Distance per stroke

1) I experiment with this description of Kieren Perkins (Aus) sprint stroke, from the book 'Swimming Dynamics' by Cecil Colwin, in page 176: (Kieren Perkins held freestyle world records during the mid-90s in the 400 meters (in 3:43.80), in the 800 meters (in 7:46.00) and in the 1500 meters (in 14:41.66); in the 100 meters free, he was swimming in 50.xx) "When his right hand enters, his left hand will be level with his shoulder.". This means that the overlap between his arms is nil, his arms are in opposition: one arm enters the water while the other arm exits the water. (Note that this is different than the Kieren's distance stroke described in the book a few lines above this, as: "When Kieren is doing a two-beat kick, he advances his timing by increasing the amount of overlap between his arms so that his arms are brought together in front of his body.". It is also different than the stroke recommended in Total Immersion, page 47 -similar to that of Kieren's distance stroke-, as: "Leave your right hand out in front while the left is stroking, then begin stroking the right just as the left returns to the front quadrant, and so on. One hand doesn't start until the other one's nearly back. Leaving each in place for just a split-second extra can make a big difference...". So, Kieren's distance stroke and the Total Immersion's stroke, they advocate the making of a pause before an arm is pulling, and the two arms overlap a little bit in front. Kieren's sprint stroke that I experiment with (remember that Kieren went 50.xx in 100 meters free Long Course), has zero overlap between arms, one enters the water to pull, while the other exits the water). With this zero overlap between arms, one arm entering the water to pull while the other is exiting the water, my stroke count drops from 16 strokes to 12 strokes per 25 yards, so from about 18 strokes to about 14 strokes per 25 meters. I am six feet tall. I think however, that swimming with nil overlap is more tiresome than with a pause: a) the pause shifts the center of the gravity of the swimmer towards the front of the swimmer (the two arms bring a mass on the front end of the swimmer), thus the two arms -each one involving a shoulder, pectorals, biceps and triceps- help each other for the pulling; b) the nil pause makes a lower center of gravity, thus requires a stronger arm to do the pulling. Because of this, I see powerfully built sprinters going with the nil pause, and I see distance swimmers going with some pause. 2) Keep the head buried in the water, reach out with the pulling arm, have the fingers slightly apart, rotate the hip downwards and bring the corresponding shoulder under the chin to pull while keeping the body straight (i.e.: don't sway). 3) Easy said, right? It is harder to do 1) and 2), than saying them.

1) I experiment with this description of Kieren Perkins (Aus) sprint stroke, from the book 'Swimming Dynamics' by Cecil Colwin, in page 176: (Kieren Perkins held freestyle world records during the mid-90s in the 400 meters (in 3:43.80), in the 800 meters (in 7:46.00) and in the 1500 meters (in 14:41.66); in the 100 meters free, he was swimming in 50.xx) "When his right hand enters, his left hand will be level with his shoulder.". This means that the overlap between his arms is nil, his arms are in opposition: one arm enters the water while the other arm exits the water. (Note that this is different than the Kieren's distance stroke described in the book a few lines above this, as: "When Kieren is doing a two-beat kick, he advances his timing by increasing the amount of overlap between his arms so that his arms are brought together in front of his body.". It is also different than the stroke recommended in Total Immersion, page 47 -similar to that of Kieren's distance stroke-, as: "Leave your right hand out in front while the left is stroking, then begin stroking the right just as the left returns to the front quadrant, and so on. One hand doesn't start until the other one's nearly back. Leaving each in place for just a split-second extra can make a big difference...". So, Kieren's distance stroke and the Total Immersion's stroke, they advocate the making of a pause before an arm is pulling, and the two arms overlap a little bit in front. Kieren's sprint stroke that I experiment with (remember that Kieren went 50.xx in 100 meters free Long Course), has zero overlap between arms, one enters the water to pull, while the other exits the water). With this zero overlap between arms, one arm entering the water to pull while the other is exiting the water, my stroke count drops from 16 strokes to 12 strokes per 25 yards, so from about 18 strokes to about 14 strokes per 25 meters. I am six feet tall. I think however, that swimming with nil overlap is more tiresome than with a pause: a) the pause shifts the center of the gravity of the swimmer towards the front of the swimmer (the two arms bring a mass on the front end of the swimmer), thus the two arms -each one involving a shoulder, pectorals, biceps and triceps- help each other for the pulling; b) the nil pause makes a lower center of gravity, thus requires a stronger arm to do the pulling. Because of this, I see powerfully built sprinters going with the nil pause, and I see distance swimmers going with some pause. 2) Keep the head buried in the water, reach out with the pulling arm, have the fingers slightly apart, rotate the hip downwards and bring the corresponding shoulder under the chin to pull while keeping the body straight (i.e.: don't sway). 3) Easy said, right? It is harder to do 1) and 2), than saying them.