Swimming Tidbits

Did You Know? - 1

The old adage "if you swim after lunch you will get a stomach cramp and drown" is a myth.  Swimming after a meal may give you a stitch, but a stomach cramp is really an abdominal muscle cramp.  This could be caused from lack of fitness; cold water or fatigue - not by food.

Olympic Games Trivia - 2

With the Olympic Games returning to its birthplace in 2004 in Athens, here are some interesting facts about the Olympic Games.
 
The Modern Olympics were a revival of the ancient Greek Games where laurel wreaths of Olive leaves were presented as prizes.  One of these ancient venues, still in remarkably good condition can be seen at Delphi in Greece and dates back over 2,500 years.  The original track of a similar age in Athens was renovated in the 1800’s and again in preparation for the first Games of the Modern Olympiad, held in 1896.  The track, in pristine condition today has sweeping marble grandstands to seat over 70,000 spectators.  Although it’s tight curves no longer make it suitable for running races, it is often used for special events and concerts.  Swimming and Track and Field have been the mainstay of the Modern Olympics since its inception.
 
The “Modern” Olympics were revitalized in Athens in 1896.  At the second Olympics in 1900 in Paris, swimming included such novelty events as the 200m obstacle race; the underwater race and the plunge dive race.  In the obstacle race, swimmers had to complete the distance by going over and under a series of rowboats laid out in a straight course.  The winner of the plunge dive, as its name suggests, was the person who could dive and glide the furthest in 60 seconds.  The longest race ever was 4,000m.  These events lost favour and were eliminated from the programme.

Race Tip - 1

At the finish of a race swimmers MUST :
remain in the pool and in their own lane (so as not to interfere with another incoming swimmer) until all swimmers have completed the race.
If electronic touch pads are in use, the swimmers MUST NOT hang on the end wall, but rest to the side of the lane hanging one arm across the lane rope.  Once the swimmer has touched the touch pad to finish the race, any subsequent touch will re-trigger the touch pad and give the swimmer a false or slower time.
When all the swimmers have completed the race, the Marshall will give 2 short blasts of his whistle to signal the swimmers to leave the pool.
Swimmers must leave by going under the lane ropes to the side steps.  They are not allowed to leave by the diving block.

Learn to Swim Tip - 1

"...Using goggles can be a great tool to get children comfortable underwater and to keep their eyes protected from the sometimes irritating effects of pool water.  However, students can quickly become dependent on goggles if they use them all the time and some will panic without their goggles or refuse to swim if they don't have them.  The ideal situation would be that a student can swim equally well with or without their goggles and that they use their goggles for comfort.  To achieve this, try doing some small part of every class without the goggles, perhaps the warmup routine or even one swim in the middle of the class.  A little practice without the goggles will maintain their ability to swim without them should the circumstances arise in an emergency..."

From the Milo Swim Australia Newsletter November 2001 issue

From a coaching perspective, swimmers should also be accustomed to swimming without their goggles.  Most swimmers at one point or another in their careers will have goggles either fall off or fill up when racing.  This is an inescapable fact.  However, the more swimmers are prepared for this eventuality, the better they will be able to deal with it when it happens.  That is why your coach may get you to practice in training without goggles, OR make you swim even when they have filled up. BE PREPARED FOR THE UNEXPECTED!

Stroke Tip - 2

Freestyle Stroke Tips
 
While you practice any drill, there are many aspect of your technique to concentrate on.  Don’t try to think about them all, but do focus on the ones that are most important for YOU.  Such as;
 
¨        How your hand enters the water
¨        How your hand stretches forward just below the surface after it enters
¨        ‘Popping’ your elbow after your forward stretch to make a high ‘catch’
¨        Sweeping your hand out, in, out.
¨        Feeling the water pressure on your hand and forearm throughout your pull
¨        Rotating your hip as your hand passes by
¨        Accelerating your hand throughout the stroke to your leg
¨        Not allowing your hand to cross your centre line in the middle of your pull
¨        Rotating onto your side as your hand pushes through to the back,
¨        Feeling a full stretch with both arms one in front and the other at the back.
¨        Maintaining a solid 6 beat kick throughout the full stroke
¨        Lifting the elbow and pointing it up as the arm recovers
Keeping the hand and fingers relaxed throughout the recovery

Stroke Tip - 1

In the old days, swimmers were taught to swim Freestyle and Backstroke flat on their front or back.  We now know that Freestyle and Backstroke are “Long Axis” strokes which means the body rotates in the longitudinal axis.  If done well, the body rotates from one side to the other (about 45 degrees each side).   The head does not turn independently for a breath.  Rather, it simply rotates with the natural body roll.  Also, the body should rotate irrespective of whether the swimmer is performing a breathing stroke or a non-breathing stroke.  Further, most swimmers don't rotate equally to both sides but tend to be lopsided.  This causes imbalances within the stroke which will compromise the strokes effectiveness, and may also lead to  muscle injuries over sustained periods.  Swimming on the front rather than the side creates a wider frontal resistance and hence slows the swimmer down.  Swimming on the side enables the swimmer not only to make a ‘skinnier’ shape in the water, but it also ensures the arms get more power from the back half of their stroke.  Similar to a golfer rotating through as they hit the ball to get a longer, stronger drive, so too does the swimmer rotate to get a longer, stronger stroke.  A simple way to think of this is that every time your hand passes by your hip, your hip should turn.  This should also correspond with the shoulders turning as the opposite hand enters the water and drives forward.  In other words as the right hand enters, the left shoulder and hip should rotate toward the sky and vice versa.

