Do distance swimmers spend less time w/kicking workouts

If anyone has any doubt that elite distance don't train there kick at a high level watch the last 100 of this: Sun Yang sets World Record in 1500m Free - from Universal Sports - YouTube I still remember watching Thorpe in his heyday with a monster 6 beat transform the 400 free: Ian Thorpe 2000 Sydney 400m FreeStyle Final - YouTube I think distance swimmers kick pretty hard, even 6 beat for a whole 1500. I've also seen strong 6 beat kicking off every wall for 12.5 in 500's. Chris, Paul, Rob are ALL correct -- modern distance swimmers kick hard and a strong 6 beat kick is almost required for success these days. One of the few exceptions on the scene now is Ryan Cochrane of Canada, who swims more of an 'old school' stroke. This old fart was trained in the 70s and 80s where we believed things about freestyle and distance swimming that have been since debunked, such as: Look forward and have the water line just above your goggles, and Distance swimmers can only 2 beat kick To my recollection, it was Jeff Kostoff's arrival and strong kick that started to debunk point #2 ... but even in the 80s, I think a lot of people still thought his ability to do that was more of an aberration (rather than the way the sport would move forward) in the same way that many people dismissed Janet's stroke as something only she could do. Today, if I were training to be an elite distance swimmer, I'd focus on a very strong kick. Heck, I'm just training to be a semi-elite 40-something Masters swimmer and I'm focusing on my legs and my kicking in a way I never did in the past ... ... but, even with that, I don't put anywhere near the emphasis I think sprinters do and should do.

If anyone has any doubt that elite distance don't train there kick at a high level watch the last 100 of this: Sun Yang sets World Record in 1500m Free - from Universal Sports - YouTube I still remember watching Thorpe in his heyday with a monster 6 beat transform the 400 free: Ian Thorpe 2000 Sydney 400m FreeStyle Final - YouTube I think distance swimmers kick pretty hard, even 6 beat for a whole 1500. I've also seen strong 6 beat kicking off every wall for 12.5 in 500's. Chris, Paul, Rob are ALL correct -- modern distance swimmers kick hard and a strong 6 beat kick is almost required for success these days. One of the few exceptions on the scene now is Ryan Cochrane of Canada, who swims more of an 'old school' stroke. This old fart was trained in the 70s and 80s where we believed things about freestyle and distance swimming that have been since debunked, such as: Look forward and have the water line just above your goggles, and Distance swimmers can only 2 beat kick To my recollection, it was Jeff Kostoff's arrival and strong kick that started to debunk point #2 ... but even in the 80s, I think a lot of people still thought his ability to do that was more of an aberration (rather than the way the sport would move forward) in the same way that many people dismissed Janet's stroke as something only she could do. Today, if I were training to be an elite distance swimmer, I'd focus on a very strong kick. Heck, I'm just training to be a semi-elite 40-something Masters swimmer and I'm focusing on my legs and my kicking in a way I never did in the past ... ... but, even with that, I don't put anywhere near the emphasis I think sprinters do and should do.