Coaches will always tell you on the two short axis strokes of breaststroke and butterfly, never pull into a turn. Always kick into the turn. By adjusting your stroke about 5 meters out, looking at the wall, you will automatically adjust and come into the wall with all the power of the breaststroke kick.
But what if you are at the Olympics and you have misjudged the turn. Your kick has finished too far out and you have to pull into the wall. What do you do? Why cheat of course!
Check out the mpeg video called bossini2004a.mpeg at swimfastest.net/.../athens2004.html
This video of Paolo Bossini and Kitajima in heat 4 of the 200 ***, shows the start of the race, where both Bossini and Kitajima have some loose legs but not actual dolphin kicks like what Kitajima did in the 100.
What is interesting is at frames 700-731 (23.357 to 24.358 sec) which distinctly shows a downwards dolphin and eddy to push him (Bossini) into the turn faster. His kick ended at frames 653 (21.788 sec) and he is pulling into a turn, which every breaststroker knows is a no no.
So to keep himself up he dolphins into the turn.
This is how you cheat at the Olympics:mad:
Avery Lee's video processing tool VirtualDub www186.pair.com/.../index.html
This will allow you to move the slider and go frame by frame.
Former Member
Look at the turn on kitajima2004a.mpg. Interesting that Kitajima and Brendan Hanson hit the wall together just above the cross in the touch pad. But Kitajima has a slightly faster turn, he gets into a tighter ball and his feet leave the wall just before Brendans. What is amazing is Hansen has what I consider a poor streamline. If you clasp your thumb over the side of the top of the other hand, you can get into a tighter streamline as your shoulders are pulled in tighter. This allows Kitajima to get to the 5 meter line first at frames 380. Brendan breaks streamline to begin his pulldown, while Kitajima continues until frame 388 to start his backwards pulldown. Note: do not just put one hand on to of the other, use your thumb to lock over the other hand, and stretch into a tighter streamline.
But look at the other end, Kitajima sneaks his feet up from frames 380 to 392. Here he begins the BIG CHEAT. Watch carefully boys and girls, this is advanced cheating 201. Frames 392 to 402 clearly show a downwards dolphin kick, note the huge eddy currect shown in frames 402 to 412. Note his hands are still in front of his face at frame 402 when the dolphin kick is completed.
Generally if the body pikes during the pulldown from pulling so hard, it happens when the arms get to the chest and past. When your hands are out in front, you do not have the mechanical advantage that you create when you are in your power zone from the chest to the waist. This is the only area that you can over pull and create a dolphin kick from pulling too hard. And it actually breaks streamline if it occurs in this area.
Kitajima clearly uses the dolphin to gain a HUGE advantage. He gains over 18 inches on this one CHEAT alone. He did the same off the start of the 100.
When Kitajima hits the 15 meter mark, (the red lane lines) at frames 754 his neck is passing the 15 meter mark as Brendans hands get to the mark at frame 775. Clearly over 2 feet.
Without cheating he would have had six inches to as much as a foot lead. With cheating a GOLD medal!!!! Priceless.
Okay, from this objective point of view (I'm a backstroker, and while I like Brendan Hansen, I really have no side, either way)....whoo, sidetrack, anyway!
I watched the video, I saw the race. To point out one thing, Brendan, in a possible way, performed way better at the Trials than he did at the Games. Blame it on tapering, mental pressure, whatever. He swam better before the Games. In that light, Katajima probably would have won the gold anyway if he hadn't cheated, because you're right, Brendan didn't seem to have a good pullout, at least, not as good as Katajima's, minus the cheat.
Which brings me to the real point. Faster or not in the race, Katajima clearly cheated. The issue isn't whether Brendan would have won gold, or anything else, it's the simple fact that a swimmer cheated, in a level of competition like the Olympics, and almost nobody called him on it. Bravo to Aaron Peirsol and Jason Lezak for sticking true to their morals, even if it did look like they were just sticking up for a teammate.
Maybe this isn't such a great training video for kids, because while it teaches them what cheating is, it might also teach them how to get away with it. :(
Sorry for anybody that gets angry over this, but it's objective. At least, as objective as a 20 year old backstroker can be. :cool:
I have had coaches from other countries tell me that it wasn't a dolphin kick, and that Bossinni was repositioning his legs for the turn.
Let me tell you as a life long breaststroker, where Kitajima took his dolphin kick was calculated and deliberate. In no way was it due to the pulldown. It is much easier to remain streamlined than to carefully sneak the feet up in order to do dolpin at exactly the correct point to get maximum thrust.
And Bossinni was way too far away from the wall for his dolphin to be part of the turn.
For coaches, the actual turns of Kitajima and Hanson are textbook, just don't show the dolphin kick on the 100 ***.
For years Ed Moses had the fastest times for breaststroke turns, that is 5 meters into and out of the turns. He was between 0.3 and 1.0 seconds faster! But Kitajima caught him in turn speed in 2001 and became faster than ed from 2002-present.
This is something all masters swimmers can inprove on. I have a video of myself touching at the 25 yd of the 50 yd *** at nationals at DeAnza. I touched in front of everyone, but came up almost a yard behind after the pullout. I got third but swore I would never loose another turn! Every turn in practice is a race turn, always looking for perfection.
It is a great way to get respect from freestylers when you can beat their flip turn and come up a body length or more ahead after the pulldown:D
Originally posted by breastroker
It is a great way to get respect from freestylers when you can beat their flip turn and come up a body length or more ahead after the pulldown:D
I have only been in the pool for about 18 months. The thing that made the biggest improvement in any one stroke was to learn to do a proper turn/pulldown on the breaststroke. (Although I'm sure I can still improve a lot more:( .) I can get keep an eye on someone doing freestyle in the lane next to me. They will pass me at the middle of the pool and be a body length in front of me at the end, then after the turn I can be a body length ahead of them. Then they pass me in the middle again.....
Makes me wonder if someone could be so good at a breaststroke turn/pulldown that they could use it as the turn in a freestyle race while doing the normal freestyle stroke in the middle? Freestyle rules would allow it I think?:confused:
Watching these videos is great. I can see areas that I need to work on. In particular, I pull my hands back too far during the stroke. These guys almost look like they are taking short, choppy strokes ending under their chins. I still come back to far though, ending almost to my stomach....
Yep, dolphin kick.
I remember even doing that when I was an age grouper...
Never got caught --but I never won either. Such was my karma...
The feed was great! Thanks.
Originally posted by Scansy
Makes me wonder if someone could be so good at a breaststroke turn/pulldown that they could use it as the turn in a freestyle race while doing the normal freestyle stroke in the middle? Freestyle rules would allow it I think?:confused:
Yup. Freeestyle rule would allow it. (Thus the name free-style.)
Don't think you're the first person to think of it! :)
I hope you don't mean cheating tools:D :D
There is great technique in these videos. Most breaststrokers and butterflyers no longer scull out and in, it is more a pull back.
The turns are so important in races. The push offs the wall on free and fly easily show that with proper streamline and some dolphin kicks you can make up as much as a meter. Phelps and Natalie do this so well.
Please note I was not the original poster of this link, although many of us have been looking at the site for over a year.
Originally posted by Guvnah
Yup. Freeestyle rule would allow it. (Thus the name free-style.)
Don't think you're the first person to think of it! :)
I'm sure that many, many swimmers (and better swimmers than me) have thought of it. But has anyone used it successfully at a high level of compettition - say NCAA's, worlds, Olympics?
