Genetic testing available for sprint versus endurance talent

Getting back to the differce, a sprinter can become distance swimmer and vice versa I have done both, my brother did both my sister did both. As far as jumpimg goes... George

Ande, Don't get me wrong, Urho Saari was a great coach for the 1950's and 60's. Primarily a water polo coach ( Olympic team) he developed some fine swimmers. But high school swimming was transitioning from 2500 yards to much more. And there was only the 200 breaststroke up until 1968. And these was no such thing as Sports Science then. Doc Counsilman started a whole new field. Plus if I had been good enough to swim for Doc I would have not damaged my knees. His breaststroke swimmers did not have the same problems as other coaches. Of course Doc was a great breaststroker. I wonder just how high some of the great freestyle sprinters could jump? Say Biondi, Jager, or Ervin. I think the basic workouts of swimming take away some of the leaping ability.

It would be a good project for someone to measure the distance people vs. the sprinters at a Masters nationals. There was some research that Masters swimmers had better verticle leaps than the general popluation in the USA, but it would be interesting to carry it further. I would bet some triatheles and distance swimmers could not jump over 12 inches, and some older sprinters would be major surprises on how high they could jump.

Originally posted by Rich Abrahams Save yourself some time and money. Just do a vertical leap test. If you can't jump at least 20" you'll have a hard time excelling in sprint events. Well....from what I can do on a basketball court I know my leap is virtually nil..so I should, I guess, be swimming 50 mile marathons....The genetic testing seemed like a cool, scientific, 21st century way of giving validity to what I already know.

Taken from the "Competitive Swim Manual for Coaches and Swimmers" by James E. Counsilmam. "Over the past 25 years I have used the vertical jump to measure explosive power of swimmers. Results show that swimmers who have a high vertical-jump score for their age and sex make better sprinters, while those who have a low vertical-jump score make better distance swimmers. Those near the norm make good middle-distance swimmers. For example, the vertical jump of one of our sprinters, world record holder Jim Mongomery, was 26 inches (as was that of Mark Spitz); that of world record holder in the disatance events , John Kinsella, was 18 inches". The following is a rough estimate of the classification of adult males according to their scores in the standing vertical jump: 24 to 31 inches - sprinters 18 to 25 inches - middle-distance swimmers 11 to 22 inches - distance swimmers "While it is obvious that there are many factors involved in swimming any distance and no coach is so naive as to take a sprinter who has a vertical jump of only 14 inches and yet holds the world record in the 100 meter freestyle, and suddenly change him to a distance swimmer, still the predictive value of the vertical jump is amazingly accurate, causing the case above to be highly unlikely". Here is the procedure for measuring explosive power with the vertical jump. 1. Start with a testing chart. A series of lines should be painted on the wall, with every fifth line painted a different color and numbered, using the English measuring system. 2. The subject stands at a right angle and next to the testing chart and reaches as high as he can with one hand, keeping his heels flat on the ground. The tester notes the line to which his hand reaches. 3. The subject steps back from the wall 6 to 12 inches and without taking a step dips slightly and jumps as high as he can, reaching with the same hand he used before and throwing the other hand downward vertical toward the body. The tester notes the highest point reached by the subject in three trials to obtain the height of the vertical jump. Do not allow the subject to take a step before jumping. Also, Wayne thanks for recognizing the accomplishments Urho Saari who was one of the great coaches of our time. He was the 1965 ASCA Coach for the Year for Water Polo. His two sons along with himself are members of the ISHOF. Roy Saari is a member of both the Swimming and Water Polo Hall of Fame and is considered by many to be the greatest College swimmer of all time.

You can NEVER go wrong quoting Doc Counsilman. That was great, and the information was too. I wonder where Mat Biondi,and other great sprinters after Doc retired, what their verticle jumps were? Modern training techniques allow much more explosive starts and verticle jumps. Most pro basketball players are above 36 inches, with a few at 43! Polymetric training can greatly increase this explosiveness. In 1965 our family moved to El Segundo from Arizona. I was a high school Senior, school record holder in the 100 *** and all state in AAU waterpolo. I once scored 11 goals in a game against Oxnard, but could not crack the starting lineup for the El Segundo waterpolo. Thats because his younger son had gone to the 64 Olympics, and most of the players had been in the program for 12 years! He could tell you every single swimmers time that day for the timed mile, and each swimmers best times, and splits.