Drafting

Originally posted by knelson I think you're confusing turbulence with wave action, but I see your point! What you want to do is ride the other swimmer's wave, not get swamped by it. What the lead swimmer wants is to not have the drafters chop up the water that any part of his body is moving through, including hips and legs.

I don't think it does, other than it's annoying in a pool to have someone on your heels for a long set, cause you know they aren't working nearly as hard as you are. ande , 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?

Originally posted by ande I don't think it does, other than it's annoying in a pool to have someone on your heels for a long set, cause you know they aren't working nearly as hard as you are. ande , but they also won't be reaping the benefits that you are either so you'll probably smoke em' in a race!

I wonder if two swimmers close together front to back can effectively replicate to some extent the properties of one vessel twice as long. No.

I think most swimmers are familiar with the principal that other things like weight, beam (width) and propulsive force being equal, longer vessels are able to go faster than shorter ones. It has something to do with reduced drag on a longer object. I wonder if two swimmers close together front to back can effectively replicate to some extent the properties of one vessel twice as long. If there is a reduction of drag, it would benefit both swimmers who are acting as one to some degree. This "new" vessel would have double the weight, but with the same beam and double the power and length (approximately, depending on body sizes.)

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?

He did all kinds of things and all are true. I heard some other stuff about Abdel Latif Abou Heif too... Abdel Latif Abou Heif had extra skin between his fingers and toes that he could stretch into webbing while he was swimming.

Don't believe all those ones for sure. Abou was not a very fast swimmer and had quite a splashy stroke. It was easy to pull away from him at the start of a race but once you got up around the 10 mile mark he was very tough. He would catch onto some one and rest on the draft, then pull away rested then latch onto someone else, rest then catch onto someone else rest until he was closer to the lead. He did not win a lot of races in the USA or Canada. He used to come to our house for dinner often. He sure could eat, two or three T bone steaks in a sitting. A family sized chichen was like an appetizer to him.

One of the great drafters was Abdel Latif Abou Heif the great Egytian Marathon swimmer, he was called the "Crocodile of the Nile" I heard that Abdel Latif Abou Heif used to read the newspaper while kicking with fins on his back.

He did all kinds of things and all are true. He was a great friend. I have been trying to reach him for the last 2 years but all the emails I have sent come back undeliverable. I hope he is still with us. www.geocities.com/.../