You Buy Them Suits and Send Them To Practice...

...and what do they do? They don't learn a thing! Sure they might have gotten their butt kicked with a workout suitable for an Olympic swimmer, but how far is that going to get them? Not too many years ago, excelling in swimming (and sports in general for that matter) was all about getting big and strong and out-muscling your competition.  The best baseball players weighed a lot and could bash the ball around the park.  The best basketball players were seven feet tall.  The best swimmers were tall and broad.  Nowadays, if you want to be the best you have to out-study, out-smart, and out-technique the rest (and sometimes a little extra muscle doesn't hurt).

Why the change?  Why has almost every sport on the planet transitioned from a muscle-focused approach to one of technique and finesse? Personally, I like to credit slow-motion video replays and enhanced computer programming.  But the primary reason is likely that athletes finally realized that thousands of hours of hard workouts could only get them so far, while analyzing and altering technique slightly can take minimal amounts of time and lead to maximal improvements.

Today's world of swimming has brought science to the forefront.  To the untrained eye, it may be hard to notice.  But if you have any interest or involvement in the sport you know how much time (and $$$) is spent in developing new technology so world records can continue to drop like polar bears in a desert.  From extreme suits, goggles, and caps, to new stroke techniques swimming is a sport that depends on science more than most.  Have you ever seen the type of bikes that Tour de France riders use in time trials? Or their helmets and wheels? All of this is to save speed by being more aerodynamic and producing less drag.  Take a look below at World Champion Fabian Cancellara on his Specialized Time Trial bike:

 All of this attention is paid to aerodynamics in cycling, but it is even more important in swimming! I know you're wondering why so I'll go ahead and tell you.  Water is 784x more dense than air.  This means that being aerodynamic (or hydrodynamic as it is referred to in water) is 784x more important than being so on land.  Every movement you make in the water that creates drag is affecting you severely and slowing you down!


That is one reason that records keep getting broken.  Scientists, coaches, trainers, and swimmers continue to fine-tune their technique to reach these unimaginable times.  To get faster, Olympic swimmers spend hours analyzing their strokes, starts, turns, and finishes with their coaches to achieve maximum potential.


Now, Olympians aren't the only ones that can do this.  Anyone can use these types of techniques to improve their stroke technique.  Swimmers can feel the benefits and improvements to their stroke while they are swimming and therefore can somewhat analyze their own stroke.  By watching online videos (like on YouTube), young swimmers can pick up on certain things that can greatly increase their speed and efficiency.  One thing that is easy to do: take a simple video camera and video tape your stroke or the stroke of a friend. Then watch this and see what you are doing.  I can't count the number of times I tell a swimmer they are doing something and they don't believe me.  This is because it feels so natural to them that they don't think they are doing something wrong.  Then they watch it on video and can't believe it.  One example of this is I always harp on my swimmers to keep their heads back when they are swimming backstroke.  The natural tendency is to look towards their feet, and they swear to me over and over again that their head is way back in the water.  One of my high school girls found out she wasn't keeping her head back (even though she thought she was) when the newspaper had a big picture of her swimming backstroke...looking at her feet!  From then on, she believed me and kept her head back more.  Simple things like this can ensure excellent technique to provide maximum performance.


I urge you to take your swimming to the next level.  Take it beyond 10,000yd workouts and two-a-days.  Take the next step in your performance.  Study some video of other swimmers, study your own stroke, study the stroke of people in your lane.  It will help.  I promise.  But don't forget, you can't disregard hard workouts.  You have to have strength and conditioning (and those nasty two-a-days) and swim many tough yards before you will see amazing results.  Just make sure you incorporate that nerdy science stuff too!