« August 2006 | October 2006 »
Train for Freestyle
~By FitLinxx Staff
“With an out-of-the-pool exercise program that delivers both increased flexibility and strength, your stroke will improve dramatically.”
Provided by Judi Rich, thanks!
86 Those Times...or...Convert THIS!
~By Coach Dave Samuelsohn
Editor’s Note: This article was written in the early 1990’s, when the records times were a little slower than they currently are and Dave’s times were a little faster.
Most competitive swimmers I know swim during the short course season. Then long course rolls around and I hear a lot of excellent and deeply meaningful rationalizations why they don't swim long course meets:
- I run
- I bike
- I do triathlon
- I'm on the softball team at work
- I’m still exhausted from Zones
- I...ah...gotta go now.
Or they'll just seed themselves in a long course meet with short course times, get blown out, and never come back. No one ever steps up and just says, "Long course scares me to death!" But occasionally I'll find someone making a rare appearance at a long course meet. They'll swim their race (seldom the 400 IM - so at least they're intelligent) and inevitably I'll hear the question, "So what does that convert to? Whattaya...take three seconds off?"
The answer is no, you don't subtract anything. You don't add anything. Short course and long courses are two different races, subject to many different variables which change the complexion of how we perform:
- How good are your turns? Your push-offs?
- How good are your underwater pullouts?
- How do you hold up over the added distance?
- How did you feel when you stepped up to look at the pool?
(Scare you back into the locker room?)
I consider myself to have pretty good turns for an old guy, strong push-offs, and very good underwater work. But I'm not too long on the endurance thing. So you'd figure I'd be a natural for short course...Only, I'm not. As a flyer and breaststroker, I'm a rhythm swimmer, and it seems to take me a few strokes to settle in and get going. Too many walls break that up and I don't perform as well. So I prefer long course.
The point here again is that long course and short course really are two different animals with many reasons why an individual will perform differently. That is why I say that the two are not meaningfully convertible. We must treat the 100 yard race and the 100 meter race as two different races - as though they were different strokes. Your time for one should stand by itself and not be expected to be related to the other as might be convenient. Two different races - two different performance levels. Got that?
OK, so now I'm going to cave in because inevitably I'm going hear it. I know "Whattaya...subtract 10% and take two seconds off for each turn?" "Whattaya...divide by nine and stop the watch at the backstroke flags?" "Whattaya...wait, I'm coming up with a negative number...is that fast?"
I give up.
So here's my best suggestion for converting:
First of all, you need to have a standard of benchmark for short course and long course that will be constant for comparison purposes. In our business of swimming that means World records and American records. (Ideally you'd like both to be held by the same swimmer but that's not always the case so we'll use what we've got for a rough approximation).
Next, it's a ratio - LC:SC - rather than a subtraction or a straight percentage. What may look like a simple eight second difference for an elite swimmer will get telescoped for the longer time we spend swimming the same race.
So here goes: Think of math (with lots of division and multiplication):
{(Short course American record / Long course world record) = (Your short course time / Your long course time)}
If you've swum a lot of short course and you'd like to know approximately how your long course performance holds up:
Your long course time multiplied by the S.C. Record / L.C. World Record = Your SC time
ex. My L.C. time for 100 meter fly might convert as follows:
1:06.1 [or 66.10 seconds] X (46.26 / 52.84) = 57.84
Now carry this formula through all four strokes and look how consistent it is in producing a usable factor to convert your times (Record times are from 1990):
100 Free: SC American Record :41.80 Biondi / LC World Record :48.42 Biondi = 0.86
100 Fly: SC AR :42.26 Morales / LC WR :52.84 Morales = 0.80
100 Back: SC AR :45.74 Retterer / LC WR :53.86 Rouse = 0.85
100 Breast: SC AR :52.48 Lundquist / LC WR 1:00.95 Guttler = 0.86
The numbers are frightenly close, aren't they? How'd they do that! In any event I'd say it's fair to use the average of 0.86 as our factor.
Multiply your L.C. time (in seconds) by this factor to find your approximate SC time. You'd divide your S.C. time by this factor to find your approximate L.C. time. And if you think this silly article makes me the guy to ask, the answer is still, "You don't convert them. They're two different races." So "86" those questions. Anyway, whatever course you prefer, have a "good time".
(Dave Samuelsohn is lifetime Masters swimmer and coach.)
Quote for the Week of September 25, 2006
"If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise."~Robert Fritz
Hannah Gerber's Half-Ironman Cancun
Check out Hannah (25-29) in Cancun. There are plenty of pictures of her there too. You just have to brush up on your Spanish. Great Job, Hannah!
Speed Indeed, Article by Wayne Goldsmith
"Speed is the most precious thing in swimming. In the end, it is what we are all about; it is what we are all trying to achieve." ~Gennadi Touretski
Read the following article from the May 2006 edition of Swimming World Magazine. Inside, you'll find the 7 Golden Rules of Speed and sample workouts.
