Hey Luke - thats not a short rest workout.

Hey Luke - increase the number of reps, lower the intensity by a touch or 2 and then pick a send-off that's challenging for the given duration!

Hey Luke - very few triathletes can actually reach anaerobic state in swimming.
Mainly those who have a strong swimming pedigree can.
And you can be sure, it ain't all that important versus quality aerobic swimming.

Stop to compare yourself to others - it can drive your nuts and be never ending!
Focus on what you can control and consistently doing your best.

Dont confused swimming more or swimming fast.
With being swim-fit via doing no-bullshit-swim-sets.
As that is the key, to emerge from the water ready to ride strong.
According to your own abilities of course

Hey Seb - for 1 you should eliminate the idea that what tri distance you race.
Should have a bearing impact on your swim style or advice you will receive.
The thing that should differ with duration is your stroke rate.

Tone down your catch up, eliminate the over extension & no bilateral breathing.

If you look at the shots where your arm is fully extended.
Your head ‘bobs’ down under water and is fully submerged.

Breathing every 2nd stroke will help to keep your head higher.
As well to develop more a 1-2 rythym cause presently you don't have any.
And you should just switch breathing sides per length for ‘balance’ & versatility.

Your hand also pulls BESIDE your body under-water.
It should pull UNDER your body.

As for swim toys.
Small paddles so you have leverage and ease to maneuver your hands.
Only a band (no pull/buoy) to kill the gliding, contain your wacky kick and develop a hip thrust.
And shorten up your stroke out of survival - muahahaha

Hey Luke - dont look at hill work as an alternative.
But rather, as a complement to your overall program!

Hey John many thanx for sharing - I look forward to reading some more!

Hey Luke - there is no 'be-all and end-all' answer.
Reps as short as 50m all the way up to 15km have their purpose.
It depends on the athletes pedigree, coach's intuition, goals, timing of year, ect.
And of course, what type of hills they have to play in the first place.

How you go down the hill, well it depends.
Some best to walk, other just jog or like Lydiard make his guys do, run fast down the hill!

Now, follow this link and read away:
http://www.teamtbb.com/forum/index.php?topic=2629.msg22652#msg22652

And hopefully, you will understand, that it dont really matter all that much.
How long your hill is as its just a number.
Because it will come down to how much effort and belief you put into it

Hey Luke - this^^^is your answer.

There is not black and white - just grey.
Keep a slight gap between your fingers with a firm but supple 'paw' like form.
Stop to over think and SWIM ON!!!

Hey Luke - XC skiing is great all around conditioning - particularly 'skating' style!
I suggest you modulate the intensity, it can be done similarly to run training.
And also mix it up with indoor bike training - something many tend to neglect.

A sure one-two punch is to join some XC ski races, they will keep you sharp, are good fun & HARD!
I used to do them in high school as part of our inter-school meets.
And you can be sure, letting 100's of us loose over a 4-5km circuit on a golf course.
Was some of the highest intensity I have done outside triathlon.

Ahhh in those days, we showed up with hoodies and jeans tucked in our boots 
It was all about the start and making sure you dont get tangled up or blocked.
The rest was a mix of resistance and brute force to the finish - hehehehehe!

Hey Jeff - best would be to look 3 to 5 feet in front of you - like 45 degree angle.
This will also help to open-up your throat as it will separate your chin from your chest a bit more.
When you take a breath.

If your un-flexible and look strait down like its advertise by 'perfect swimming' gurus.
You might find yourself sub-merging your upper body and creating extra drag...

Many tend to default @ looking ahead, especially when multiple athletes swimming in single lane.
As to avoid a collision with those swimming close/on the black line...
And this may compel some neck issues or dropping the hips, unless you got a big buoy in there

Hey Luke, you answered your own question in the final phrase.
I would wager that triathletes have better 'core strength' than a swimmer, cyclist or runner.
Especially if they (triathlete) swim with toys or grind the big gear in aerobars.

If in any-case an athlete must trim down their mid-section.
Doing some fly-kick with fins would be far more effective & specific to ENDURANCE.
As it can be done more for much longer duration than any mainstream gym exercise!

Hey Adal, I will just do through the first bit of your post.

Mark Allen seems to have forgotten the work he did BEFORE he meet Maffetone.
As he simply sell's the world what worked for him @ the zenith of his carer.

Even with a clean name, success in Hawaii and great results himself.
Marc Allen may have made lots of $$$ from ambitious age groupers.
But I haven't heard of him creating a pro athlete.
The few successful pro's hes work with, where already descent before!

I mean, the doc took into consideration Chrissie W.'s MTB ridding in Nepal.
When he started to coach her.
Just like Maffetone did when he meet an over trained and injured younger Marc Allen.

Any good coach should take an athletes past into consideration.
Before putting down a sound program...

Hey Luke thats is correct - I wrote it coz it makes me sounds like a techy coach

Hey Michelle there's compelling recherche that shows the benefits of short/frequent training.
The old Tabata protocol and more recently Cross-fit are branches of it.
As it stimulates the productions of particular hormones and metabolic functions.

Its safe to assume your 2nd and/or 3rd session of the day feel better than the first?
And allows you to get @ it with a very short warm-up just like race day!

I'd trust this approach would be beneficial for a gumbie swimmer.
With of course a long session tossed in here and there

i usually do small workouts 2 to 3 times daily.. like 15 minute workout for three times, and since i have started this workout routine, it has helped me a LOT!!!! Just like they say eating in small chunks throughout the day is much better than eating so much once... this technique also work great in workouts.. i was just doing an experiment, and it rocked!! Plus it's also easier than 1 hour workout routine!!

"We're in a giant car heading towards a brick wall and everyone's arguing over where they're going to sit"

-David Suzuki