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.
I don't believe that it is more difficult. My long axis turns are already and always underwater.
If you beleive that then I have a drill for you.
Tumble Turn - submerge completely as you reach the flags, swim to the wall underwater and perform a flip turn, push off and streamline to the flags and breakout. At no time during the tumble turn can any of your body break the surface of the water be it hands, head, feet, etc.
Give those a try and you will see that while you may _think_ you are turning while underwater, your feet are still going at or above the surface of the water during the turn.
New record set 2010-09-27. Dynamic Without Fins. 218m. Dave Mullins.
All the record attempts I've seen use breaststroke with breaststroke kick and a long glide between strokes. Presumably that's the best method known for super long attempts.
About 30 years ago, when I was in HS, we had a competition in PE class to see who could go the farthest swimming underwater. (This was a time when people were allowed to do stupid stuff.) A few of my classmates were making it one length of our 25 yard pool. I am thinking, "ok, I can do that. I do 25 with no breath frequently." Then, after most of the students had taken their shot, one kid who was NOT on the swim team, went two full lengths, turning under the water. Being a teen-age boy on the swim team, I knew this could not stand, but I had never even tried to go more than 25 yards before. I knew the trick would be to not use up my oxygen too fast. I mostly just used flutter kick with my arms at my sides, with a few ez breaststroke pullouts. I did open turns but under the water, as we were supposed to be fully submerged. I made it 55 yds, i.e. just to the flags after my second turn. I also scared the %$#* out of myself and have never been able to do more than 25 underwater since. In fact, I think it is interfering with my attempts to learn SDK better. My advise: Don't try this nutty stuff.
This is very much a"don't try this at home,these are trained professionals."As noted before,hyperventilating and then swimming as far as you can underwater is a very good way to drown.
At the start he only needed two strokes per lap with no dolphin kick.
I wonder why he wore a wetsuit. It seems to me that the floatation would hinder.
Pretty sure he's wearing a weight belt. No fins doesn't mean no weights!
Underwater training is very useful, but I've never tried max distance just for the sake of doing it at a slow speed. When I coached DIII for a couple years, I had a very tough time getting some swimmers to buy into underwater sets...but it's usually just 25's, not max stuff. People are concerned about pushing it to their limit sometimes. I would get irritated when college kids wouldn't kick a 25 under water. I mean a 25, come on! Coaching can be very rewarding, but I prefer to be competing.
I once went 15 meters underwater, but I had to sit out the rest of the week. And I kept dreaming I was Shelly Winters in the Poseiden Adventure. And I'm a guy...
