Drafting

Originally posted by LindsayNB We all know that drafting off someone allows you to go faster with less effort, I am wondering if being drafted off of slows one down? Anyone know? The answer is no, the lead swimmer is not slowed down.

Originally posted by LindsayNB We all know that drafting off someone allows you to go faster with less effort, I am wondering if being drafted off of slows one down? Anyone know? I have no scientific evidence to back this up so take it for what it's worth. I don't think you are pulling any extra weight when someone drafts off you. I think it's more mental than anything.

Is drafting permitted in Fina Sanctioned swims? When in a pool, especially when the lane is full eg at Masters then we all take a turn to lead. Necessary when there is a habitual drafter who wishes to 'sprint' by at the last 50. For myself, I am usually tagged as a person that will give a swimmer good draft. I watch where they are on my turn and improve my efficiency, concetrate on my length and technique so I too can dial it up a notch. Good for my fitness too. Then mega transferable in the open water. I have won several bets with some super competitive pool swimmers who are known for their drafting and who are a whole lot faster in the pool than I am. They swim in the middle of the pack a couple of lanes over in the faster lanes. In the open water I can loose them and finish, (much to their surprise) in front of them. !! It doesn't bother me to have a swimmer drafting off me as in some practises the pool is simply too busy. Besides makes you keen to keep the pace and not slack off. I haven't noticed an increased effort due to a drafter, however my training partner is super attuned and can tell immediatley when there is a person in the draft. The stop watch and heart rate tells it as it is. Kiwi

If someone is drafting off you and they know how to draft, it is like pulling another person along. When swimming I drafted off two swimmers one on each side of me for over twenty miles. As each swimmer tried to break away I would draft off the guy trying to get away and latch on to him. I was so rested after 20 miles it was like I was just getting in the water. When I wanted to leave them with eight miles to go they were axhausted and I swam away from them easily. One of the great drafters was Abdel Latif Abou Heif the great Egytian Marathon swimmer, he was called the "Crocodile of the Nile" www.noww.nl/.../port-heif-abdellatief-abouheif.html George Park www.swimdownhill.com

None of the arguments so far is entirely convincing. In the case of the marathon swimmers the advantage to the person who is drafting off another swimmer might be explained entirely by their expending less energy without it being necessary for the lead swimmer to be expending more energy than they would to swim the same speed without someone drafting off them. The leading Olympic swimmer would move over just to avoid making their competitor faster even if the leader were not being slowed down. Conservation of momentum is not the only effect involved in drag and propulsion. An alternate way to approach the issue is to think in terms of high and low pressure. As a body glides though the water it creates an area of higher pressure in front and an area of low pressure behind, creating a net backwards force which slows it down. In order to propel ourselves forward we move our hands backward and create high pressure areas in the rear direction and low pressure in the forward direction pushing us forward. If I swim right behind someone the front part of my body is in the low pressure area behind their body so the balance of high in front of me, and low behind me, is shifted in my favour, and I have less work to do to overcome that pressure differential/drag. If the person behind is busily using their hands to pull the water directly behind my feet backwards they will be further decreasing the pressure behind me and therefore increasing the work I have to do to overcome the front-to-back pressure differential. On the other hand, if the trailing person was doing a kick set then the high pressure area in front of them could increase the pressure behind the lead swimmer and thereby actually help the person in front. Conservation of momentum plays a part in creating the pressure differentials but it isn't the only part, viscousity and wave effects are also involved. And no, I didn't think this all through before I asked! :)

Lindsay: Drafting is somewhat difficult (if not impossible) to do to a swimmer who really in not interested in pulling someone along through the race. I had two guys intentionally attempt to draft me in a 5K in Lake Travis, Texas. Both got warnings and then one got a serious lesson in manners out on the course after ignoring my very decent and forthright warning. Intentionally drafting another swimmer in open water swimming events is a very rude and knuckle head thing to do. Swimmers who do that know good and well that sometimes there are consequences for that type rude behavior and from what I’ve seen over the years, the lessons are sometimes not very pretty. Simply put, sometimes you screw around with the bull, you get the horn……

Originally posted by Tom Ellison Lindsay: Drafting is somewhat difficult (if not impossible) to do to a swimmer who really in not interested in pulling someone along through the race. I had two guys intentionally attempt to draft me in a 5K in Lake Travis, Texas. Both got warnings and then one got a serious lesson in manners out on the course after ignoring my very decent and forthright warning. Intentionally drafting another swimmer in open water swimming events is a very rude and knuckle head thing to do. Swimmers who do that know good and well that sometimes there are consequences for that type rude behavior and from what I’ve seen over the years, the lessons are sometimes not very pretty. Simply put, sometimes you screw around with the bull, you get the horn…… Tom -- Tell me more about this. How do you give a guy a warning? How do you execute that "serious lesson in manners" out on the course? A kick to the face?

They were obviously drafting me! I knew they were there right in my draft spot where I could feel them and see them, so I picked up my pace and held that pace for about 200 to 300 yards. They were still there so I had a very good idea what was going on so I changed directions and swam 40 degrees to my right toward the outside of the coarse. They were both still there and dogging me. I then picked up the pace to try and simply lose them and they were still there after another 200/300 (even when I changed directions from left to right). Finally, after 2 to 3 K I slowed down and stopped, and guess what, both of them stopped as well. I told them to STOP drafting me. I could tell by the look on their faces that they knew exactly what they were doing. One swam out to the left of the course while the other kept right up on me. I simply slowed down real fast to let him up next to me and I swam over him. He continued to draft me so I slowed again and swam over him again. He got the hint and moved over to the right side and swam his own race for awhile and then he found some really powerful woman off shore swimmer to draft. She sat the guy straight by yelling at him to get off her back side. Both of these guys had a plan. Before the race I got asked by both what I thought my time would be (and I told both what I thought I could swim the 5K in). They had it in their mind to do exactly what they were doing and that was; have me pull their sorry backsides along the race course. Not going to happen….

Originally posted by Tom Ellison Lindsay: Drafting is somewhat difficult (if not impossible) to do to a swimmer who really in not interested in pulling someone along through the race. I had two guys intentionally attempt to draft me in a 5K in Lake Travis, Texas. Both got warnings and then one got a serious lesson in manners out on the course after ignoring my very decent and forthright warning. It's easy in open water, sometimes you just have to slow down lift your head a tad to see where you're going. Every coach will tell you how important to the balance is to keep kicking as you're sighting for your destination. ;)

Drafting is illegal in USA-Swimming sanctioned events (704.6.5), and is not allowed by FINA rules (OWS 6.2). However, drafting is legal in USMS events. Tom, I agree Abdel Latif Abou Heif is one of swimming’s greatest heroes. Not just because of the amazing races, but also because of how long he stayed on top of his game!