HALLOWEEN SWIM WORKOUTS. 

We also share tips for coaches to boost holiday attendance by making the Halloween practice more fun for everyone!

Disclaimer: This post was written and reviewed by Katie Schimmelpfenning, USA Swim Coach and Registered Dietitian. This is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as training advice. Consult a doctor before beginning any new exercise program.

Halloween-themed swim workout for the beginner

This set is great for beginner swimmers less than 12 years of age; however, this set could be modified to meet the needs of most swimmers.

If you are a coach, bring a coin (quarter, penny, dime any kind will work.) Have a whiteboard or piece of paper set up on the pool deck to use the set below. Bring apples or have the swimmers use their goggles for the backstroke drill below. 

Warm-up:

200 free

100: 25 scull, 25 kick 

Drills:

4x 50 backstroke drill: 3/3/3 (R arm, L arm, together)

4x 50 3 backstroke strokes, 3 freestyle strokes (focus on rotation)

6x 25 “horror swims”- eyes closed the first 3-5 strokes focus on feel

Odds: free, Evens: bk

6 x 25 “apple head” drill- balance an apple on your head (option to use googles if no apples)

Odd: swim backstroke, even: backstroke rotation kick arms at side focus on rotating shoulders

(KEEP YOUR HEAD STILL)

4×25 underwater worms (streamline uw kick, can adjust the number of breaths allowed)

Mainset:  Trick-or-Treat

Before starting the set, assign the head and tail on the coin either “trick” or “treat”. If you don’t have time for this set up you can always make up trick-or-treat ideas on the fly. You can toss the coin or pick swimmers each round to hop out and flip the coin to decide the group’s fate.

5 x 100 (trick: odd: fast 100 bk, even: DPS free)  (treat: relay, each swimmer does a 25 or 50)

4 x 75 (trick: 50 br strong, 25 free build) (treat: sit on kick board and scull “surf relay” each swimmer does a 25, if you lose the board you have to go back to the start of the 25)

3 x 50 (trick: pull free br every 5 or 7)  (treat: tombstone kick)

2 x 25 (trick: sprint butterfly) (treat: 3R/3L/3 together butterfly drill)

1x 200 (trick: 200 IM) (treat: 200 social kick)

Cool down:

200 ez

(total yardage 2400)

Option to add games below such as pumpkin relays or initiate a game of sharks and minnows!

Zombie Halloween workout for the advanced swimmer

This is a great workout for advanced club swimmers. This set could also be altered for a masters or high school swim team. 

For this Halloween workout, we recommend coaches bring dice or use a dice roll phone app.

Warm-up:

400: 100 fr/100bk/100fr/100 rev IM 

4 x 150: kick/dr/sw by 50 REV IM order 

Kick set: 

8x 50 (w/ fins) tombstone kick 

Odds: on stomach with kickboard half in and out of the water like a tombstone

Evens: on back arms straight up holding kick board like a tombstone in the air

Drill set: 

4×25 3 kick butterfly 

4×50 mummy drill backstroke: pause with arms up in the air like a mummy (see image below)

4×25 2 kicks, 1 pull br 

4×50 free: 25 fist drill, 25 catch-up

Mainset:

8×100’s INSANE IM’s & fast free

Odds: insane IMs- different kick for each stroke

Fly w/ flutter kick

Back w/ dolphin kick 

Breast w/ flutter kick 

Free w/ breast kick 

Evens: fast free!

(total yardage 2800)

Trick-or-treat set: the cumulative yards will vary depending on what your swimmers roll!

A dice is numbered 1-6 the distance can be interpreted as 1= 1 lap or 1= 100 yards. 

When rolling to choose a stroke you can assign each stroke a number, example #1= butterfly. Or if an odd number is rolled it’s the coach’s choice of stroke and if an even number is rolled it’s the swimmer’s choice of stroke. 

• (roll for reps) x (roll for distance)  choice of stroke 
• 6 x (roll for distance) pull freestyle 
• (roll for reps)  x 100’s (roll for stroke: odd #’s choices stroke, evens: butterfly)
• (roll for reps) x 25’s backward freestyle 
• 8 x (roll for distance)  (roll for stroke odd #’s your choice stroke, evens: coaches stroke choice)

***To make this extra fun you can always choose one number that if the swimmers roll leads to an automatic get-out or switch to games! For example, “If we roll a 3 everyone gets to get out early!”

Spooky sprint workout for the high school swimmer

This is a great sprint-focused Halloween workout to get the heart rate up!

