2013 USMS Nationals SCY & LCM

This was kind of a botched race for me. That's what happens when you rarely swim something. I dove in and streamlined for what seemed like forever, almost forgetting to take a dolphin kick. Brain fart. When I did, it was just a quick one. So, yeah, definitely, lost the race on the start. Though I managed to short stroke both walls as well. Completely different race than the technically perfect one I had at NE SCM Champs when I somehow set the record. Win some, lose some. I didn't fret over it, and Kim is very very fast. I widened my pull because Teen Fort told me I was spinning when I swam the 50 evil at the Sprint Classic last fall. I've also heard widening the pull was how Eric Shanteau improved his breaststroke times. My kick looked pretty wide to me in the video. I think I need some coaching help to fix my breaststroke, somewhat hard when I train solo. And honestly, I think I'd rather work more on free, which I started doing more of this year with my shoulder better. But I will continue to fake the evil. Hey, I even did the 100 this year! FWIW. I have always had a narrow kick. I try to imagine a tennis ball between my knees, so that the propulsion is back, rather than out/wide. I also do a lot of eggbeater kicking to work on foot speed. I have been trying to narrow my pull, based on feedback from Dr. G in Indy in 2009, figuring that the time it takes to sweep in/forward from a wider pull slows down my tempo. I want to get back into a streamlined position (ears between arms as the kick drives you forward - Ande's "ride the glide") as quickly as possible. YMMV.

This was kind of a botched race for me. That's what happens when you rarely swim something. I dove in and streamlined for what seemed like forever, almost forgetting to take a dolphin kick. Brain fart. When I did, it was just a quick one. So, yeah, definitely, lost the race on the start. Though I managed to short stroke both walls as well. Completely different race than the technically perfect one I had at NE SCM Champs when I somehow set the record. Win some, lose some. I didn't fret over it, and Kim is very very fast. I widened my pull because Teen Fort told me I was spinning when I swam the 50 evil at the Sprint Classic last fall. I've also heard widening the pull was how Eric Shanteau improved his breaststroke times. My kick looked pretty wide to me in the video. I think I need some coaching help to fix my breaststroke, somewhat hard when I train solo. And honestly, I think I'd rather work more on free, which I started doing more of this year with my shoulder better. But I will continue to fake the evil. Hey, I even did the 100 this year! FWIW. I have always had a narrow kick. I try to imagine a tennis ball between my knees, so that the propulsion is back, rather than out/wide. I also do a lot of eggbeater kicking to work on foot speed. I have been trying to narrow my pull, based on feedback from Dr. G in Indy in 2009, figuring that the time it takes to sweep in/forward from a wider pull slows down my tempo. I want to get back into a streamlined position (ears between arms as the kick drives you forward - Ande's "ride the glide") as quickly as possible. YMMV.