Olympia Pool in Munich, Bavaria

This pool looks so pleasant but it sure wouldn't fly in Los Angeles; unless you wanted to grow chlorine resistant orchids, but it sure is beautiful.

This gentleman's, or Mademoiselle's phtostream is amazing. Go Look: [Link]

Computer Animation and Visualization of Olympic Swimmers

We can rebuild her and make her faster. ..

...Or perhaps animate it her faster. This website calls itself the Institute for Computer Graphics. There you will find some animations of swimming which I think are pretty rigid and over simplified but at least somebody is studying it.

Also therein is a link to the Flow Simulation and Analysis Group at George Washington University which did some flow analysis on local boy; and 3x gold medalist, Lenny Krayzelburg in the streamline position.

From Timed Finals: Inge de Bruijn Officially Retires From Swimming

Inge de Bruijn or Inky Retires. :-( What a loss, what a career and she never tested positive. I never thought she was a dirty swimmer either but American Olympian, Amy Van Dyken, six-time gold medalist for various freestyle endeavors did.

From Swim info: “… Amy Van Dyken gracelessly evoked the question; [steroids], when she spit [a mouthful of water] into De Bruijn’s lane before the semifinals of the 50 and commented after Inky set a world record: 'If I were a man, I could swim that fast.' …” [Whoa, how crass, huh?]

Inge or Inky had no steroid bulk whatsoever and she never tested positive at any Olympics including Athens 2004 where testing was both thorough and extensive.

How ironic that it was Barry Bonds and Amy Van Dyken who testified before the grand jury in the Victor Conte/Balco steroid distribution scandal but Inky has never been summons or penalized.

From SFGate.com: “…Through Romanowski, Conte also gained access to athletes from other sports, such as six-time Olympic gold medalist Amy Van Dyken, who once described herself as “the Bill Romanowski of the swimming world,” and 1996 Olympic gold-medal-winning sprinter Chryste Gaines of San Leandro, a Stanford graduate who last year was charged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency with a BALCO- related doping offense. …"

Check out the announcement on Timed Finals: [Link]
Check out this wiki link for a run down on Inky's accomplishments: [Link]

VNSO Swim Workout - Dimitriy Coached

2oo Warm up

Transitional set:
6 x 100 - descending one-to-three, four to six,
over kick the last lap. 1:50 interval

Main set:
1 x 300 with a 1:50 base
1 x 400 with a 1:40 base
1 x 500 with a 1:30 base

Easy 50

Repeat with different interval:
1 x 300 with a 1:40 base
1 x 400 with a 1:30 base
1 x 500 with a 1:25 base

Warm down easy 150

About 3200 yards total

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.

Michael Phelps at Duel in the Pool

I found this amazing technique shot of Michael Phelps over at Fickr.com. (Here is a link to the photographer's Flickr stream.) It looks as if he can't wait to grab a couple barrels full of water and displace them somewhere else.

Ian Crocker has a website

The Gallery is my favorite part of his site since it features ads he has done for his sponsor, Speedo. In my opinion Speedo has become the Nike of Swim related print ads. They make swimming look as fun as it really is.

Here is a link to Ian Crocker's gallery page. Scroll down to the link that says ads. [link]

VNSO swimming today - Clay Evans coached

It was one of those workouts where you just try to hold on. Clay does this real cool thing whereas he times every body's interval so perfectly that we all arrive at the same time. This includes the fast, the slow and the ugly; (the ugly guy is me.) What makes this so cool is that we all touch the wall at the same time and the suffering is mutually shared from lane 1 to lane 12 and it has a socially equalizing effect.

Clay's workout hammer me and I become a better swimmer as a result but I actually black out after each set like an amnesiac or like that guy in the movie "Memento". I think this issue is due to a lack of O2 in my "brizzle" or post traumatic stress, I can't figure it out. Here is what I remember and please correct me if anyone remembers it differently:

Warm up: Fast swimmers: 6 x 100 @ 1:30, Medium swimmers: 5 x 100 @ 1:45, Slow swimmers: 4 x 100s 2:00[?]

