When Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin said she couldn’t recall a time that she didn’t love being in the water, I knew exactly how she felt. Of all the physical activities that I've participated in, none offer the same level of joy that I feel during and after swimming. As a child I constantly begged my parents and older siblings to take me to a swimming pool, pond, or lake where I swam until my finger tips resembled prunes. Although my first teen job was teaching swimming, I never took formal lessons or had the opportunity to swim competitively. Maybe the lack of competition is why I still enjoy the sport as much as I do today.
Swimming improves physical health and it keeps me balanced emotionally. I've overcome some seemingly insurmountable problems lap swimming. The rhythmic breathing necessary to swim freestyle evens out any emotional turmoil I’m experiencing. By the time I’ve finished swimming a mile in the morning, worries tend to roll off of me for the rest of the day like water off a duck’s back...
Swimming improves physical health and it keeps me balanced emotionally. I've overcome some seemingly insurmountable problems lap swimming. The rhythmic breathing necessary to swim freestyle evens out any emotional turmoil I’m experiencing. By the time I’ve finished swimming a mile in the morning, worries tend to roll off of me for the rest of the day like water off a duck’s back...
In his book Spontaneous Happiness, Andrew Weil, M.D. described how his physical activity choices have changed over time. He ran in his 30s until it bothered his knees and he then began spending more time hiking and cycling. Later he relied on exercise machines until they became a form of drudgery. He began swimming regularly around age 60 and reports that his older body likes swimming very much. He finds that concentrating on his breathing during swimming is both meditative and relaxing and he tries to swim on most days. My hope is that you won’t wait until you’re 60 to discover the joys of smooth swimming (and you don’t attempt any extreme feats such as Diana Nyad's 110 mile swim completion today from Cuba to Florida at age 64!).
During my S.U.N.Y. College at Cortland physical education undergraduate training, we learned swim technique based on “Doc” Counsilman’s book, The Science of Swimming. Counsilman coached briefly at Cortland State before joining the faculty at Indiana University where he coached numerous 1960s and 70s Olympians such as Gary Hall and Mark Spitz.
Cortland built a new athletic facility before my college coursework began and Counsilman was consulted during the swimming pool design and construction. My classmates and I benefited from his guidance and swam in a pool with an underwater viewing deck that allowed filming / stroke analysis, as well as underwater speakers that piped in music for the synchronized swim team. It was one of the best aquatic facilities in the nation at that time and I couldn’t have been happier to swim laps while listening to the underwater music. It’s now called the Harriet Holsten pool and remains as vibrant as ever.
Although Counsilman had an incredible swimming legacy, he advocated an "S-Shaped arm pull" during the freestyle swim stroke (aka, front crawl) that required a palm-out, thumb-first water entry which can lead to shoulder injuries. I also recall that your fingers were supposed to be slightly spread for greater swim efficiency based on Bernoulli equations and Counsilman's two-dimensional analysis. Competitive and recreational swimmers have since been taught newer techniques that replace his recommendations. There is now more body roll during the freestyle, a catch and pull arm stroke, along with several other stroke modifications. If this catch and pull swim technique is new to you, focus on having your hand enter the water flat, finger tips first, fingers together, and press the water directly behind you.
When I tried this technique it felt awkward at first, especially adding more body roll, although it quickly helped me become zippier in the water. I now really enjoy how it feels to move through the water using the Swim Smooth technique. This new approach to freestyle swimming helps you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your stroke and provides drills and training tips to make the most of your time in the water. The Swim Smooth web site (www.swimsmooth.com) contains detailed information on stroke technique including animations you can download and watch before your next swim session. There is also a Swim Smooth blog called Feel for the Water that posts every Friday.
During my S.U.N.Y. College at Cortland physical education undergraduate training, we learned swim technique based on “Doc” Counsilman’s book, The Science of Swimming. Counsilman coached briefly at Cortland State before joining the faculty at Indiana University where he coached numerous 1960s and 70s Olympians such as Gary Hall and Mark Spitz.
Cortland built a new athletic facility before my college coursework began and Counsilman was consulted during the swimming pool design and construction. My classmates and I benefited from his guidance and swam in a pool with an underwater viewing deck that allowed filming / stroke analysis, as well as underwater speakers that piped in music for the synchronized swim team. It was one of the best aquatic facilities in the nation at that time and I couldn’t have been happier to swim laps while listening to the underwater music. It’s now called the Harriet Holsten pool and remains as vibrant as ever.
Although Counsilman had an incredible swimming legacy, he advocated an "S-Shaped arm pull" during the freestyle swim stroke (aka, front crawl) that required a palm-out, thumb-first water entry which can lead to shoulder injuries. I also recall that your fingers were supposed to be slightly spread for greater swim efficiency based on Bernoulli equations and Counsilman's two-dimensional analysis. Competitive and recreational swimmers have since been taught newer techniques that replace his recommendations. There is now more body roll during the freestyle, a catch and pull arm stroke, along with several other stroke modifications. If this catch and pull swim technique is new to you, focus on having your hand enter the water flat, finger tips first, fingers together, and press the water directly behind you.
When I tried this technique it felt awkward at first, especially adding more body roll, although it quickly helped me become zippier in the water. I now really enjoy how it feels to move through the water using the Swim Smooth technique. This new approach to freestyle swimming helps you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your stroke and provides drills and training tips to make the most of your time in the water. The Swim Smooth web site (www.swimsmooth.com) contains detailed information on stroke technique including animations you can download and watch before your next swim session. There is also a Swim Smooth blog called Feel for the Water that posts every Friday.
If you order the Swim Smooth book, I recommend that you get the print edition because the photo descriptions are too small to read on a Kindle. And if swimming technique isn’t something you’re interested in delving into very deeply, a quick read through the contentious issues in swimming will give you an overall appreciation for how your freestyle swim stroke can be modified for smooth swimming.
The next time you hear someone about my age advocating the “S-shaped arm pull”, help bring them up to date and ask them to explore the Swim Smooth technique. Until then, I hope to see you lap swimming at the local pool or, if you're lucky like I was last month, maybe you'll have a chance to swim in the crystal clear waters of a New York State Finger Lake before the weather cools:
The next time you hear someone about my age advocating the “S-shaped arm pull”, help bring them up to date and ask them to explore the Swim Smooth technique. Until then, I hope to see you lap swimming at the local pool or, if you're lucky like I was last month, maybe you'll have a chance to swim in the crystal clear waters of a New York State Finger Lake before the weather cools:
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