Note Roland Schoeman's catch! - Very disimilar to Stefan Nystrand

I am seeing two schools of catching water here: the classic textbook technique of Roland Schoeman versus the sheer brutality of Stefan Nystrand's "tomahawk chop."

The 50m free will be very exciting since all of the swimmers in the final have unique ways of sprinting.

Glenn Mills gave me permission to post the Roland Schoeman trailer. I will be reviewing the DVD as soon as I get it.

Glenn Mills not only endorses the 'blueseventy,' he sets a masters world record in one and feels guilty about it.

Erik Hochstein sent me this as a supplement to the Gary Hall jr. endorsement below. Glenn Mills storms a 200LCM breaststroke ion one and feels . Here is a snippet:

"...When I touched the wall on the finish, and glanced up to the clock, I was hoping I would be within a respectable measure of David Guthrie's World Record of 2:26.1, and the time I saw surprised me for the first time since I was 15 in a swim race: 2:22.6. I waited for the clock to reset, or change. I figured there was a missing light because I knew UMD had just ordered a beautiful new scoreboard. The more I looked, the more confused I got. Did I really just go 2:22? No way. I couldn't have gone that fast. The last time I swam this race meters, I went 2:30 in December, and it HURT! The 2:10 yards in Austin was a good race, and I was READY for that one. I didn't do anything for this... except, change my stroke a bit, and put on a Blueseventy suit. ..." [Link]

'Go Swim' Video: Linked to for aesthetic value

If my feet were shaped like that, I would be unstoppable!

Go Swim Breaststroke with Brendan Hansen trailer.

I didn't even know this existed and it's awesome. I wish I was on Glenn Mills' radar. How about that glide phase and that snappy kick! Not a bad dance sequence at the end of the trailer as well.

Totally sick core strength drill at 'Go Swim'

Go Swim has a boat load of dry-land exercise that look formidable.

A video is included with this one too. Of course one has to be pretty flexible as well to do this one and if you try, watch out if you feel pressure on your lower back.

I bet squeezing a pull buoy between your ankles would firm the outside of your quads as well.

Glenn Mills won a gold medal in 1984 and he has a great site

When I took up masters swimming about three years ago this site taught me how to do a modern flip turn. It is a great site for visual demos and such. Recently it taught me how to do the new breaststroke turn and has giving me several ways to train better. The site has flash movies, technique articles, message boards, drills, and great commentary. You can also sign up for weekly mailings.

Here is a sample of his step-by-step coaching of this flip turn drill.

How To Do It:
1. Submerge yourself under water, pretty deep. What you're about to do will most likely cause your legs to float up to the surface, so you want to be deep enough to keep all of your body under.

2. Push off the wall with enough force to give you some momentum. If you push off too softly, you won't feel the the full effect of the sensation you're going for.

3. The INSTANT your toes leave the wall, tuck and send your chin down JUST a bit and allow the water to throw you around. Don't fight the water pressure, or try to help. Feel the water pushing your body down, and allow your hips to keep moving in a straight line toward the other end.

4. To incorporate this feeling into your turns, make sure you don't do the usual down-up-down-and-around approach to the wall. Rather, submerge or dive slightly before you reach the wall, and follow your final stroke down and around with your eyes. The water pressure will throw your head down, and get you into a nice tight tuck.

There is a flash video too of this flip turn drill. Take this site seriously. [Link]

Trailer: "Go Swim Butterfly with Misty Hyman"

A cool trailer for "Go Swim Butterfly with Misty Hyman" that was a lot of fun to watch. It was so much fun I nearly bought the video till I realized I have two butterfly DVDs already; one from David Marsh and the other by Eddie Reese. Still, swimming is part art and part science and different points of view are all good. I get no commission if you buy or look.

Check out this trailer page: [Link]

Go Swim has an article on flipturns

It's a bit rudimentary but useful. From the article:

"...The ENTIRE point of this drill, or focus, is to create more FLOW on your flip turns -- whether for freestyle or backstroke. The goal is to eliminate ANY delay between when your feet are ready to push off... and when your hands are ready to streamline. The two things should happen at the same time... and the hands should get into position with no hesitation and with no jerky or sudden movements. ..." Here is the article: [Link]

Personally, I think it is a worthwhile investment to do a " "Freestyle Technique with Turns" clinic with Bonnie at the LMU pool so Bonnie, Clay or another coach can look at your turn and coach to your abilities. That's what I did and I learned about not breathing off the walls, creating a more symmetrical flip, and better streamline position.

However, if you're cheap, I think this article is marginally decent but drills are best learned when coached. Learning something as fine tuned as a flip turn from a website is like trying to learn Tai Chi from a cheesy pamphlet you bought in China Town.