Swimming Faster

A coach’s guide to Mark Spitzian Speed

Major Technique Work

• Pulling• Kicking• Individual Strokes• Starts, turns, and finishes

The best way to swim faster is to practice faster.

-Dick Shoulberg, 2001 US Women’s National Coach

General Techniques

• Keep High elbows

• Close fingers and cup hands slightly

• Stay high in the water

• Keep Maximum Resistance in stroke and kick,

and Minimum resistance in body

• Breathe Quickly

• Practice pace for distance events

• Longer is better

• STRETCH!!! Flexibility in shoulders and ankles!

Freestyle

• Emphasize stroke length and shoulder roll for maximum power

• Use Question mark shaped stroke underwater

• Draft off the opponent in longer events

• No circle swimming

• Bilaterally breathe

• Six-beat kicking

• No breathing in or out of turns

• Extend duration of streamline

Butterfly

• Undulation

• Question mark shaped

stroke underwater

• Keep arms low in recovery

• Breathing pattern

• Two-beat kick

• Extend kick underwater

• Shoulder and back strength

• Stay conservative and long in distance event

Backstroke

• Shoulder roll with deep strokes

• Head still

• Head back and arch back

• Straight arm recovery

• 2-2-2 kicking rhythm

• Butterfly kick underwater

• Underwater kick up to 15 meters

• Know the stroke count

Breastroke

• Bring hands into chest

• Keep elbows high

• Head down

• Recover above the water

• Stay high in the water

• Stay low above the water

• Find a rhythm

• Lengthen the pull-out

• Finish the kick

Starts, Turns, and Finishes

Starts:• Stay loose and explode off the block• Enter in an imaginary hole • Keep head tuckedTurns:• Get in and out quickly, staying legal• No breathing inside of the flags• Extend the streamlineFinishes:• Keep head down• EORT: length beats taking an extra stroke

And Reap the Rewards: