This is a topic that I get fired up about, because I see it as a subject of safety for our youth swimmers. I was recently involved in a spirited discussion amongst youth swim coaches who insisted on an outward sweep at the top of the key within the swim stroke. They claim that this assists propulsion by widening reach, and allowing the swimmer to engage the pectorals. This is indeed true, and youth swimmers are often core weak because they are being literally stretched to their limits due to continuous growth. This means that they don’t swim core reliant, and when there is weakness in the core there is a much greater chance of stroke flaws as we compensate for imbalance by widening the stroke pattern.
The coaches made valid points, and in return I made the following because I’m generally working with a Masters swimmer. Much of the time the older swimmer will be in the same stroke pattern, or worse had previously dropped out of swimming in High school or College. When I ask those who dropped out why they quit, they all say the same thing. “I had a shoulder injury that I just could not recover from”, or worse, “I had a shoulder injury, and my coach couldn’t help”. I then follow-up with a question about what stroke pattern they used, and they all make the same motion. An “S curve” with their hand, with an outward sweep starting at the top of their key. I’ve said it at least a thousand times, an “S curve” is dangerous, and will lead to injury. When speaking with the coaches this was all summarized and I ended with; “If the goal is to create a lifetime swimmer, then we should not be teaching an “S curve stroke”. Here’s the trouble: humans are poorly designed for swimming to say the least. We are lanky, weak, and generally don’t balance on a strong core. To walk around and sit we don’t really need a strong core, so it goes unnoticed until we make a change, and need it. In swimming it’s absolutely necessary. As mentioned before, when weak in the core, we get wide in the water. This is because it helps us balance. As juniors we are left with little choice and since the name of the game is speed, we are for the most part unchecked if fast. This allows us to build strength around flaws in a wide stroke pattern, and little is done to focus on strong core, because if a shoulder or leg driven swimmer you can be fast without it. If we are able to maintain a high turnover rate, and stay atop the water speed is not a problem. This all goes on just fine, until the inevitable shoulder injury. Why is the shoulder injury inevitable? Primarily for the reason that we are poorly designed for the task of swimming. When I do get a chance to coach kids and see a lanky kick, I’ll get them thinking by asking; “Have you ever seen a fish with knees?”. Insert giggles; “A fish with Arms”?, no response… Most aquatic animals that we can think of move from center, from core. Our dominant muscles are also in the core of our body. So why are we so reliant on an outside movement for swimming, when we are the only ones in the water that think it’s a good way? Because we consider what is fast in our youth to be appropriate? It’s doesn’t make sense in any other sport, poor form that will lead to injury is squashed in all other youth sports. For example youth football coaches take specialized training to teach their children appropriate ways to tackle. Furthermore the intent behind pads, and tape in general as used in other sports is to prevent injury. So why is poor form ok in swimming? Poor form lead to injury, and swimming with poor form for the sake of speed is not sustainable, and irresponsible. The solution is to build a youth swimmer on a strong core that maintains through the inevitable growth that the student is subject to. This can be done through swimming in correct form. There are also a series of kick drills that I’ve utilized with a smaller board (as an adult use a larger board), that they can utilize under the water. The base drill I call wedge: submerge the board about six inches under water, slightly in front of you and exert equal pressure on either side of the board with both hands to keep it submerged. If you are unable to keep pressure well enough wrap your thumbs over the top of the board to keep it submerged until you can. Utilizing the board in this fashion and kicking behind it puts pressure on the core, and pectoral muscles primarily but also engages the deltoids and lats. This is a great and easy drill to use to develop a balanced and strong swimmer, and is also good for a junior swimmer with a smaller than standard board. Another tool that will assist in developing a strong core is sculling. I’ve heard sculling referred to lifting weights in the water and I think that is accurate. The point of sculling is not to go fast but rather shape the water for maximum gain in strength. Another by product is that you are holding frame, and this frame is controlled by your core. There are many sculls, but the most basic is called Bathtub. It is what it sounds like. Think about yourself laying in a small bathtub, where your legs need to be at the same level as your head and your butt is submerged. Now tread water so that you are moving backwards, head first. Keep this position so that your toes and head are the only things out of the water. This scull works hand position, shoulder driven propulsion, and core. A third and a dryland option is planks. Planks are a yoga position where you position yourself balanced on your toes and arms like a bridge keeping your core and buttock tight. This puts pressure on your core, lower back pectorals. As you can see these are drills that focus on core strength, balance, and stability. Weakness in any of these three areas are the cause for nearly all stroke flaws. If we are no diligent with teaching and building our youth swimmer along the push to become a faster swimmer we inevitably put them at risk for injury. These are the most basic tools that I’ve used to encourage a strong junior swimmer to become not only fast, but also have a lifetime of swimming ahead of them. I thank you for your consideration of this article if you are of the belief that an (S) curve stroke is a positive for a junior swimmer. I truly believe that if the goal is to build a lifetime swimmer, then an (S) curve stoke is dangerous. Much love, and happy swimming!
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Hello swimmers and volunteers, We are upon the backside of our fifth annual and most successful SwamThat Race ever. First off, a really big thank you goes out to all of our supporters, family and friends are instrumental in making this happen year after year. My wife Sarah is my life saver. The dinner was a great success, and I believe that I’ll be making the pizza cookies in future years because you all polished off about 12 pounds worth of cookies in an hour. They were highly acclaimed, but all thanks should go to two parties, first the ICOWS for their sponsorship of the dinner. The cookies were a way to thank them for the continued and unwavering support of the race. Secondly, thank my lovely grandmother to having the patience to endure my squirrely childhood self in teaching me how to make a delicious cookie. Thank you! Hy-Vee catering provided the food, and it’s wonderful. Additionally Hy-Vee donated all of the race day recovery for the athletes. Another point to the dinner was thanking the kayak volunteers, they are an incredible group of individuals and we could not do it without them. They are all humble and gracious individuals with rich and fulfilling stories. If you happen to get a chance in future years, have a conversation with one or all of them, you’ll not regret it. In the name of safety they give their time for a piece of lasagna and a smile, this should give you an idea of the quality of individuals we are talking about. Additionally the positive and supportive feedback from the swimmers has been overwhelming. If you were a volunteer kayaker this year, thank you and be proud. It’s easily apparent that you made great impressions on the swimmers. Camp Foster for the last two years has allowed us to borrow 4 kayaks. If the last two years are an indicator, as long as there are boats sitting around a person will be willing to pilot them. Thank you to Camp Foster YMCA, and the impromptu volunteers for adding an additional layer of safety to the event. Feedback has indicated that you also like the course report that I put out. I’m happy to swim and write anytime, so I’ll try to keep this up. With the water volume increase this year the current was really running, and this made for an interesting race. It was shared that having this information, and the temperature information ahead of time was greatly appreciated. The morning of the race went extremely well, and although I’ve still not figured out how to drop buoys from a small boat, in the dark while maintaining a straight line I know my corners are right. Ryan and I make a great team, and despite an issue with the blower not wanting to turn over for about ten minutes we prevailed. A new addition this year was headlamps with a red light setting. This was great because it did not flair our eyes, and we could sight a bit better. Ryan is an all-star, and we have a system that is still maturing. Ryan is also our lead safety kayak, and a best friend amongst best friends. Thank you Ryan! Ryan’s wife Jill is all hands on beach and our professional photographer. Once we receive them we’ll put all of the photos out. Most of the photos from 2017 were also Jill, her skills are impressive and appreciated! The course swam pretty true, just a bit long. Dive and Rescue requires thanks anyway, but they corrected the course a little by moving a couple of buoys which helped everyone sight a little better. With the course set, and ahead of schedule we rolled up on beach. Sarah (tolerant and loving wife) was already on beach, and have everything unloaded from her car (one of four necessary vehicles to run this thing). Tony and Ellie (best friends amongst best friends were also there) helping with check in, carrying bricks with line, and assisting in setting up all things including generators, clocks, and signage. They would stay on beach all morning assisting with questions, sales, and other details. Tony positions himself as a personal assistant, and literally takes care of every detail. I don’t want him to go unnoticed, a best friend since high school, he’s had my back for 25 years now, and never fails to be there. Still ahead of schedule we had time for a mass group picture will all of the adult swimmers and volunteers, then the safety briefing. I was thrilled to have extra radios on beach this year, enough to provide one to all of the 10K, and 5K dedicated spotters as well as all of the volunteers and Dive and Rescue. The radios are the most important part of the event, and after the loss of a couple last year, we purchased another 10 pack providing additional communication. Real time correspondence is necessary in the name of safety. With that the 10K swimmers were off, and the race was started. Conditions were ideal! We had an extremely talented group in the 10K this year, each one strong and capable. One of them is Arron Cook, the only swimmer who has swam all five years so far. We awarded a couple of new Marathon swimmers this year; Melissa Chamberlin and Nick Klein both from Aimes, Iowa. Nick contacted me about three