I just learned from Wikipedia that competitive butterfly swimming requires less energy than breaststroke . Is that right?
I feel reaststroke requires much less energy than butterfly. At least when I am tired, I can still swim breaststroke, but there is no way I can swim butterfly.
Now I can only swim butterfly for 50 yards. At the beginning of the swim I feel everything is quite right. But after 25 yards I rely so much on the second kick to bring my arms over the water. Yes I am tired. If you ask me which part of my body is the most tired, I can't tell.
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Wow, I always thought butterfly used more energy. I'm not completely sure why breaststroke would use more energy, but here's a few ideas:
Speed: Since breaststroke is a slower stroke, are they comparing the energy needed to swim a set distance? Or are they comparing a swimmer swimming breaststroke and butterfly at the same speed? Or are they simply measuring energy used per unit time?
Technique: How good are the swimmers who were tested? If they were elite, they may have such good technique that the results are different from those of "normal" swimmers.
I could be completely wrong about both of these. Has anyone here actually tried an experiment of this sort?
Wow, I always thought butterfly used more energy. I'm not completely sure why breaststroke would use more energy, but here's a few ideas:
Speed: Since breaststroke is a slower stroke, are they comparing the energy needed to swim a set distance? Or are they comparing a swimmer swimming breaststroke and butterfly at the same speed? Or are they simply measuring energy used per unit time?
Technique: How good are the swimmers who were tested? If they were elite, they may have such good technique that the results are different from those of "normal" swimmers.
I could be completely wrong about both of these. Has anyone here actually tried an experiment of this sort?
