Recently I watched Denis Pankratov’s finals’ swims (two golds – 100 & 200m fly) at the Atlanta Olympics. His 25m long underwater kick helped him win these events. His underwater speed was obvious as he gained a significant advantage at the breakout point over the 2nd and 3rd place finishers whose times were 52.5 sec - still good ten years later (not wearing full body suit!).
What is interesting – his underwater kick was not streamlined. His hands were 10+ inches apart and they were making a wave-like motion. This technique breaks two main rules of the efficient underwater dolphin kick demonstrated by Ian Crocker in the March issue of The Swimming World magazine:
1. Keep the hands in a streamlined position, and
2. Keep the head hidden within the streamline.
Can anyone comment on why Pankratov’s (arguably wrong?) underwater kick was still fast:dunno:
Dmitri
But if you're flexible, doesn't it make sense to use the streamline and the hands fully locked position? Doesn't that actually require more flexibility than the hands apart method?
Yes, I think ideally Crocker's position is the best, but like you said, it doesn't work for everybody.
But if you're flexible, doesn't it make sense to use the streamline and the hands fully locked position? Doesn't that actually require more flexibility than the hands apart method?
Yes, I think ideally Crocker's position is the best, but like you said, it doesn't work for everybody.
