Do distance swimmers spend less time w/kicking workouts

This is what I think is wrong, though. I don't think being an excellent kicker is a "cherry on top" kind of thing, I think it gives a strong advantage over a weak kicker in most events. *Certainly* that's true in my chosen events; admittedly, probably less of an advantage in distance events. I agree with your correction. It should probably read ....whether it is kicking, drill, or sets that emphasize technique which may in the near term be much more difficult and accumulate less yardage, but will make the difference for those that care to go 1/100th of a second faster. Something like that. Not just kicking and certainly not saying it's the cherry on top. In fact, it's the cherry that kicks off more fruit, heh heh. Bad joke. I always think of kick improvement as the triple bang (or more!). You get faster by better kick alone. Then your body is ever so slightly better aligned, so you have less resistance. Then, because you are better aligned and have less resistance, you can more fully activate your arms and then your arms are actually "stronger" without lifting any more weight or doing more yardarge! Last, with a better kick & core, you use K&C to kick, balance, and breath rather than your arms, at least incrementally more, so that also frees up your arms to do more of just one thing - pulling you through the water rather than balance & breathing. It's like getting stronger arms just by improving your kick!

This is what I think is wrong, though. I don't think being an excellent kicker is a "cherry on top" kind of thing, I think it gives a strong advantage over a weak kicker in most events. *Certainly* that's true in my chosen events; admittedly, probably less of an advantage in distance events. I agree with your correction. It should probably read ....whether it is kicking, drill, or sets that emphasize technique which may in the near term be much more difficult and accumulate less yardage, but will make the difference for those that care to go 1/100th of a second faster. Something like that. Not just kicking and certainly not saying it's the cherry on top. In fact, it's the cherry that kicks off more fruit, heh heh. Bad joke. I always think of kick improvement as the triple bang (or more!). You get faster by better kick alone. Then your body is ever so slightly better aligned, so you have less resistance. Then, because you are better aligned and have less resistance, you can more fully activate your arms and then your arms are actually "stronger" without lifting any more weight or doing more yardarge! Last, with a better kick & core, you use K&C to kick, balance, and breath rather than your arms, at least incrementally more, so that also frees up your arms to do more of just one thing - pulling you through the water rather than balance & breathing. It's like getting stronger arms just by improving your kick!