VNSO Swim Workout - Dimitriy Coached

It was on the cool side last night but as I write this at 7:00 AM this morning the temperature is warmer now than it was a 7:00 PM last night. Santa Ana winds out from the north I guess .

Held a pretty good pace on the 400's; averaging 1:21 to 1:23 per hundred, since anything over a 100 yards for me distance.

Warm up: 200
6 x 100 drill/swim by 25s
8 x 50's descending 1-4 than 5-8 on the 55
Easy 50

Main Set:
1 x 400 @ 4:30
2 x 100s @ 2:00
1 x 400 @ 4:30
2 x 100s @ 2:00
1 x 400 @ 4:30
1 x 100 warm down

Empty swimming pools in one of the most affluent cities on earth. :-(

This swimming pool is located in somewhere in London, England. Photos of this pool exist at a site called "Derelict London" which chronicles London decay of all sorts. Herein is a series of community pools that could have supported several masters swim teams and taught scores of children and adults how to swim but instead lay withering into scary urban landscapes. [Link]

Some "Mad Scientist", or redneck, decided to heat his pool with a BBQ grill

He used 3-and-a-half tanks of propane to heat his pool from 68 degrees to 89.4 in like 48 hours time. Let it be known that propane costs more than gasoline.

• The device heats the water 30 to 35 degrees at 3 to 4 gallons per minute flow. I find I get a 7 degree increase in my 8000 gallon pool for each 5 gallon tank of propane. Each tank will burn for about 13 to 15 hours on high. A pool cover is required...

• The coils come out and the grill converts back to cooking in less then 3 minutes which includes cool-down and draining the coils. [Link]
  

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.

Dual in the Pool 4 x 100 freestle relay - Lenton sets a world record

Why this video is relevant: Libby Lenton sets a world record while racing against Michael Phelps, Great underwater video of Perisol's backstroke and clear views of Phelps' loping gate while filmed from below while looking straight up.

"Just Add Water" has entered the building

I found the coolest, open-water blog for the San Francisco Bay area. It's called "Just Add Water." It has lots of amazing info regarding Alcatraz swims, the South Coast Rowing Club, Nutcracker swims which are swims form Candlesteick Park to Aquatic Park and these swims nicknamed the Sunriser Swims where you jump off a pier to begin the swim and end up on the other side of the city when you're finished. Great adventures therein. My kind of people. Here is a link to the site and I have also included a permanent link in the right hand navigation: [Link]

Santa Monica Swimming: SCAQ Workout Today

I took these pictures 20 minutes before workout. Santa Monica College has a really nice pool and if you get a chance to go swim there I really reccomend you do so. What I like best is their overflow gutters. Note that the water comes right up to the tippy edge; this allows chop to exit the pool and flow back into the pool vents below rather than backwashing into the pool.

Dimitriy coached today and it was primarily a middle distance workout.
200 warmup
12 x 50s - swim/drill the first 6 @ 55 seconds build/easy the second 6 @ 55 seconds
6 x 200s @ 3:00/3:40 - My fastest 200 was 2:30, slowest 2:45
6 x 150s with descending intervals easy/hard which I made
6 x 50 descending intervals easy/hard with the last interval 3 seconds

Swim-Trek: "Feries Are For Wimps" is there slogan

Here is a swim vacation site where instead of taking ferries from island to island as part of some grand tour; you swim from island to island instead. They have packages for Greece, Croatia, the Virgin Islands, the Isles of Scilly, Scotland, Malta, England, and all over creation actually. Here is a link. I get no commission or payment in any way [Link]

Timing of the Arm Stroke in Freestyle Swimming

I linked to this site a day or two ago with a movie they featured of Grant Hackett and Ian Thorpe swimming side by side. Well, I couldn't get enough so I started clicking through the site and I found this page: "Timing of Arm-Stroke in Freestyle Swimming."

Therein are movies of Inge de Bruijn solo, Grant Hackett & Ian Thorpe, Michael Klim & Ian Thorpe, and Alexandre Popov & Gennadi Touretski all swimming against each other.