months back considering upgrading from a 7.5K attempt to a 10K. I offered to coach him in exchange for marketing support (some program details may be found through www.theswimgenius.com, feel free to contact me), it was a deal, and with some phone conversation, workouts, and a whole bunch of hard swimming on his part (all of the actual work), he made it! Lastly but certainly not least Sandra Frimerman-Bergquist with the Women’s overall win set our new course record with a time of 2:27:10. Our Men’s overall win went to Christopher Hansen with a time of 2:48:10. A big congratulations to all our Marathon swimmers! Ten minutes later the 5K swimmers took off for our half marathon distance. This was a fairly large group made up of very strong swimmers. One of these swimmers was Kathleen Guyer (2014 Honu’s Hero recipient). She holds a special place in SwamThat history as she was the very first registration for the very first SwamThat race. She made it then, and she made it this time too. Women’s overall win goes to Carrie Morton with a time of 1:39:25. Men’s overall win goes to John Blumer with a time of 1:31:12. 5K in open water is a great challenge, and everyone who completed this distance should be extremely proud. Another ten minutes go by, and we send off the 2.5K group. By this time some of the 10K swimmers are on the backside of the course, and riding the signature current (Spirit of Honu) towards corner two. It deserves mention that 10-year-old Ashley Husmoe competed, and became our youngest 2.5K finisher since the inception of the race. In addition, John Hood II, who just began swimming in May completed the 2.5K distance, and has been named with 2018 Honu’s Hero. The Women’s overall win goes to 14-year-old Amanda Husmoe with a time of 47:00. Men’s overall win William Morton 47:15. William would go on to say that Amanda made this a really good race for him. The SwamThat Race youth races had good numbers, and fast swimmers this year. Both course records were set, and fun was had by all. Arron Cook was our high five finish line this year, an honor bestowed after his second 10K finish, and 5 years of participation. Josiya O'Kane won our 150M Boy’s division with a new course record of 3:10. Evelyn Lorenz won the girls division at 4:40. Alex Gutierrez won the 300M Boy’s division with a time of 5:20. Madeline Hansen earned the win, and set a new course record in the Girl’s 300M with a time of 4:48. The 150M, and the 300M are core to the SwamThat Race. It’s important to provide these opportunities to the children to build the future of the sport. The feedback is in and being taken into consideration. Certain aspects we cannot adjust, such as limitations provided by DNR such as when we are allowed to hold the event, and drop the buoys. Otherwise, we will be making continuous improvements. We are also (temporarily) bound by having a small craft, and daylight hours to draw a straight line with the buoys. We are lighting them, and this does help to get them in line despite constantly changing conditions. Thank you for this feedback, we’ll continue to get better. One suggestion was to have other speakers at the dinner, this has been a plan for some time now, and prior attempts have been made that just didn’t pan out. Overall, people seam to enjoy the dinner, and I believe that it’s important to have the safety briefing at this time, and on the beach. We are always trying to make safety the priority. As we have gobs of shirts from past years, I have this thought that we could save the money and have a “Left overs” race concerning the T-shirts for 2019. The reason that we have this problem, is the cost on 100 shirts, is literally the same as the cost on 75 shirts due to a price break that our printer gets. I order the shirts in advance, because we get a lot of late signups, and am always hedging my bets on marketing and week of sign up’s. I would really like your feedback on this, I know that it would be a bummer for some of you that have swam the last four or five years. The monitory savings would allow us build the race even more. Please send your thoughts to [email protected]. I’d like to take an informal vote on this. I don’t want to lose participants, and I don’t consider it a trivial matter, but the idea was brought to my attention, and I appreciate that. Next year’s race date is 09/08/2019. I big thank you to everyone that has come out to the 2018 SwamThat Race. It was a great year! I’ve been getting more contacts these days about becoming a marathon swimmer, and I think the idea in the Midwest is catching on as we have a couple of more options for the sport. I wanted to provide a how to manual based on my experience for the logistics of it all, because it can be really fun! There are a couple of tough spots, and a little knowledge can go a long way. I feel like I’m providing a lot of information here, it’s like four articles all in one. I may break this up a bit in future postings, but with SwamThat Race right around the corner, I wanted to get the information out to our swimmers with enough time to truly prepare for their day.
