After recognizing that my stroke is much longer than most OWS, I decided to poke around and see if stroke was different for OW as opposed to swimming in a pool. I found this (There is a part 2 if you click on the channel and scroll down the right side):
YouTube - Swim Smooth: What Is An Efficient Freestyle Stroke? Part 1
I would love to get reactions. I know that when I quicken my stroke rate and shorten my stroke I seem to fatigue much more quickly. However, this could be due to not pursuing this long enough to re-establish breathing patterns. (When I concentrate on my stroke, I tend to hold my breath without realizing it).
I do know that while my per 100 pace is slowly improving with more speed work in my work outs, it has dropped now where near what it used to be 20 years ago.
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Interesting indeed. Here's a replay of a world class 100m race where the swimmer with the HIGHER stroke count wins:
YouTube - Cesar Cielo holds off Micahel Phelps for win - from Universal Sports
Cielo takes about 35 strokes on the second 50m while Phelps takes about 30. Worthy of note I think in how Phelps appears to increase his stroke rate and almost catches Cielo at the end. The distance god Ous Melluli is also in the race but not a factor as he also increases his stroke rate at the end.
What does one race prove? Cielo was faster that ONE day. Was he more efficient that Phelps? I don't know. He took more strokes but swimming is not the equivalent of chopping wood. Cielo's heart rate may have been higher and if it was, what does that prove exactly? Same for lactic acid measurements, if those were taken after the race.
Stroke length is a combination of many factors, some immutable, including
--body features such as height, weight, shape
--body ratios such as leg length vs torso length, arm wingspan vs.height, slow twitch vs. fast twitch muscle fibers, percentage of body fat vs. body muscle (i.e. buoyancy)
--swimming technique--minimizing drag, maximizing effective propulsion
--swimming ability
--strength and power
--swimming fitness
--age
--others I can't think of right now
Just based on those first 7 factors, I would use caution before drawing universal conclusions about stroke length. What does ring true is what others in this discussion have said about developing a range of stroke rates especially in open water. --mike
Interesting indeed. Here's a replay of a world class 100m race where the swimmer with the HIGHER stroke count wins:
YouTube - Cesar Cielo holds off Micahel Phelps for win - from Universal Sports
Cielo takes about 35 strokes on the second 50m while Phelps takes about 30. Worthy of note I think in how Phelps appears to increase his stroke rate and almost catches Cielo at the end. The distance god Ous Melluli is also in the race but not a factor as he also increases his stroke rate at the end.
What does one race prove? Cielo was faster that ONE day. Was he more efficient that Phelps? I don't know. He took more strokes but swimming is not the equivalent of chopping wood. Cielo's heart rate may have been higher and if it was, what does that prove exactly? Same for lactic acid measurements, if those were taken after the race.
Stroke length is a combination of many factors, some immutable, including
--body features such as height, weight, shape
--body ratios such as leg length vs torso length, arm wingspan vs.height, slow twitch vs. fast twitch muscle fibers, percentage of body fat vs. body muscle (i.e. buoyancy)
--swimming technique--minimizing drag, maximizing effective propulsion
--swimming ability
--strength and power
--swimming fitness
--age
--others I can't think of right now
Just based on those first 7 factors, I would use caution before drawing universal conclusions about stroke length. What does ring true is what others in this discussion have said about developing a range of stroke rates especially in open water. --mike
