We were goofing around after practice the other day and decided to see who could swim the farthest underwater. We both went well over 50 meters (the underwater turn was a killer). I opted for dolphin kicking a ways and then switched to the underwater breastroke. I’m not sure which technique is better for distance as opposed to speed. Anyone out there ever make a full 100m underwater? Oh yeah, this can be dangerous because a lot of people pass out. So if you make an attempt, be sure someone is on deck watching you. Perhaps some of you dorks could even put on your competitions suits and monofins and see if it improves your performance. You guys kill me with all your equipment.
dont do it anymore. VERY dangerous
Yep. There's a reason why it is no longer an Olympic event.
the underwater turn was a killer
I'm not sure why being underwater makes the turn any different unless it's super shallow. You're just doing the short-axis somersault turn right? I suppose that a long-axis turn works just as well. Of course, you won't be able to get a breath out of short-axis turn if you're underwater. Otherwise, it shouldn't make any difference. My problem is that I can't control my depth very well. If the pool is too shallow, I tend to scrape my chest off the pool bottom a lot, or do the sideways dolphin kick thing.
Underwater drills are still a good thing because it's the fifth stroke and happens in every event. But 15m max in competition!
More interesting is How fast can you go underwater? I haven't seen many people do it, but saw Shelley Ripple do 25 yards in about 14 seconds. That's on pace for a sub-minute 100. She wasn't using her arms at all, except to establish posture.
I mentioned the turn was a killer because I usually am blowing out air in that process and I had to keep it very minimal and I was feeling it coming off the turn.
This was a lonnnng time ago too....
Whatever you decide, just do not hyperventilate prior to starting this madness... it's dangerous enough as it is.
A certain level of CO2 is necessary in the lungs to ensure your natural instinct to breath is maintained, if you hyper before you start, you could well pass out, sink to the bottom, and then unconsciously start "breathing" water when the CO2 levels reach their trigger point in your lungs. That would make rescue even more difficult on the poor lifeguard.
I absolutely agree that you should be extremely careful with this, and cannot agree more with the reason above! Two swim clubs down the road from us there were 4 girls (synchro swimmers that are trained to hold for long periods of time) that passed out within 2 minutes of eachother. Definitely be careful if it is a must for you to do this!
Turns underwater are way more difficult. For one thing your body wants to bob up to the surface, for another water is 1000 times denser than air, so reversing your direction takes a lot of energy.
Another reason for this is that when you are swimming on the top of the water and complete a flip turn (if done properly) you will end up shooting under the existing current. While you are swimming underwater and making the turn underwater you are driving right into the force of your current.
My dad, who could not swim above water to save his life, used to dive the entire length of our 50 meter pool using the *** stroke. I would not be surprised that , had he known how to do a turn, he would have gone back the other way for another 25 or so.
When I turn underwater, I do the breaststroke turn, just underwater (I'm usually swimming underwater breaststroke anyway, since my dolphin kicks don't get me very far for the effort spent). I let myself go towards the surface a bit before the turn so when I push off, I can push off under some of my turbulance.
Had a teammate in college go over 100 meters (LCM) underwater. Wouldn't recommend trying it.
Personally haven't tried but I've been doing breath control stuff in practice. 25 SCY is easy unless you get your HR up. I'll do some 50's where I go 3 breathes, 2, 1, 0...go through that 3-4 times on 20-30 sec. rest.
Enough with the excuses. Someone make a run at 100m. Sure, you could die, but you will be forever immortalized on this message board. What more do you need?
Amen! :drown:
I swam 100 yards underwater in a 20 yard pool long ago. The last yard I started to convulse and smacked my head on the wall just before passing out. I do not recommend the practice.
Absolutely appreciate this anecdotal comment! Definitely shows that there is a danger there!
Having all other factors equal (endurance, V02 Max, size of lung, training and other physical stuff), what makes someone hold their breath longer is purely a mental game. The drive to breathe is based on an accumulation of C02 in the blood, the result of buffering of the acidic blood by H+ C03- which produces excess carbon dioxide. All the energy processes end up producing this C02 which must be eliminated from the body, and one of the methods of eliminating is via the lungs, where C02 is blown off as we breathe. So, we have a "normal" range of partial pressure of C02 dissolved in blood of 40, and as that number grows the urge to breathe becomes stronger. If we train our minds to hold that urge and not breathe we may stay under longer. Also if we swim faster we accumulate more C02 in our blood stream...so there is a balance between going faster and/or longer. The trick about hyperventilating is not that you get more oxygen in but that you get rid of more C02 circulating and thus you go under or hold your breathe for longer. The downside (caveat?) is that you might end up without oxygen and passing out in shallow water. This is getting long and boring, and was discussed in the past, but remember: it is not hunger for oxygen, but the need to expel carbon dioxide that makes you breathe.
