For those of you who swim

[AcidDrag0n]

Whats the best way to build up your speed. We have a competition for Sigma Chi soon and i'm the guy doing the 25m free style. Its not a long distance at all, but if anyone can give me tips on how to be as fast as i can.

[Loochy's Girl]

Strong start off the block is most important! I always thought a long underwater pull was helpful but thats personal preference. Enter the water with your thumbs down, then turn your hand to pull back. Steady, strong kick will get you moving faster than anything you can do with your arms. The water line should be right above eye level. Breathe as little as possible, but wearing yourself out will make you slower. Some people like to breathe every so many strokes. With a 25 you could probably get away breathing twice, if at all. Also, always turn your head sideways, dont lift up. Ignore the competition, just swim.

Good luck!

[12secondv6]

Nitrous? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[1DangerousV6]

^ HAHA ..or bore the lungs .030 over

[dmw319]

i agree with loochys girl. a strong start is the most important thing. reaction timing is key. dont do a long kickout, but not too short, come up swimming and start as hard as you can dont save anything (its only a 25). keep your legs and body straight and breath only once, if at all. keep your head down and body straight. fast turnover with your arms. a 25 is really short. just spaz out for like 10-12 seconds and your there.

[3.1Birdy]

Nitrous? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I wonder where it would purge. [img]graemlins/rofl.gif[/img]

[4thgenowner]

Originally posted by 3.1Birdy:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Nitrous? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I wonder where it would purge. [img]graemlins/rofl.gif[/img] </font>[/QUOTE][img]graemlins/rofl.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/rofl.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/rofl.gif[/img]

[mrbako]

i agree w/ all those suggestions, but i want to reemphasize the kick...it will help you the most if you kick the crap out of the water.

[Ender2664]

Yeah, my problem was always kicking. You can get general hints all you want, but what you really need is a good swimmer to watch you and tell you what you are doing. Cause it turned out that i was using 100% of my upper body and everything was going right and i was always getting great places, and finally my gold medal friend pointed out to me that i was barely using my legs compared to most swimmers when he watched me under water.

[Mogobs30th]

Make sure you are not doing a windmill with your arms when you paddle. What is ideal is reaching as far as you can, having your hand enter the water thumb down, and pulling the water behind you, keeping your hands close to the body. You do that by keeping your hand perpendicular to your chest and stomach when it is in the water, kinda like pushing the water down your body, instead of keeping your arm fully extended in the water, which you don't want to do. When you have reached all the way down on your stroke while you hand is still in the water paddling, you want to pull your hand out of the water, and reach for that next stroke, keeping that hand as close to the surface of the water as possible without touching the water. This makes the PULL as long as windmilling, but but the stroke itself in general in shorter, making for faster strokes, pulling more water, and ultimately, going faster. Also, the best time to breathe, which should only be once or twice, tops, is when you are reaching for that next stroke. You are going to basically have your face in your armpit, and breathe, turning your head just enough to have your mouth out of the water to take a big gulp of air.

As for kicking, just kick the **** outta the water, its only 25, which is real short. But when you kick, KEEP YOUR LEGS STRAIGHT, don't bend the knees. When you bend your knees, you kick less water, and you get less propulsion.

Now, as for the start, I am not sure how they are going to do it, but usually you have a starter with a blank pistol, and a strobe light. You want to get on the block, toes curled around the edge, and lean back as far as you can without falling off the block and busting your *** (I have done this before). If you have both a strobe light or a blank pistol being fired, go by the strobe light, as soon as you see that thing flash, GO!!! When you dive off the block, dive OUT, NOT DOWN!!!! You dive down, you will crack your head. When you enter the water, your body should be about 10 to 15* to the plane of the water, and you should kick only about 4 times before you reach the surface. As soon as you feel the surface of the water on your head, start your strokes, keeping your body level and straight the rest of the way.

You do that, you will win. Easy.