Transitional sets: We did a kick set that was pretty involved. I remember something regarding a sprint 100 and 200 but I am blanking out despite the fact it was less than 2 hours ago. My kick is so spindly and useless that I was nearly lapped by the slower swimmers. (Actually, I was lapped!)

There was a breath control set in there too that I screwed up.

Main set part A: 4 swims with an interval time of 1:50.

In my case I swam 125 yards. Faster swimmers like, Doug K. and Jeff, swam 150 yards. Sub-groups swam 100 yards and some others swam 75.

Main set part B: 2 swims with an interval time of 3:40.

In my case I swam 250 yards. Fast swimmers like, Doug K., swam 300. Sub-groups swam 200 yards and some others swam 150.

Main set part C: 1 swim with an interval time of 7:20.

In my case I swam 500 yards. Fast swimmers like, Doug K., swam 600. Sub-groups swam 400 yards and some others swam 300.

Easy 50

Main Set Part D: All out 100 for time:

I did a 1:05 which was encouraging since I had to breathe a lot on laps 3 and 4.

If you want to try a free workout with SCAQ, I have a link on the right side of this page called Free Swim Clinic.

What fire is to air, bubbles are to water

When fire begins as a result of friction, it travels upward and licks the sky. When a swimmer dives into water, the resulting shattered vacuum creates a myriad of bubbles. So I like to believe what fire is to air, bubbles are to water.

Here is Michael Phelps front and center with streaming, underwater, "fire" just "burning" the water behind him.

Mark goes hydro with my monofin

I endorse the Finis Monofin.

I am not getting any payment to endorse this fin and and I spent about $140 to own it. However, if Finis wants to hook me up with real cool toys... (Pssst, call me.)

This toy is a blast. The speed you can create is so massive that the walls become a threat and you have to consciously slow down to avoid an injury. Here is an image of Mark going crazy with my fin. He is about 12 feet deep at the VNSO pool and moving fast; (Of course Adobe Photoshop helped), but he is really moving fast despite the Photoshop "radial blur" image filter.

Besides having fun, the fin stretches out your ankles nicely and also helps you develop a correct and defined dolphin kick

The 17th man blog brought us a new visitor

This snippet from Scott's profile is inspiring.

"...I know for someone who’s had a broken back I’ve been very lucky but in August, 2004, having not worked out for at least a couple of years and packing on several additional kilos of flab, my continued neglect finally caught up with a vengeance. My back gave out. Three months bed rest and a further six months forced to work on my stomach gave a lesson not to be forgotten. Even then months more therapy, yoga, and light exercise (and two further relapses) were necessary before I reached the point where I could start regular physical workouts. ..."

I got back into swimming after I herniated 3 disks and partially lost the use of my left leg so Scott's story really resonated with me. When I got injured, I was a train wreck and now the doctors are amazed and credit my swimming as the healing factor.

You can read the 17th man blog here: [Link]

Race Training For Swimming Sprints from Timed Finals

Timed Finals posted a great article on swim sprints. A reader wrote in with a question and one of the answers given was rather clever:

• Colin M. answers: For what it’s worth, in swimming 50s with my TI stroke, I focus on getting more out of each pull, instead of turning the arms over faster. I make sure I complete the entire stroke, and also focus on the front quadrant swimming part. If I want to increase my speed, I do so by letting my hips set the pace. Since focusing on this TI stuff, I actually swim faster by taking fewer strokes, and making those count.

The article can be read here: [link]

Don't forget to RSVP for the SCAQ lactic workouts with Bonnie and Erik at LMU this weekend.

SCAQ: VNSO Swim Workout

Dimitriy coached a quasi-sprint workout. The only downside was that the lazy-bones, pool attendant forgot to put the covers on the pool after closing last night and the water has been cold. Watr temp was like, 78-79 degrees.

Total workout 2900 yards.

