The 8-Week CSS Swim Challenge
8-Weeks of structured training built for swimmers who want to feel fitter, faster and more powerful in the water.
8 weeks. One number that proves you got faster.
Ready to step up your swimming? This challenge is built to improve your threshold pace and efficiency in the water.
Critical Swim Speed (CSS) is your threshold pace — the fastest speed you can sustain before your stroke breaks down and fatigue takes over. It's the same principle as lactate threshold training in running or cycling, applied to the pool. Once you know your CSS, every set in your program is built off it: pace zones that are actually yours, not a generic template.
Eight weeks to a faster, fitter, more powerful swimmer.
STARTS 5th OCTOBER 2026
What's included
8-week swim program
3 sessions per week (1.km - 3km)
Daily swim specific mobility sessions
Personal Performance Tracking
Swimming Drill Library
Exclusive Membership Only Resources
Swim Session Bank — on-demand technique and training sessions
Coach Supported Community via the Everfit app
12 weeks access to the training app
Who this is for:
Triathletes who need a genuine race-pace swim leg, not just endurance
Masters’ swimmers looking to sharpen training with a measurable target
Open water swimmers who want to hold their form deep into long efforts
Any swimmer capable of swimming 400m non-stop and wants technical guidance alongside their training, not just a set of intervals to survive
Many of these sessions are inspired by the workouts Laura developed during her return to competitive swimming—training that helped her achieve lifetime bests in her 30s and qualify for the 2025 World Aquatics Championships. It’s proof that with the right approach, you can unlock your next level, no matter your age or stage. By joining this squad, you’ll not only get fitter and faster, you will become a part of an exclusive online community of people who love swimming and are striving to be the best they can be. More speed, more endurance, more confidence. It’s time to unleash your next level.
What is a CSS Test?
A CSS test has you swim two timed trials at maximum sustainable effort — a 400m and a 200m — and uses the difference in time between them to calculate your critical swim speed, the pace you can hold before fatigue and stroke breakdown set in. It's relevant because it replaces generic pace guesswork with a number specific to your current fitness, so every interval, rest period, and pace zone in your training is calibrated to what your body can actually sustain rather than a one-size-fits-all template.
A Look at How Your Training is Delivered.
Train with purpose, connect with like-minded swimmers, and take your swimming to the next level — all from wherever you are in the world. When you join the Aura Move Squad, you’ll get expertly designed swim programs, guidance and support from coach Laura, and the motivation that comes from being part of a supportive community. Whether you’re training for a race or simply want to swim better, Aura Move will keep you inspired, accountable, and moving forward — together.
Meet your Coach
Laura Quilter
Laura is a lifelong swimmer and coach from New Zealand who knows firsthand what it takes to build strength, mobility, and power — and she’s passionate about helping you do the same.
Laura has proved that age is no barrier. At 32, she returned to competitive swimming after 8 years, and swam faster than ever before. Using experience and curiosity, Laura’s self-coached her way back onto the national team where she competed for New Zealand at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships. She swam in the 50m Freestyle and 50m Butterfly finishing 22nd and 29th respectively.
Aura Move was created to help swimmers of all levels build strength, speed, and confidence in the water. Whether you’re a competitive swimmer, triathlete, Masters athlete, or simply love swimming — we’re here to help you move with purpose.
"My vision is to empower people to become faster, more confident swimmers for life. Swimming is highly technical and I enjoy helping people improve their technique. I am a strong believer that it is never too late to swim better.”