Sighting: Let’s start with sighting because everyone swim in a straight line in the pool, but no one swims in a straight line once that line disappears and they are in open water. There are multiple ways to sight outside of dropping your feet and lifting your head which is basically a full stop. One option that most people don’t think of is going into another stroke pattern. People that do this generally convert to a Breast stroke, I’m also fond of sighting in a Butterfly stroke. Both of these patterns have opportunity within your breath to sight the course directly in front of you. If you are sighting while in Freestyle, I teach this as part of a bilateral breath pattern. Take for example you are coming up on a right side breath and want to sight the course. When you left hand is extended, lean on it slightly and pull your head up while making your breath attempt. Look quick to try and sight a buoy, get your breath in the process and close the stroke normally. If you are going to sight in a single side breathing pattern it’s not quite as efficient, but ultimately the same, lean on the opposite side hand, pull the head and sight within the breathing motion. Safety: I mentioned Breast Stroke, and there is an important safety element to this stroke. If you are ever off balance for some reason, examples are: hit by and unknown object, goggles are leaking, kicked or hit by another competitor, or you’re off course. I teach students to go into Breast Stroke because you square up, and spread out while protecting the head and gaining a sight line. Practice this in the pool, so that it’s automatic for you. It’s a nice skill to have. If you need help, a lifejacket or extra flotation is not available, and are being approached by Kayak assistance paddler, don’t pull on the side of the boat. You will want to mount the front tip of the boat by wrapping your arms tight around the bow. This centers the kayak and gives you a rest. Also if you need to be taken into shore, this is also a safe way to transport you without putting a safety crew member in jeopardy. They are there to help, but if they are incapacitated, then two people need saving. Getting someone’s attention is easily done by taking off your swim cap and waiving it in the air as high as you can. Safety personnel are always scanning the water, and this is easily sighted. Timing: Timing waves is a skill, and trying to breathe through a whitecap is unwise. In the waves you’ll probably have abandoned any hope of a bilateral so this is predominantly a single side breath exercise. You will want to breathe on the opposite side of your body from the direction of the wave, and you’ll want to breathe in the trough of the wave. So the logical question is how to time this? I slow my stroke pattern and extend my long hand as discussed above in sighting. With your long hand you can feel the rise and fall of the wave if you are keeping your shoulder high in the water. Your hand will operate as a bobber. Once you feel the wave lower or your hand pass through the whitecap, you’ll be in the trough the very next moment and have a window to get a breath. You may find a pretty consistent rhythm, but I recommend maintaining awareness and you high bobber, because the waves can be inconsistent and provide little or no warning. It’s better to miss a breath, than inhale a wave. This situation is also why I encourage all swimmers to be bilateral breathers, it’s a really long day if you can only breathe on one side, and there’s a straight line wind coming from that direction. Sighting in waves is best completed in a Breast Stroke, so that you can pick your head up through the crest of the wave. Stopping motion, and dropping your feet may leave you prone to cramping, and although you can swim with a cramp, it is best prevented with continual motion and appropriate feedings. Feedings: I’ve taken in multiple types of feedings, one of which I take a lot of crap for (Squeeze Cheese), but I’m going to break down the basics for you. First I must defend the brilliance of Squeeze Cheese, (PS Nabisco if you are reading this, I totally deserve sponsorship). It’s pressurized cheese in a can, this means 1) Protein, 2) Fat, 3) Salt, and I’m Keto so it’s everything a distance swimmer needs! Also it never goes bad, and is basically self-sealing. It floats, can be tied to a line with a duct tape loop, and it’s easily thrown in the direction of your nearby kayak support, but I digress. Gels: Gels, and all things made by the endurance sports industry. Gels are great because you can tuck them into your suit. If you are swimming