Warm-Up:

300 choice

4x 75 scull/kick/sw by 25 REV IM order 

4x 50’s build free

4x 25 underwater streamline kick (<2 breaths)

Freestyle flip-turn work:

4 x 25 from the middle, focus on no breath into the flags or off the wall + fast flip

4 x 50 flip at the T before the wall (you will not actually touch the wall) try not to lose momentum!

4x 75, 4-6 underwater dolphin kicks off each wall

Mainset: screaming sprints!

20 x 50’s: aim for 200 race pace plus 20 seconds ex) if your 200 time is 3:00, the goal time is 3:20 aim for 50 seconds each 50. Take :15 seconds rest between each :50, if you miss an interval rest for a :50

20 x 25’s: 2 choice stroke, 2 free :10 seconds rest between each, aim for 100 race pace plus 20 seconds 

Cool down:

200 ez 

Option to add Halloween drills from sets above or festive game ideas listed below!

(2200 yard practice)

Haunting masters swim workout to celebrate

This is a great longer-distance freestyle workout for masters swimmers who don’t care for drills! If you are the coach, bring a coin for the main set.

Warm-up:

200 choice

4×50 kick 

200 free 

Pull set: (with pull buoy and paddles)

6 x 50 pull

300 free

4 x 50 pull

200 free

2 x 50 pull

100 free

Main-set: trick-or-treat addition! Similar to the set above, if you assign your coins heads trick and tails treat or vice versa. The coach or each swimmer can flip a coin to choose their fate!

1. Trick: 4 x 200’s swim des 1-4, Treat: 4x 200’s free swim with fins, focus on strong legs 
2. Trick: 4 x150’s Fly/Bk/Br by 50, Treat: 4 x 150’s Free IM (Fr/Bk/Br by 50) with choice equipment 
3. Trick: 4 x 100’s freestyle best average aim for <1:15/1:10, Treat: 4 x 100’s 75 smooth free, 25 double arm backstroke 

Cool down: 

200 ez

(4000-yard workout, can also be done in meters)

Halloween swim set for the lone wolf

This is a great swim workout for the swimmer headed to the public pool or gym to bust out a quick stroke-based Halloween workout that also works the legs.

Warm-up:

200 choice

100 kick

4 x 50 REV IM order

4 x 25 12.5 underwater kick/12.5 ez swim

200 IM drill 

Mainset: 

4 x 50’s fly des 1-4

4x 25’s tombstone kick 

100 free

4x 50’s back des 1-4

4x 25’s tombstone kick 

200 free

4x 50’s breast des 1-4

4x 25’s tombstone kick 

300 free

4x 50’s free des 1-4

4 x 25’s tombstone kick

400 free

Cool down:

300 ez 

(3300 yard swim workout)

Swim practice game ideas for Halloween

• Pumpkin relays (or apple relays): have swimmers get the pumpkin or apple to the other side without using their hands. Or line up 2 swimmers in each lane on each side of the deck and race to see which team can get the most pumpkins to the other side to build the biggest pumpkin patch! 
• Snake: this is when swimmers start in the last lane for example lane 8 and then flip and swim down in lane 7 and keep going, snaking up and down the pool!
• Mummy relay: each swimmer must wear a shirt to swim the designated lap(s) in the relay and then provide the shirt to the next swimmer before the next length. Coach’s choice to have the swimmers change out and into the shirt on the deck or in the water.To make this extra difficult we have swimmers keep their arms inside the shirt and do a kick mummy relay!
• Sharks and minnows: a classic swimming game!
• Underwater rock paper scissors: this is a fun way to work breath control. The swimmer who wins the round gets to come up and take a breath; the other swimmer must stay underwater. We recommend playing the best of 3 and then winners play winners!

Other ideas to make the holiday practice more fun

• Have swimmers do dryland in Halloween costumes or add in a costume contest 
• Play music, check out this Halloween mix on Spotify
• Let your swimmers pick their lane for the practice 
• Finish the practice with games
• Make a Witches Brew for practice: fun flavored sports drink mix or you can mix a bunch of different flavors and have swimmers guess the flavor.
• Bring candy or other edible treats 🙂 

Happy Halloween!

Whether you are a swimmer or a coach it can be tough to make it to the pool on a holiday! You may want to be snuggled up with your favorite candy or roaming the streets trick-or-treating instead of on a pool deck or in a pool.

This is why it is extra important to make swim practice fun and festive on holidays!

Spice up your practice with one of our Halloween swim workouts. Coaches will thank us and swimmers are sure to have a blast.

If you try one of these sets let us know what you think in the comments below. For more inspiration check out our Swim Workout Generator, HIIT Swim Workouts, and other training tips on the blog.