I just wanted to start this thread to share different interesting or unusual things you noticed about swimmers during Olympics(technique, swimwear, etc.).Here are some of mine:
1)Andriy Sedinov of Ukraine, bronze in 100m. had the excess strings hanging down from the goggles all the way to his chin. what is up with that?talk about extra drag...well, maybe he did not pack scissors with him to Athens,lol
2)Natalie Coughlin had two swim caps with goggles straps between them - she was probably thinking WORLD RECORD and was concerned the new speed would flush one cap away or something - so she put on two for reassurance, haha.But seriously - does she always do that and what is the purpose of that?
3)Wu Peng of China, 5th in 200m fly had some crazy kicking technique I have never seen before.It looks like he does 3 kicks, there is just CONSTANT kicking there.Take a look if you have a video from Athens, it looks bizarre!
4)Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe, 200m backstroke gold medal and more wore something resembling a World War II helmet rather than a swim cap.I have no clue what on earth that was.Again I suggest you see that.
5)Eva Risztov of Hungary amazed me by "breaking" one of the first rules you learn in backstroke - still head position.Watch her 400 IM final race - her head is jerking all over the place like she is sightseeing or something.I don't know, maybe it doe something beneficial to the flow of her stroke.
6)Stanislava Komarova of Russia, silver in 200m backstroke swims her races with NO goggles.I guess it is not that bad in backstroke, though...
Any other interesting observations?
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Former Member
Here's another interesting thing I noticed that took place during the Olympics.You all remember the women 400IM final, don't you?I am sure you do...That battlle between Klochkova and Sandeno was a masterpiece written in the water.Anyways, I love watching that race over and over...'cause it is beautiful.So on the freestyle leg I noticed and interesting thing in Sandeno's kick.On the first 50 right after the breaststroke leg she started off with a 6-beat for about 7 meters and then switched to a 2-beat(!!!) all the way to about 8-9 meters towards the wall where she geared into a 6-beat kick again(I am guessing she was trying to speed up into the wall) and then the last 50 she brought it home with a constant 6-beat.I am just amazed at how some swimmers can vary the beat patterns.I was also wondering why she did it like that, my guess - she was trying to save her legs for the very last 50, but another thing I thought about was what if she had a 6-beat kick throught he entire freestyle leg, could that have brought her the gold instead of the silver(she lost only .12 to Klochkova)?
Here's another interesting thing I noticed that took place during the Olympics.You all remember the women 400IM final, don't you?I am sure you do...That battlle between Klochkova and Sandeno was a masterpiece written in the water.Anyways, I love watching that race over and over...'cause it is beautiful.So on the freestyle leg I noticed and interesting thing in Sandeno's kick.On the first 50 right after the breaststroke leg she started off with a 6-beat for about 7 meters and then switched to a 2-beat(!!!) all the way to about 8-9 meters towards the wall where she geared into a 6-beat kick again(I am guessing she was trying to speed up into the wall) and then the last 50 she brought it home with a constant 6-beat.I am just amazed at how some swimmers can vary the beat patterns.I was also wondering why she did it like that, my guess - she was trying to save her legs for the very last 50, but another thing I thought about was what if she had a 6-beat kick throught he entire freestyle leg, could that have brought her the gold instead of the silver(she lost only .12 to Klochkova)?