There are illustrations and photo illustrations of the freestyle arm timing and a critique discussing the difference between a sprint pull versus a distance one. I think this site is vital for triathletes or those experimenting with style. The site is in both Swiss/German and English. [Link]

Olympian Erik Hochstein's observations while watching FINA World Championships

Timed Finals has a wonderful article by bronze medalist, Erik Hochstein, regarding what swim technique variations he noticed at World Championships. A must read! Especially his comments about Laure Manadou and the amount of strokes she takes to get across a pool.

A side note, at an afternoon workout at Santa Monica College. I once saw Erik do a 1:46 for a 200 free. Everybody in the pool was lapped except for me. I was double lapped.

Here is his article: [Link]

Next year It will be harder to make the US Olympic swim team in the 50m free than it will be to win a gold medal in Beijing

Take Gary Hall, Jason Lezak, Cullen Jones, Wildman Tobriner, and probably some unknown kid from the NCAA. Only two swimmers will be accepted and any of the above can win it. Especially at that level

Here are all of Michael Phelps' 2007 Fina World Championship of Swimming gold medal races

Speedo and WCSN have collected all of Phelps' gold medal swims onto one page at Speedo.com. The only downside is that they are not Quicktime files but rather Windows media slop: [Link]

Since we are on the subject of "Side-by-side"

Michael Klim and Ryan Lochte swimming side-by-side in near perfect symmetry. Ryan seems to have a better kick to me though.

A side-by-side comparison and critique of Ian Thorpe's and Grant Hackett's freestyle

This site has numerous frame-by-frame images of both Grant Hackett and Ian Thorpe swimming side-by-side. Captions next to each photo critique the freestyle stroke.

What I found interesting is that Thorpe; or Thorpie if you are Australian, rotates less than Hackett. Thorpe also seems to use his shoulders more. The site is in both Swiss/German and English [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]

Why shaving down makes you swim faster

I bumped into this at "khabarbike.blogspot.com." Here is a complex article regarding why swimmers swim faster when they shave down. It has lots of numbers in it and how researchers conducted their experiments but I just scrolled down to the last sentence for the answer. It's the lack of drag believe it or not. [Link]

Bonnie and Clay will be coaching at VNSO tonight

From the email: "... SCAQ founders Bonnie Adair and Clay Evans will both be coaching the VNSO workouts tomorrow night and conducting a stroke technique workout. This is short notice, but it will be an intensive session of stroke work and how to get started swimming. This is perfect for those of you in the San Fernando Valley area and can't make the mid week workouts and clinics. This is open to all swimmers that are not on SCAQ! ..."

Here is an article about SCAQ in Competitor Magazine: [Link]

Herald Tribune article: "In The Arena: Has Chinese swimming really sunk?"

The Chinese dominated women's swimming in the 1990's but then came the positive tests for performance enhancing drugs.

Luo Xuejuan won a gold medal at Athens in the 100 breast but suddenly developed heart problems last year at the age of 23 and had to retire. Developing heart problems at such a young age disturbs me and it is hard not to be suspicious due to China's spotted past with doping. It is reminiscent of Governor Arnold having his heart valve replaced most likely as a result of steroid use.

Now the Chinese appear clean. There were no positive tests at Pan Pacifics or World Championships. This article details some of the problems and some of the corrections China is making to get competitive again. [Link]

Best swim quote of the year! captures what swimming is all about!

"Wow, I am so stoked," she said after becoming the first woman under 53 seconds. "I just went out to have fun and I got to swim against the best in the world; [read as Michael Phelps]." -- Libby Lenton

Voice of America Article: "Calls to boycott the Olympics"

From the article: "... American actress and U.N. Children's Fund goodwill ambassador Mia Farrow recently co-wrote an article in The Wall Street Journal calling for a boycott of the games and accusing Beijing of "bankrolling Darfur's genocide."

French presidential candidate Francois Bayrou has said French athletes should boycott the Beijing Olympics to force China to act on Darfur. ..." [Link]

I bet these people have never swam 100 meters, ran a 10k, or swung a foil. I have no idea how boycotting an Olympics would suddenly bring peace in Darfur but an aggressive trade policy could.

China responded in an anemic fashion since they not only are buying oil from the Sudan but they are selling them weapons as well. The aforementioned rich people would better serve the people of Dafur by either donating to relief agencies that will assist in humanitarian efforts or by concentrating on draconian trade policies with China which may be much more effective.