:confused: Has anyone heard about this guy before?
> In the latest article, Dr. Arthur Piltdown relates his
experiences at "Stone-like Swimming". Working extensively
with collegiate swimmers, Piltdown's training techniques have
yielded a strong foundation of results. "Speed is the key.
With enough maintained velocity," Piltdown espouses, "These
swimmers have been able to effectively skip across the surface
of the water like a stone."
Piltdown, currently head coach for Leavenworth University's
fledgling men's swim team, developed his short axis training
regimen while coaching abroad at the Moratuwa Educational and
Research Institute Aquatics Center in Sri Lanka.
Piltdown, initially brought on as assistant technique coach,
quietly championed the benefits of a unique style of off-stroke
(i.e., breaststroke, butterfly) drilling as cross-training for
members of the Sri Lankan National Cricket team. His methods
catapulted the team from last place to capture the title at
the 1997 Sharjah Cup Tri-Nation Tournament.
While controversial, Piltdown's methods were the highlight of
this past weekend's Men's NCAA Championships held at Athens,
Georgia. Two of his swimmers, Hanson Stewart and Brad Small,
Jr., showcased the new technique, setting new world marks of,
respectively, :24.25 for the 50 yard breaststroke and 3:28:05
in the dreaded 400 yard butterfly.
The above was reprinted from this week's 'Total Swin' articles at the Total Submersion website (www.TotalSubmersion.net).
Bob,
We have found, if you raise the water level at the turn end of the pool and lower the water level at the starting end, so that there is a 2.5 to 2.75 inch difference, that most swimmers are able to negotiate a turn without skipping out of the pool.
However, the water from the Charles River is much more viscous and gelatinous then normal water. And may possibly impede or exacerbate the Piltdown suit and technique. Therefore, you may need to filter it, instead of pumping it directly into the Harvard pool. In addition to improving the water clarity, it may keep the Duck Boats out of the Warm-up and Warm-down lanes.
Fascinating! Coming from the Machischo/Yeager school of training, I still subscribe to the more traditional methods of swimming ("normal" suits; shaving, etc), but this Piltdown guy might have something. What will really seal the deal for all of us is if our wonder-boy Ion buys into this as a way to crack the top 1000...sorry to bring him in, all.
Go Leavenworth Cons!
I also found the information on www.TotalSubmersion.net very interesting. Especially intriguing were the 'fingloves' that incase the feet in a tight rubber case. It apparently aids in the feel for the water while kicking.
More controversial, I think, is the 'StraightSwimJacket' which encases the entire body, including the arms and hands, and legs and feet, in a single tight rubber tube (the idea apparently originated because some of the members of the University of Leavenworth were required to wear something similar.) This tube aids in the development of 'body pulsing', a great advantage for short-axis skipping strokes. It also teaches the users to role their bodies side to side during freestyle - without that fine-tuning the swimmers had trouble making it across the pool without severe respiratory difficulties.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the major difficulty with 'stone like swimming.' It is very difficult to travel straight while skipping, especially off of the blocks. Right-footed swimmers tend to curve to the right, while left-footed swimmers tend to curve to the left. I have seen several swimmers skip over the lane line into adjacent lanes (or even two lanes over!) for automatic disqualification :(
The Piltdown suit and start will not be allowed at this weekend's 2002 NE SCY Championships. We tested at last night's late practice and discovered that due to the unusual pitch of the pool at Harvard--as many of you know the pool is very close to the banks of the Charles River-it is unsafe in a 25 yard course.As we proved last night, swimmers very proficient in the Piltdown technique cannot always safely stop at the turn due to the slight downward pitch of the pool.
We'll just have to wait for the 2002 NE LCM Championships to see if it really works that well in competition.
On the contrary; the higher viscosity of the water from the Charles will only enhance the skipping effect.
However I question the wisdom of mixing the "skip-enhancing" chemical coating of the Piltdown skinsuit with the volatile composition of the Charles' water (if left untreated). We don't want to have yet another spontaneous combustion incident at the Harvard Pool!
Has anyone noticed that the totalsubmersion.net website seems to be down? I'm afraid we might have overwhelmed their servers.
Rich
Just got word - the total submersion website was overwhelmed with hits on the Piltdown articles and videos, however I did pull a copy of it and posted it on the metrotri.com website here earlier today.
Unfortunately, the video clips are not available.
Rich
What's the big deal ? I have skipped two meets in a row now,without a best (or any) time to show for it. Skipping never seems to produce results-even skipping practice.............:D
Rich
I have been a great fan of Dr. Piltdown, for some time. I have found his techniques extremely effective. Mostly so on starts where the skipping action is most pronounced. However, as you mention speed is the key to Dr. Piltdown’s technique, and I find it difficult to maintain the hydroplaning benefits for more than a 50 (75 at most), before I submerge into the traditional American Crawl.
You forgot to mention that in addition to his work with swimmers, Dr. Piltdown has also led the Leavenworth University diving team, taking them to their highest finish ever in NCAA Diving. His mastery and teaching of the controversial horizontal entry technique has led to startling results in the platform events.
Rich, thanks again for putting Masters Swimming in perspective.
Dr. Piltdown has developed a suit that is an adaptation of the full body suit which has been designed specifically for his teams. The suit is constructed of space age material that is a hyper-elastic/hydro-repellent fifth generation derivation of lycra.
The suit completely covers the feet and has small hooks that extend over the lip of the starting block. As opposed to the traditional start where the swimmer dives into the water, with the Piltdown suit at the start, the swimmer launches herself backwards, away from the water. This motion causes the hyper-elastic material in the foot section of the suit to stretch (remember that the base of the foot section is still attached to the block). After the suit has reached its maximum recoil, the swimmer is then launched towards the pool. As the swimmer passes the block on the way to the water they push off the block, this time towards the pool, in a motion that has been described as looking like George Reeves in the old Superman show (as he flew out windows). This start has proven to double the velocity of the swimmer and therefore provided the necessary speed to skip off the water on the start. The Doctor recommends that the Backstroke flags be removed when you learn this new start. A number of his swimmers have launched themselves into and over the flags, until they were able to control the take-off.
I have heard that the Piltdown suits are on sale at http://www.metrotri.com.
