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
Stefan won the 50 SCM European Championship relatively easy yesterday (as easy as a 50 free final can get that is) untapered and unshaved (I guess some of the form from the world cup are still there)
Time 21.11
impressive guy!!!
tomorrow, saturday is the 100 m free...
After watching the 200 IM again I was a little amused by the reaction from Lochte... He seemed disappointed with the 1:40.08... Quote. "Well I wanted to be under 1:40"
I suppose there's not really much to say, but I would have loved to interview him post race...
I didn't really get a reaction/response out of anyone from this post, so I figure I'll just say what I was thinking at the time when I watched the post-race interview..."
Me - "Whoa, 1:40.08 for 200 IM SCY, way to go MAN!!"
Lochte - "Ya, well I wanted to be under 1:40"
Me - "Under 1:40?? Come on now, you're the fastest in all history, you're the fastest that ever was... give me something, a smile, a chuckle, you know man?"
Lochte - "ya, the 50 free is next."
Me - "Okay, the vast majority of people, who don't swim, might be watching you race... They could have a bathtub showdown with you doing the 200 IM and they'll be doing 8 lengths of the tub; you'd still win.
I'd be in the tub thinking, hmmm should I do a hand touch or a flip turn, or maybe I should take a breather at the half-way mark, you know, I've preparing for this race since... yesterday. You'd be standing there saying, hmmmm I could have gone 1:39!!"
:applaud::applaud::applaud::applaud::applaud::applaud::applaud::applaud::applaud::applaud::applaud::applaud:
Interesting article on straight arm freestyle from The Race Club site:
The Straight-Arm Freestyle Recovery
By Gary Hall, Sr.
Recently, I was watching a video telecast on the Web of the World Cup meet in Berlin, hoping to catch a glimpse of some of the Race Club swimmers competing in the 100 m Freestyle. Mostly, I was captivated by the swim of Stefan Nystrand of Sweden, who dominated an impressive field of sprinters, and did so with a straight-arm recovery.
The straight-arm recovery in Freestyle is not new. I am not sure who was the first to use it, but in my memory bank, which has a rather small deposit, Janet Evans comes to mind. Others have succeeded using it as well….Kristen Otto (plus steroids), Inge de Bruijn, Michael Klim, just to name a few.
The straight-arm recovery is not pretty. In fact, it looks down right strange….but, then again, how much time gets deducted for a pretty stroke? Zippo. The question is…”will it make you swim faster?”
Science and logic would seem to support a “yes” response. Why? Well, the arm has weight to it, perhaps 5,6 or 7 pounds. I’m guessing, as I have never lopped one off to weigh it. Even though more of the arm’s weight is at the proximal end (near the shoulder) than the distal end (near the hand), our recovery requires that we swing the arm back to the front to be in the position for another pull. This can be done with the arm swung either to the side or straight over the top and with the elbow either bent or locked (straight arm).
There are two primary objectives of the arm recovery. The first is to put the arm back in the position for the strongest underwater power or pull as fast as possible. The second is to transfer as much energy or inertia from the arm to the body as possible. By transferring this arm energy to the body, we help to continue to propel the body through the water.
Bending the elbow on the freestyle recovery might give us a slight advantage on the first objective. Since it shortens the distance that the hand needs to travel it likely allows one to get the hand back into the power position slightly faster than with a straight arm. I am speculating here because I have never actually timed it. However, with the second objective, a straight-arm recovery has a clear advantage over the bent elbow and allows more transfer of energy to the body.
The transfer of energy from the arm to the body depends on several factors. One is distance. The further the weight is away from the body, the better. A second is speed. The faster the weight is swung, the better.
Consider a discus thrower. Although he transfers his body’s energy to the discus, he does so by extending the discus as far out as the arm will allow and by generating as much speed of the discuss as possible before it is released. The more body weight and the faster the speed, the further the discus will fly; more energy transferred.
Imagine if, instead of arms, you had ropes attached to your shoulders with a five-pound weight attached to each rope. If you wanted to transfer as much of the weight’s energy to your body, you would swing the weight with the rope fully extended as fast as possible and would stop the swing with the arm in the horizontal position in front of you…just like casting a fishing pole with a lead weight on it. In that fashion, the maximum amount of energy will “pull” your body, since there is no more line to let out. Further, just like in casting, you would want to swing the arms directly over the top, not around the side, so the energy will propel your body forward instead of to the side. This is the effect of the straight-arm recovery.
Think about backstroke. You wouldn’t dare consider a bent-arm recovery in backstroke (I think Adolph Kiefer may have been the last to do that in the 36 Olympics). Try it sometime and you will see what I mean. So if straight-arm works so much better for backstroke, why not in freestyle?
There are two reasons I can think of. The first is that it doesn’t feel natural. Few have even tried it. It is not the way we were taught how to swim freestyle, so why change? I have not yet tried a straight-arm recovery in competition, but I can already tell it makes me faster in practice. It also makes me swim with what Mike Bottom calls the “shoulder driven” freestyle stroke. The second is that the shoulder joint does not extend (move rearward) as easily as it flexes (moves forward). So to recover with a straight arm directly over the top in freestyle means that the entire body needs to rotate from side to side. Yet this is a good thing. In other words, by using a high, straight-arm recovery, we are forced into more shoulder rotation and consequently, more hip rotation, which also helps propel us forward.
So if straight-arm recovery is that good, why doesn’t everyone use it? First, it takes more work to do it properly. Rotating those shoulders and hips in practice is not easy. Some just don’t have the flexibility they need to do it and trying repeatedly could impinge the shoulder and cause pain. And like anything else, it takes practice. For me, it felt very strange for over a week. Now, I really like the feeling of the straight-arm recovery and can sense the energy transferring with every stroke.
The straight-arm freestyle recovery is not for everyone, but it might work for you. Just remember not to turn your arms over like a slow, revolving windmill in Holland or a rotisserie chicken. You have to whip those babies over the top like you mean it. Extend the shoulder. And as far as that delicate hand entry into the water, forget it. Of course, when sprinting the hand needs to be in the position for an immediate catch, but great swimmers find a way to grab hold of the water.
If you’re still not sure you get it, come down here to a Race Club camp and let me show you how. You see, I can teach young or old dogs how to do new tricks.
