Check
www.youtube.com/watch
Whoa... I'm speechless... well, momentarily anyways...
That is incredible, I've never seen anything quite like
this before!! What a perfect example of a totally unique
stroke, a bizarre phenomena that might not ever become
mainstream swimming philosophy.
I mean, it would be near to impossible to try and mimic
this stroke pattern, not to mention, how could someone
actually describe this appropriately in words...???!!
Attempting the impossible, just for the sheer need of
understanding, how could I let this opportunity "swim"
away?
His mix of technical variables are somewhat shocking,
and trying to describe his kick pattern combined with
his torso and pulling action is a slightly daunting task.
I mean, this appears to be a hybrid swimming stroke,
combining elements of butterfly and freestyle, with very
little semblance of previously accepted principals. This
may be the new "stroke" or just something that works
solely for this man.
Personally, I'm not willing to risk everything by endorsing
this stroke, but I will not disappoint by trying my best to
explain it.
His windmill action above water has been seen before, not
a complete shock, but it is when we look under-water that
I'm completely flabbergasted...
All the concepts I've known about sprint freestyle are almost
completely contrary with Stefan Nystrand.
Where should I start?
1. He bounces through his stroke, a tighter version of
the body dolphin action, during freestyle??!!
2. He swims "uphill", totally bizzare, but this is what I'm seeing.
You can even pause his stroke in the 25 meter under water angle,
and the result is uncanny. It appears that he rotates from side to side,
so fast, that the resistance from his body position is mitigated.
3. His "catch" stays near the surface, and he begins pulling
immediately, he doesn't wait for his forearm to be perpendicular to
the bottom of the pool. ***GASP*** Instead, he almost drops his
elbow, and pulls at 45 degrees, in exchange for faster tempo, and
the body dolphin.
4. His kick, ummmmm, his kick... What is that? A four-beat freestyle/dolphin blend? It's like his legs are assisting with the upper body set-up and over-all body-dolphin action.... ???!!!????!!!!
Okay folks, not sure what else to say, except.... WOW!
Former Member
"Did you take a look at the straight on video?"
Got it. It's just defies all principles of swimming science.
Maglischo's book is going to need a few revisions.
BTW...(24 seconds from the wall! That's impressive.)
I tried this in work-out tonight, and although it actually was a bit faster for me, (it could have been the adrenalin) 24.83 short course meters from a push
For a 50? Maybe you should stick with it. Sounds darn fast to me!
I wonder why it is only "pretty" if it conforms to conventional norms? We're just so brainwashed to think that high elbows are prettier we can't see anything else as "pretty" anymore. Instead, it's brutish and ugly. I dunno. I think your ideal stroke mechanics might depend somewhat on your body type and your own individual strengths in swimming. Nystrand must think he's faster this way, and that's why he adopted the unique stroke. he's obviously faster than the "pretty" people. I'd give it a try myself, but it does look pretty hard on the shoulders. I like the notion of a high frequency freetsyle body dolphin. It's interesting. It's also nice to see something different every once in awhile. If we didn't have some "fads," things would get dull.
If we didn't have some "fads," things would get dull.
And not progress as far or as fast. We wouldn't have the Fosbury Flop for instance. When we the last time you saw a western roll used in a high jump competition?
Skip Montanaro
That's what I call 'high frequency swimming'. He's like a humming bird, he is. If you look closely at his SDK's you will hardly notice the undulations. He isn't moving them up and down much but he is moving them buzzingly fast instead. This is in keeping with his wildly fast arm movements.
His kick is different, too. Notice how much deeper the left leg (I think it is the left leg but it is difficult to tell on that grainy video) kicks than the right leg. I could also be wrong here but it looks like the right leg is doing more beats than the left. Perhaps that is why the left is going deeper - using depth to compensate for slower speed and thus maintain rhythm.
It ain't pretty but it is effective. Someone else posted on another forum that if you just saw the video of him swimming without the times you would think he wasn't very good. But the clock doesn't lie and he is obviously doing something very right.
Syd
I wonder why it is only "pretty" if it conforms to conventional norms?
Stefan Nystrand is a perfect example of unconventional stroke mechanics and this exemplifies why each athlete should do what works best for them. It's good to see the full spectrum, Popov to Nystrand.
In my books, that's absolutely beautiful.
Maybe not pretty, but boy... is it fast :notworthy:
Nathan Jendrick, I've been checking out your web page, thanks
for the link... I'll check it out regularly...
You know, after further analysis, (many hours of staring in a dumbstruck fashion) I've come to another conclusion.
It appears that Stefan isn't doing the free kick in the "traditional sense", but instead it seems he is doing single dolphin kicks with each leg, and just allowing the beat to be loose in terms of how it corresponds with his lightning fast arm-cycle.
There certainly IS an over-all body dolphin that results from this action, and it is bizarre, albeit tighter and smaller. (This can even be seen by his bouncing stroke from the above water angle) Also, if you look at the head-on video you can see his head and shoulders moving up and down, up and down, without a doubt.
Again from the side view, the head up and feet down (frozen frame) looks hauntingly similar to a butterfly action, except the arms are spinning in a freestyle motion. (In one picture I managed to capture, his feet are nearly together in motion, just like a dolphin kick)
This stroke is nearly impossible, but hey, I guess that's why we call it sport.
S - Staying
P - Performance
O - Oriented
R - Respecting
T - Talent
Hmm. Non-traditional vs ugly... I'm sorry to say, ugly is ugly. Albeit non-traditional.
I'd like to see some high quality underwater footage with head on shots.
Hmmmm...ugly or not...it is fast...and that is what counts. I remember the same discussions around the V-style in ski jumpin a couple of years ago...."ugly" as h-ll, but now everyone is using this style.
Exactly. Plus, it's only "ugly" if you accept the prevailing preconceived notion of "pretty," i.e., TI high elbows. It didn't bother me at all. In fact, I might try it. I have a fairly straight arm high SR sprint freestyle. This style might be faster for me.
I'm sure people used to think wave action breaststroke was ugly.
