the answer is in the fourth sentence of Popov's Wikipedia page
That may be part of the answer, but Terry credits Bill Boomer as his inspiration.
He heard Boomer speak at the 1988 ASCA convention in San Fransisco.
OP should ask his question on the Total Immersion Forum, chances are good he'll get a response from Terry.
Popov's coach is Gennadiy Touretskiy. He used to coach Australian national swimming team - ex. Michael Klim is his ward as well as now he's pepraring Ian Thorpe for Olympics 2012.
A bit about Touretskiy - Interview with Touretski on Vimeo
Awesome interview. My kind of coach. I watch the whole thing.:applaud:
Although...I do have access to FEA (Finite Element Analysis) fluid simulation software...I am crazy enough to put a human model in a flow of water in different poses and watch what happens.
Time might be better spent in the water with a coach providing feedback. Just my :2cents:.
Time might be better spent in the water with a coach providing feedback. Just my :2cents:.
Sure, time is better spent with a coach but (some/most/all?) engineers just don't roll like that. If something is faster, there HAS to be a reason for it and that reason MUST be quantifiable by a handy formula, model or chart. If I had access to Pro/E or a large water tunnel, I'd be doing all sorts of swim related testing.
I agree that, as a swimmer, you have to figure it out in water. My style, no matter what the pursuit, is to learn as much as I can from a scientific perspective as well. It helps me understand what I am doing a lot better. It doesn't mean that I am going to put pen to paper and run through equations at all.
Although...I do have access to FEA (Finite Element Analysis) fluid simulation software...I am crazy enough to put a human model in a flow of water in different poses and watch what happens.
I am with you there, I *NEED* to know the background behind something before I go out and do it.
As you have probably seen, one good thing about the Total Immersion people is they they have put together a comprehensive program to get you swimming all four strokes. And they back it up with some logic. People will say that their approach is not the best approach, however it is the one resource that I know if that will allow you to sit down with only a basic 6 year old redcross lessons 25 years ago swimming skill and show you in a solid manner how to swim all four strokes.
You're not done at that point, but they do a explain a way to get it done.
But once past that, being an engineer myself here are my favorite technical resources for swimming.
1. Swimming Fastest - huge book and the first few chapters detailing the strokes and propulsion are excellent
2. Coachesinfo.com - the swimmingsection is edited by Ross Sanders and it is full of nice information
3. Proceedings of the International Society for Biomechanics in Sports w4.ub.uni-konstanz.de/cpa. You will find there is very little actual data on what aspects of swimming technique are better than others. What little there is, you can get oriented to through these presentations.
3. www.svl.ch Check the tips in english section.
4. www.h2oustonswims.org Coach Hines has written a fair bit and lays it out pretty well. He is also the author of fitness swimming.
5. acadianendurance.blogspot.com - Well it's my own site but the 4 articles about the lactate metabolism and the types of swim sets that we use to work on the different aspects is pretty good I think :-)
I'd really recommend you go to the source. Terry Laughlin (KaizenSwimmer) started TI and is very approachable. Message him here or get engaged on his blog through http://www.totalimmersion.net/.
As far as getting into the physics of it all, as someone who is academically trained in mathematics, I totally get your desire. But, as a swimmer who sincerely doubts that guys like Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte "get" the physics (in a study of forces, propulsion, equations, etc.) of swimming faster, I'm not sure how understanding the physics is going to translate into you swimming faster (assuming that's what you're going for). Like most things in life, there's an art and a science that combine to produce the excellence and beauty of swimming fast.
I might post on the TI section, however, my interest is for general swimming theory rather than just TI. The reason I inquired about TI is because of coming across an article (which I can't find now) describing how some of it might have been developed from lots of scientific analysis.
I agree that, as a swimmer, you have to figure it out in water. My style, no matter what the pursuit, is to learn as much as I can from a scientific perspective as well. It helps me understand what I am doing a lot better. It doesn't mean that I am going to put pen to paper and run through equations at all.
Although...I do have access to FEA (Finite Element Analysis) fluid simulation software...I am crazy enough to put a human model in a flow of water in different poses and watch what happens.
Time might be better spent in the water with a coach providing feedback. Just my :2cents:.
Can't get the same kind of data that way. For example, what is the difference in drag for a range of kick amplitudes? Or, what is the difference in drag for a range of body rotations (where your shoulder and more are out of the water)?
Also, that would be way too simple! :-)
I am with you there, I *NEED* to know the background behind something before I go out and do it.
As you have probably seen, one good thing about the Total Immersion people is they they have put together a comprehensive program to get you swimming all four strokes. And they back it up with some logic. People will say that their approach is not the best approach, however it is the one resource that I know if that will allow you to sit down with only a basic 6 year old redcross lessons 25 years ago swimming skill and show you in a solid manner how to swim all four strokes.
You're not done at that point, but they do a explain a way to get it done.
But once past that, being an engineer myself here are my favorite technical resources for swimming.
1. Swimming Fastest - huge book and the first few chapters detailing the strokes and propulsion are excellent
2. Coachesinfo.com - the swimmingsection is edited by Ross Sanders and it is full of nice information
3. Proceedings of the International Society for Biomechanics in Sports w4.ub.uni-konstanz.de/cpa. You will find there is very little actual data on what aspects of swimming technique are better than others. What little there is, you can get oriented to through these presentations.
3. www.svl.ch Check the tips in english section.
4. www.h2oustonswims.org Coach Hines has written a fair bit and lays it out pretty well. He is also the author of fitness swimming.
5. acadianendurance.blogspot.com - Well it's my own site but the 4 articles about the lactate metabolism and the types of swim sets that we use to work on the different aspects is pretty good I think :-)
Thanks. I'll explore this over the weekend.
