The Sydney Swans carved out a rock-solid first training session of 2019 at Bat and Ball Oval in Moore Park on Monday.

Those were the words of forward Robbie Fox at the completion of the morning sweat, who was first to cross the finish line as a two-kilometre time trial welcomed the Swans back from the Christmas break.

The Swans banked a pre-Christmas block of pre-season training over November and December, spent three weeks recharging the batteries and are now on the road to Round 1, with Sydney set to face the Western Bulldogs at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on March 23.

Fox said the Swans had hit the ground running in their return to the pre-season grind.

“We started with a two-kilometre time trial which is always pretty hard,” Fox told SwansTV.

“But we got through that and then we focussed on 45 minutes of skills. The session was really good for the first session back. The conditions were wet but the boys are in really good shape.”

Fox ran a personal best in the two-kilometre time trial but was pushed to the limit by midfielders Isaac Heeney, Harry Cunningham and Jordan Dawson, while development coach Lloyd Perris set the pace.

Fox and Heeney have continually led the charge in the running efforts during the 2019 pre-season, while boxing, wrestling, ball skills and a development camp at the Sydney Academy of Sport have also put the Swans through their paces.

Fox focussed on his own performance in Monday’s two-kilometre time trial but was impressed with the results of Heeney and the rest of the front-runners.

“I didn’t really think about what the other guys were doing in the run – I just wanted to run a good time myself,” Fox said.

“But Heeney ran very well and he always does. It was pretty funny seeing Lloyd Perris putting the foot down. He was actually leading the way for most of the way and it was good to chase him down.”

Fox said a host of other Swans had also trained well in the first session of the year.

“Tom Papley, Oliver Florent and Isaac Heeney all had a good session today,” Fox said.

“The older boys, the leaders, like Dane Rampe and Luke Parker, always come back in great shape.”