Drafting

I started swimming again 14 mos ago, and really training this past June. Always by myself. Last night I swam with a girls HS team who needed the YMCA's pool space in an emergency (their pool was closed due to pump problem). So I swam in a circle of 6 as I used to do constantly as a kid. And I really got to thinking about how swimming in a circle impacts technique. Just the crowd alone makes technique concentration harder. And I was swimming fast w/ perceived ease, but since I've been practicing the EVF I've read about here, it was noticeably harder to feall, at least, the catch. My DPS changed for sure. Subtleties like hand placement were lost compared to still water workouts. So...back to drafting...has anyone seriously looked into how swimming directly behind others constantly effects stroke technique? Do we subconsciously adapt to swimming efficiently in that environment to the detriment of race times, etc.? Do elite swimmers train single lane?

I started swimming again 14 mos ago, and really training this past June. Always by myself. Last night I swam with a girls HS team who needed the YMCA's pool space in an emergency (their pool was closed due to pump problem). So I swam in a circle of 6 as I used to do constantly as a kid. And I really got to thinking about how swimming in a circle impacts technique. Just the crowd alone makes technique concentration harder. And I was swimming fast w/ perceived ease, but since I've been practicing the EVF I've read about here, it was noticeably harder to feall, at least, the catch. My DPS changed for sure. Subtleties like hand placement were lost compared to still water workouts. So...back to drafting...has anyone seriously looked into how swimming directly behind others constantly effects stroke technique? Do we subconsciously adapt to swimming efficiently in that environment to the detriment of race times, etc.? Do elite swimmers train single lane?