Provided by Dave Samuelsohn, thanks!
Christine Bange at the Downtown Orlando Triathlon
Great job, Christine!
Grant Hackett Swimming Videos
Australian swimmer, one of the best swimmers in the world, fastest in the 1500m freestyle, captain of the Australian swimming team.
Has swimming got you over a barrel?
~by Dan Empfield
One of the most misunderstood elements in swimming is the "high elbow." For most of my life that phrase has been spoken with the intent of the elbow remaining high during the swimmer's recovery, that is, when the swimmer's arm is out of the water. The listener also, more often than not, thinks of recovery when he hears "high elbow."
Provided by Christine Bange, thanks!
Quote for the Week of September 18, 2006
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." ~Alan Kay
Suffering from Ocean Swim Withdrawal?
Close your eyes, listen to the waves, feel the breeze...
Stop daydreaming. Get in the water! What are you afraid of sharks?!
Photo from Dynoswim Palm Coast, Sunday ocean practice - June 2006
Quality Swimming is Job One
Here's Michael J. Stott's interview of Coach Dennis Dale of the University of Minnesota. This article was published in Swimming World Magazine this past July 2006. All Dynoswim Palm Coast coaches may want to print and read the attached, which is found by clicking below. Coach Dennis Dale stresses good technique and quality swimming with all of his practice groups. Read on.
Provided by Dave Samuelsohn, thanks!
Dynoswimmers - COMMENTS?
What do you see? Tell us.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin Swimmer
(This is for all of our mid-life crisis Dynoswimmers...)
~By W. Hodding Carter
In a (completely misguided) bid to make the 2008 Olympic team, ex-NCAA swimmer W. HODDING CARTER is training like he did in college. And that means spring break. Only this time our party frogman is cruising the British Virgin Islands under his own power.
Train like your life is half over
Provided by Christine Bange, thanks!
Should I Breathe to Both Sides?
~By Terry Laughlin
Many swimmers wonder whether they should use alternate-side, or bilateral, breathing. The answer is yes -- at least in practice. And on some occasions it can be an advantage while racing too.
Quote for the Week of September 11, 2006
"You can be sure that the American spirit will prevail over this tragedy." ~Colin Powell
24 Hour Relay in Liechtenstein - CONFIRMED
It's official! Dynoswim will be participating as a combined relay team together with swimmers from SG Frankfurt, Germany, and the Smokewater Dolphins Triathlon Club in Konstanz, Germany. This is the annual 24 Hour Relay in Triesen, Liechtenstein. You can find more information here:
It's not too late to participate although time is running out. With a few more swimmers, we may even enter two Dynoswim teams!
Photo from November 2000, Smokewater Dolphin Relay Team. (Can you spot the Dynoswimmer?)
Midpoint through the event, November 2000.
(Follow up from original post.)
Mind Training Tips for Swimmers
~by Craig Townsend
Being a successful swimmer is not just something you do in the water. It follows you everywhere you go in life.
Provided by Judi Rich, thanks!
The Five Keys to Triathlon Swimming
~By Neil Cook
Triathlon swimming is different from competitive swimming. Although the goals are the same--complete the distance as fast as possible--triathlon requires you to be as efficient as you can in order save energy for the bike and run later on. In fact, many triathletes feel that the race does not really start until they get on the bike, and they think of the swim as a warm-up for the hard parts still to come.
The Case for Swimming
~By Dan Empfield
If there is one goal I'd like to establish for all Slowtwitch readers for this year upcoming, it would be that you all (we all) get faster in the water. I'm aging up to the 50+ next season. I didn't do a single triathlon this year. But I knew all along I would do my best to hit my new age-group hard and early next year.
Now, it should be stated that I took better than a decade off altogether from racing triathlons (the decade of the 90s), and since returning to competition I have not taken the swim seriously. I will have to change that, should I have any hope of competing at a high level once I start racing next season.
Continue Reading at Slowtwitch.com
Provided by Christine Bange, thanks!
Quote for the Week of September 4, 2006
"Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well."
~Vincent van Gogh
Rising Sun at A1A and Highbridge
Our Dynoswim Palm Coast ocean training site.
August 2006 photos provided by Judi Rich, thanks!
24 Hour Relay in Liechtenstein
I am trying to gauge interest for an event that I’ve spoken to many Palm Coast Dynoswimmers about already. The event is a 24 hour relay taking place this November and the goal would be to put a Dynoswim (not all Dynoswimmers will be from Palm Coast) relay of about eight swimmers together to participate. This event is open to both Masters and Youth swimmers alike. Please be aware that this is not an occasion for the faint of heart.
If any of you are interested in *possibly* participating in this event, then please email Dean or use the contact us link.
Here’s some country info, I’ll provide you with specifics of the event once I know if we can put a team together.
Please feel free to send this to anyone you think might be interested.
USA Swimming National Championships TV schedule
Check out the 2006 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships TV schedule.