The Sydney Swans braved the torrential November rain this morning to take part in one of their toughest pre-season training sessions to date.

The players took to a soggy Lakeside Oval  to complete their second 3 km time trial of the pre-season.

Following the tough race against the clock, the players engaged in a session of skill work, including the introduction of long kicking for the first time this pre-season.

However, the work didn’t stop there, with a series of one and two-minute runs broken up with some sharp 100-metre sprints to round out the demanding session.

Making their way back to the SCG locker rooms, the players were shirtless, muddy, red-faced and exhausted, feeling the effects of pushing their bodies to the limit.

“It was pretty tough,” young defender Alex Johnson told SwansTV following training.

“It’s easily one of the toughest sessions I have done in any pre-season.”

Swans’ rookie Eugene Kruger again topped the time trial standings after another impressive 3km run, with Dan Hannebery, Johnson and Nathan Gordon, in that order, following closely behind.

Johnson said there was healthy competition between the four and hopes they can drive each other on for the remainder of the pre-season.

“There seems to be a pretty strong rivalry between the four of us which keeps us on our toes when we are running and we push each other through it,” he said.

“Eugene Kruger took it out again and nobody seems to be able to knock him off yet.
“It will be interesting to see when we do our next (time trial) before Christmas; hopefully someone can beat him home and get him off his high horse!”

Johnson played 20 senior games in an impressive debut season and hopes the work he is currently doing will see him continue to improve next year.

“I want to go into games with a lot more confidence than I did this year after gaining the senior experience,” Johnson said.

“I would ultimately love to play every game and have a real impact in the senior side.”

In the meantime, a Friday afternoon weights session and beach recovery awaits the 19-year old and the remainder of the playing group.