Ultimate Swim Times

Wayne- I keep visualizing you squatting with 1080lbs...and I can't help but giggling helplessly, but I think Ellison's influence is working upon my perceptions...SQUAT-O max to the rescue. By the way, I've been trying your hints re more underwater breastroke & more lat involvment & I think with a lot of work it will really speed me up- if only I can settle my pulled groin down.

You can do a legal power lifting squat of 1080 pounds? Originally posted by breastroker Howard, NO NO NO. How far you go off the wall is directly porportional to your speed. Generally your drag component and the water density are constant, as is the force you apply to the wall. The only way to go faster is to some how lower the drag component. Slick body suits and caps are helpfull, but very small changes to body position have the biggest affect. The goal is not how far you go off the wall, other wise I might go 20 yards from a push. It is about maintaining the fast speed off the wall, converting the streamline into breakout swimming speed, which depends on the stroke. For me in breaststroke, I go the first 3 seconds about 12 yards, count to 2 and pull down, then one second to the kick to the suface. Most good male swimmers I have coached only go 9-10 yards in that first 3 seconds. Those know me also know I do not look hydrodynamic, polite for fat. But 20 years of working on my underwater, and being able to squat 1080 pounds gives me a huge advantage off the starts and each turn:D :D I have large wide shoulders, but after using the ROM strap for 10 years, can get into a tighter streamline than others with MUCH smaller shoulders. For those who do not know of the ROM strap, look on www.breaststroke.

Going farther off the wall doesn't necessarily mean going faster, right? If your goal was to get farther off the wall then I'd say great. What would be really usefull is to know how times have improved.

Very few swimmers would ever catch it, but since I did it and then corrected the error, I go 15 yards from a wall push! It may only be worth 6 inches, but times 4 would equal 2 feet:D In my observations it is worth a foot or more of distance, the hands only need to be a couple of degrees from straight to cause extra drag, and you will never swim as fast as when you are in the streamline off the start or each turn. So right when you are fastest you are adding drag.:D

Originally posted by breastroker Howard, any male over 40 who has bad knees would be insane to do a .... I agree. I only asked because you said you could squat 1080. I had it in my head what a squat was, thinking power lifting, and wasn't thinking of the incline squat machine. The one thing I keep thinking about is that if you can go 12 yards in 3 seconds, that's 24 yards in 6 seconds. That's assuming your turn is roughly the same as your start which it probably isn't. Let's add a second and make it 7 seconds. That means you only have to swim 26 yards to complete a fifty. The record for your agegroup is 28.7 so all you would have to do is swim 26 yards in 22 seconds to break the record. Sounds like a piece of cake when I think of it that way but I keep thinking I'm missing a piece of the equation. Am I missing something?

geochuck Obviously you were a little younger then, did you do any training or were you naturally strong in the legs? I actually have relatively small legs, my thighs are not big. I do have great calves, I have trouble putting on cowboy boots over my calves. Back in the old days, we did not do any weights for swimming. We used stretch bands, and worked out with the wrestlers and ran track. I taught nautilus for 6 years back in the 80's, the best I would squat was 320 pounds. BUt when I moved to a new gym, I was challenged by a 110 pound woman body builder to do more. I went from 320 to 450 in one day, then went to 600 in a week. It was all in my mind. I did build up slowly to a 800, then was challenged by the same lady to do more. I was working in with a man who had HUGE thighs, twich my size. we went up to just over 1000 that day. I got an Atta boy from the lady :p That actually meant a lot to me at the time, and the guy I was working with said he had not gone that high before either! Once you have been to a 1000, anything less is easy in the mind. I have had periods of no gym workouts and struggle to get above 700 the first workout back. But within weeks I can go above 900 if I feel like it. I have to worry about the knee tracking at very heavy weights above 1000, so I prefer to keep it lower and do more reps and pyramids. I try to go negative on all my reps, sometimes going 3-4 seconds on the negative. It burns real sweet! As they say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger:)

swimming the 1000 in a clown suit You swam in a clown suit? Must have weighed 100 pounds, I am impressed. Pushing off the wall would be brutal, a dead stop. Also not bragging, but the squats have helped my pushoffs. It certainly isn't because I am slender! You could water ski behind a barge if you put enough horsepower in it!

Howard, my best 25 breaststroke from a dive is 12.3 seconds, and I have a great turn. But you really have to be in shape to swim that last 25, and I have not been in shape for years. Not working out at all I do about 32 high, can get to 30 with about two months work out. Would need 6 month of workouts to get below 30 again. For every second drop the work needed increases greatly.

I was twenty five years old, my swimming was about 800 yds 2x a day warm up 200, 500 of 25, 50, 75 yard workouts and 100 warmdown I was sick 1n 1952 and whenever I swam for too long I would go unconcious. But was a policeman and asked to be on the beat, hence walkig for 8 hrs. a day. Just strong legs I guess. They also determined I was the poorest conditioned athlete at those games. George

I guess what I was thinking that you wouldn't have to be in great shape to go 26 yards in 22 seconds. That's like :42 for a 50 speed. I just figured a great start, great pushoff and the rest would take care of itself. Sometimes I get to focused on numbers I guess.