something that does not require a support paddler, but is long enough that you want extra nutrition gels are the way to go. They are simple to use; 1) retrieve gel from stash, 2) bite off top, and put it back into stash, 3) consume gel, and put empty pack back into stash. I want to make sure no one is littering. I will warn that chocolate can leave a suspicious brown stain, when not stashed appropriately. Yeah for gels! Liquids: Liquids are necessary, and make great feedings especially for the glucose fueled athlete because you can pack them with sugar. I like to take in liquids from Camelbacks tied to the deck of a kayak. They usually have about a three foot hose, and that’s plenty of distance between myself and the boat to not touch. They close easy, there’s plenty of liquid so running out is unlikely, and there is nothing to toss, or reel in making it easier on your paddle support. If you using bottles I recommend a duct tape loop, and a squeeze bottle. Wrap the bottle with duct tape a couple of times, make a strand that is larger than the bottle (to tie onto), and then tape back onto the bottle once more. Scrunch up the part that’s not taped to the bottle, and tie on a line. The line should be long enough for your paddler to toss to you, and reel back in with ease. Balls: I make a nutrition ball that will hold me in keto, but also pack in some sugar. I call them my salty nut balls, because that’s what they are. My nut balls are absolutely delicious and a delightful nutritional source. Here’s the recipe: Equal parts: Peanut butter, Nutella, and Marshmallow Cream (about a half of a cup) 1 scoop favorite protein powder 1 scoop favorite collagen powder A couple of spoon or MTC Oil (keto) Beat until blended, I put a Gas X in every other ball, and bag them by two’s as a feeding. Roll in desired coating to keep them from getting too sticky. This can also be a nutritional source so be creative. I’ll use coconut flour, chia seed, and a bit of salt. See; Salty Nut Balls. Feeding on these takes the patience of your paddler, but ultimately they retrieve on from a feeding bag, and drop it in your mouth. I developed these as they don’t require chewing, and when sized appropriately will dissolve while tucked away in your cheek allowing for unobstructed breathing. Here is a general instruction on how to take a line, ball, or gel feeding in: 1) I Get my feeding ready, open the gel pack, get the bottle from your kayak spotter etc... 2) Take a really big breath and hold it 3) I flip over on your back 4) I Let your feet fall, OR start up a slow kick... This is a comfort thing, if I'm tired I may let my feet fall, if I feel like I may cramp, I'll kick them to keep active. 5) Take in the feeding quickly, trying to hold your breath in to maintain buoyancy. "This is important, if you let your breath out, you'll have to tread water, this increases the chance of cramps, panic, and nutrition loss" 6) I then throw the bottle back to my spotter, or tuck the gel pack away, flip and go. This all happens in 20 seconds or less... Note: Some people will tie their bottles to the kayak so that their spotter can reel them in without having to chase them down. Now for the pits, and chafing trouble spots: Next to breathing, and feeding this is the most important part of your day, because bleeding can just ruin everything. I’ve tried everything because no matter how clean, or what kind of water you are in, there is a goober that trying to get after you. Things just rub! I would say the single most important item in your swim bag on race day is Zinc Oxide. You can leave all others at home if you have it, with that said I take a multilayer approach. Aquafor works well as a base coat, I’ve also used Lanolin oil, or Vaseline. These will all wear off over time, but if you put a healthy layer of Zinc Oxide over the top it’ll hold up all day, even in extreme or dirty conditions. One last note about acclimation; there’s this crazy little nerve in your face that controls your gasp reflex. It’s good to dip your toes in the water, and splash some water on your face to begin the acclimation process. This will allow you to jump in for your start, and with no surprises to your body be able to gain confront as you start your swim. That’s a lot of information, but more of a quick hit on the big subjects. I may break all of this apart and provide more details in future articles. If you were to have any questions please write me, and I’ll do my best to give you a Swim Genius answer. Thank you Swimmy People, Much love! |
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