Alexandre Popov up close

Popov has amazing flexibility in his shoulders. However, note that he crosses over with his right arm in front of his head. If I did that I would get a shoulder injury and get less power from my pull but I happen to have abnormally tight shoulders whereas he does not. Also, he looks down as he swims but when he races, he only looks up slightly t0 about 15 degrees or so. See below YouTube.