Warm-up:
200 easy

Transitional set, 1050 yards - 20 x 50's total done in this fashion:
5 x 50s moderate @ 1:00
5 x 50s build @ 1:00
5 x 50s descending @ 1:00
5 x 50's descending interval - 0:55, 0:50, 0:45, 0:40, 0:35.
easy 50

Main set, 1650 yards total:
5 x 100s @ 1:30 (Hold 1:20)
easy 50

2 x 100s @ 1:30 (Hold 1:20)
1 x 100 @ 1:25
2 x 100s @1:30
easy 50

1 x 100 @ 1:30 (Hold 1:20s)
1 x 100 @ 1:25
1 x 100 @ 1:30
1 x 100 @ 1:25
1 x 100 @ 1:30
easy 50

Warm down 200

Good News: This blog is going global

I just registered us with Technorati, both a blog portal and a blog search engine so we can make many more friends. I have to use this source link in this post to be recognized: Technorati Profile

Contrast this dive in slow motion to Dawn Fraiser's dive in the video below

The human body is getting more and more graceful as each generation passes. This dive is a both a work of art and a functional illustration of body coordination and hydrodynamics. Enjoy.

Video of the first woman ever to break a minute in the 100 free

Meet Australian super hero, Dawn Fraiser, the first woman ever to break a minute in the 100 free at the Tokyo Olympics. How about that groovy suit? I bet she would would have gone a 58 if she wore a Fastskin II pro and didn't belly-flop on the dive. (You know, she is kind of plushy and cute and I love that hair style but enough about my problems.)

SCAQ VNSO Swim Workout: I tried Lauren Matthewson's flip-turn tonight

Well, it appears Lauren Matthewson will still be the only swimmer in the United States doing that innovative and amazingly fast turn.

Let it be known that I have an anemic kick. It has gotten a lot better but it is still far below the average. The only reason that I am a moderately good swimmer is due to my enthusiasm for the art of swimming and my love for water itself rather than any sort of intrinsic talent. In my age group I finish in the middle-third when the final placings of a race are posted. In Open water I place in the upper third so basically that is where I am as a swimmer.

Tonight, I tried LMU swimmer, Lauren Matthewson's, innovative turn as noted below in the 'You Tube' video while swimming at VNSO tonight; (Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Pool). Though I was a little bit faster off the wall, it took up a massive amount of my oxygen store to accomplish. Since my kick was weak the advantage obtained is negated by my body going lactic much more quickly. Maybe I could integrate it into a 50 Free but I need a solid kick first.

If you have a strong backstroke kick, I recommend hooking up with Bonnie Adair and doing a turn-clinic with her. (Be sure you donate to LMU after learning the dark arts of a superior turn.)

IM workout at VNSO:

3 X 200's Free warm up

This set done 2 times through:

1 x 100's Fly/Free by 25s @ 1:40
1 x 100's Back/Free by 25's @ 1:40
1 x 100's Breast/Free by 25's @ 1:40

This set done 2 times through:

1 x 150's Fly/Free by 50's @ 2-something (Mark like he was a seeing eye dog tonight)
1 x 150's Back/Free by 50's @ 2-something
1 x 150's Breast/Free by 50's @ 2-something

150 warm down.

I sprinted a 50 under 30 to make sure I was ok.

LMU's Lauren Matthewson in the 50 SCY Free at the PCSC Championship

To regain lost momentum in a sprint is very hard task especially if you have a bad start. Lauren Matthewson did just that in the 50 Free. This quote by LMU Head Coach, Bonnie Adair, sums it up beautifully:

• Anyway . . . out of the first turn, we have Lauren stay on her back and do her 'kick magic' underwater, then when she does surface; (about 1/2 way down the pool), she is STILL on her back. ... Then she does a roll over stroke; [pulling with the downward arm], and sprints freestyle to the finish. As far as I know, she is the only one in the country that does this and it is super effective for her because of her great back kick.


• Nathalie Coughlan should actually try it this way. She's already super fast in the 50 but I bet she'd be even faster if she did it the way Lauren does.

Well, I am going to attempt to be the second person in this country to do it.

Cullen Jones has style, grace, and a sense of community

New Record in the Men's 1000 yard free: 8:42.64

Robert Margalis is his name and he swam a 1000 free in 8:42.64 setting a new national record breaking a six year old record by 2 seconds.

His splits are insane. He went out in a 23.96 and then held 25's thereafter. Here is a link to the USA Swimming news article: [Link]