The Breast Stroke or
the Freestyle?
Do I learn to swim the freestyle or continue the breast
stroke? As a triathlete, I have faced
this decision many times. I dare say I have done close to a hundred triathlons
over the years, and with each swim I have used the breast stroke. My breast stroke with swim distances a half
mile or longer, usually puts me in the middle of my age group.
With the breast stroke I am able to maintain a straight
course, whereas many swimmers doing the freestyle (the term freestyle is sometimes used as a
synonym for crawl) on a long swim begin to tire and start
zigzagging. A tired swimmer often swims a further distance than
me. In a long swim I am the tortoise (with my breast stroke) going slow, BUT steady and straight, competing
against the hare treading water to rest, and usually weaving along the course. In the long swim I have a chance to finish ahead of some of the less conditioned swimmers.
During the past few years I have focused only on the shorter
triathlon distance (usually called the Sprint triathlon) with swim distances
between a quarter and third of a mile.
In the Sprint triathlon swim I most always find myself last in my age group. Everyone ahead of
me uses the freestyle.
In essense, in short distance open water swims the freestyle hare most usually beats the breast stroke tortoise.
The year 2013 made me face my breast stroke decision once
again. In 2012 I qualified for the
National Senior Games Triathlon to be held in July 2013 in Cleveland. This means I will be representing New
Hampshire – and accepting last place is not something we do in New Hampshire. I keep asking myself, “Will the freestyle
stroke make me more of a competitor in my age group?”
The Blue Steel Triathlon
Club Swim Clinic
I am a proud member of the Blue Steel Triathlon Club. The Club offers a variety of triathlon
oriented Clinics and Events for its members to improve performance as well to
encourage teammate camaraderie: We have
bike time trials on summer evenings; fun runs for members to enjoy non-competitive
group runs; transition clinics for tips and practice to minimize the transition
time from swim to bike, and bike to run; and early morning open water group
swims at local lakes.
This past October, one of our teammates, Stacy Sweetser, an
all-American college swimmer with a reputation of being an outstanding swim
instructor, offered to put on a Blue Steel swim clinic at the Allard Center YMCA
in Goffstown, NH.
The Club would rent two swim lanes, and sign-up would be a
first-come first served with a maximum of ten triathletes for each of the two
sessions offered.
There was no procrastination this time. My mantra of Never say, “I wish I had …” came to mind, and after receiving the
email notice I immediately registered.
Let me describe the class attendees. Indeed, I felt like “a turkey trying to fly
with eagles.” Most, if not all, of the
teammates were the Club’s top triathletes with their attendance at the clinic aimed
to further refine their freestyle stroke.
My goal was to see if I could learn and feel confident with the
freestyle to make the freestyle my swim stroke for Cleveland.
We started the first class with each of us doing the crawl
back and forth in the 25 yard pool.
Stacy observed our individual strokes.
She then explained how our next five weeks would go –basically a variety
of training drills with increasing intensity that would include using hand
paddles and training fins. She would
also be emailing us YouTube training films and suggestions for each of our
areas she identified for improvement.
Admittedly, my freestyle technique was close to non-existent
with my kick, breathing, and arm stroke meeting all criteria for a “Do Not Do
This” film.
 |
| Breath Left |
Over the course of the five weeks, besides drills we did
together, Stacy would have us do individual drills to re-enforce each triathlete’s
specific freestyle opportunity for improvement.
What was so impressive in this clinic, indeed, was Stacy herself. Her clinic preparation, her ability to focus
on us as individuals, as well as a group, made every one of us feel we were
each getting special attention. So no
matter what the skill level we each started at, she improved us all.
In no way am I capable of describing how the reader can do
the freestyle stroke, but some of the impressive things I gathered from Stacy were:
- The high elbow stoke
versus my old way of a complete underwater arm pull. Stacy calls it EVF, Early Vertical Forearm underwater.
- Bi-lateral breathing.
Previously I always breathed on my right side. As an open-water triathlete swimmer
breathing only on one side can hinder you swimming straight as well be an
issue with waves.
- Immediately Stacy saw I held
my breath underwater. She had me
take each breath on my side, and then exhale (blow bubbles) into the
water. My breathing and stamina
immediately improved.
- With every class Stacy
emphasized:
- Getting comfortable with
freestyle on your side. The 6 kick switch drill was great. You can
keep your face up/out breathing the whole time until you switch to the
other side. You can even turn over on your back so your face never goes in
the water, if you would rather.
The Lane Gainer
Stretch Cord – Never say, “I wish I had …”
 |
| Start of Lane Gainer Stretch Cord Swim |
Near the end of the third week’s class, Stacy asked if we
wanted to try the Lane Gainer Stretch cord. Immediately the class responded,
“What is that?” In a few words, this
stretchable nylon cord is tied at one end of the pool. The other end of the cord is tied to a waist
belt. The swimmer puts the belt on and starts
swimming with the goal of reaching the other end of the pool. As the swimmer near the center of the 25 yard
pool, the cord reaches its natural length and begins to hold the swimmer. This is where the strength/power/technique of
the swimmer comes in.
Stacy asked for a volunteer, and one of the better swimmers
was ready to go. As he neared the 2/3rd
mark you could see him begin straining a bit and his stroke pace increased –
the cord was at its normal length and now his power stroke was needed. We
yelled encouragement and roared when he finally touched the far end of the
pool.
I was the least accomplished of the students, and no way was
I going to embarrass myself.
During the week I kept saying to myself, “Never say I wish I
had …” when I thought of the lane gainer cord.
Come week four, when Stacy asked for volunteers for the cord, I was the
first to volunteer with a joking remark, “Let me set the standard for
today.” I did manage about two-thirds of
the pool, and felt remarkably proud. On
week five we again did the lane gainer cord.
When I got into the water, Stacy suggested to me, “When you think you
can go no further, do another ten strokes”.
Predictably I did not reach the end, BUT I did keep Stacy’s words in my
mind, and when I thought I was at my last exhausting stroke, I counted and managed ten
more dying strokes. I had reach about three-quarters
of the pool – further than I had gone on Week 4. Surely not assurance I would quality for a
spot on the USA Olympic team, BUT enough to make me proud.
Surely this winter I will practice the freestyle at indoor
pools, and in the spring do as many open water swims as I can.
Make the outdoors and exercise a daily component of your
life. Never say, “I wish I had …”
Stacy’s Clinic
Material:
·
Swimming - Turns - Freestyle Flip Turn Step #1 -
noodle flip
*Flip straight head over heels
*Use abs to flip, not your
arms/hands
·
Swimming - Turns - Freestyle Flip Turn Step #2
- noodle flip w/ hands at sides, push
off wall on back
·
Swimming - Freestyle Flip Turn Step #3 - kick
in, flip straight over hands at side w/ no equipment w/ hands at side, push off
on your back
·
This
video shows a sculling drill we did but we went backwards... this shows
going forwards!
----------------
Steve’s
latest book,
Outdoor Enthusiast: Never say, “I wish I had…” is available as an
e-Book at Kindle and Nook and hard copy at Amazon.com