A Family Affair

No wonder Anita is so passionate about her swimming - it's in her blood!  Her paternal Great Grandfather (Alfred Hughes) helped found the Adelaide based superclub Gilberton, way back in the World War One era.  The 'pool' was a sectioned off part of the River Torrens with access steps cut into the bank.

Swimmers dived from a floating pontoon and a diving platform was also erected on the banks.   Anita's Grandmother, Nora Hughes (now aged 98) had the priviledge of christening the platform with the first dive - some 23 feet in height.  A swing bridge connected the opposite side of the river much to the delight of generations of children who learnt to swim there.

Currents, changing tides and the weather made for interesting conditions, and members often had to clear the pool of floating debris, dead carcasses and rubbish, (particularly after a heavy rain or storm) prior to racing.

In those days, professional swimmers dominated the sport and were hailed as superstars, gaining a tremendous following of spectators that often numbered in the thousands at 'exhibitions' - a state that we are only just regaining some 80 years later.  In its heyday Gilberton Swimming Club boasted around 2,000 members.

Anita's Grand Aunt Madge Hughes was the first woman to win the annual "Swim Though Adelaide" (in 1929) a long distance swim held in the River Torrens.  This event, which was eventually cancelled in the 1970's due to increasing pollution, was swum over a mile and was 'handicaped'.  Swimmers were given a starting time, with the slowest swimmers starting off on the starter's pistol, and the fastest swimmers leaving at successively later times.  The very fasest swimmer would go last, anything up to ten minutes after the first.  This made for an exciting race as, in theory, any swimmer could win, and the fastest swimmers had to overtake all others.   As a back marker, Anita nearly managed to equal Madge's feat coming a close second in one of the last races held in 1976.  Sadly, increasing pollution and the construction of local municipal pools saw the demise of the Gilberton Club.  All that remains is an archway bearing the club name on what has now become Linear Park.

Anita's mother Sybil developed an interest in the sport from her mother Doris Kentish.  Doris was a keen competitive swimmer.  Sybil completed the Education Department's first Swimming Teacher Course and became the swimming teacher at Linden Park Primary School - a position she held for 10 years.  During her tenure, the school won the prestigious South Australian Primary Schools Association (S.A.P.S.A.S.A.) meet for a number of years running - testament to her teaching and coaching ability.  She began coaching with Harry Gallagher and subsequently as assistant coach to Graeme Browne - a position she also held for 10 years .  Sybil rapidly gained a reputation as one of South Australia's finest stroke technicians most notably teaching Anna McVann (1984 Olympian) as a youngster.  After parting company with Graeme, Sybil turned to coaching adults with the Marion AUSSI Club, prior to her retirement. Left: Sybil - Linden Park Primary 1968

Breaststroke Evolution

The history and evolution of Breaststroke is quite interesting and perhaps worth a mention, because to a certain extent it governs the current rules on the stroke. It is the stroke that incurs the most disqualifications, particularly amongst the younger swimmers.

Many years ago swimmers discovered that they could swim faster under the water than they could on top.  Indeed, the fastest Breaststrokers were those who could stay underwater the longest.  The problem, however, was that races lacked interest for spectators (who had trouble seeing the action going on underwater) and dangerous for the swimmers (who sometimes blacked out, or worse, died).  Rules were introduced to prevent this from happening.

In order to stop Breaststrokers from swimming underwater the rules now insist that;

A swimmer’s head must break the surface every stroke, except on the start and turn, when a swimmer may perform one complete cycle underwater.

In the late 1980’s we saw a revival in swimming underwater, but this time Butterfliers, Backstrokers and Freestylers had discovered that kicking underwater using Dolphin Kick was faster than they could swim on top (principally because of the resistance caused by surface waves slowing them down).  Fearing a repeat of the earlier problems, the rules were changed on all three strokes to prohibit swimmers from swimming further than 15 metres (to the false start rope) underwater.

Swimmers who take advantage of these rules are more likely to be faster (if they have an outstanding dolphin kick)than those who don’t.

Olympic Games Trivia - 1

• The first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896 in Athens and included 4 swimming events, three of them freestyle.   Alfred Hajos of Hungary won the first Olympic men's swimming gold medal.  He had a time of 1:22.20 for the 100-meter freestyle, a competitive event in which any stroke is allowed. Since then, new swimming records have been set regularly.
• The second Olympics in Paris in 1900 included three unusual swimming events. One used an obstacle course; another – the Plunge - was a test of underwater swimming endurance; the third was a 4,000-meter event, the longest competitive swimming event ever. None of the three was ever used in the Olympics again.
• While names have come and gone from the record books, several U.S. swimmers have left their mark on the swimming world. Johnny Weissmuller won 5 Olympic medals and 36 national championships and never lost a race in his 10-year career. Mark Spitz won seven gold medals in the 1972 Olympics in Munich, more than any other swimmer in the history of Olympic competition.
• Dawn Fraser was recently named World Female Athlete of the 20th Century and is considered a ‘living legend’ in Australia.  Dawn’s accomplishments were prematurely cut short when she was banned for 10 years from the sport of swimming as a result of her much-publicized antics.  She is only one of two swimmers who have won the same event over 3 Olympics (the 100m Freestyle in 1956;60 and 64) – the other being Kristina Egerszegi, a Backstroker from Hungary who dominated in the late 1980’s.  Dawn however, won medals in other events as well.  Although she was not allowed to swim in 1968, she continued to train and her times from that period were significantly faster than the winner of that event in Mexico, indicating she could have won a fourth gold in her pet event.  Dawn was also the first woman to break one minute for the 100m Freestyle – a record that lasted for years until Shane Gould broke it. 
• Shane Gould won more medals in a single Olympics than any other Australian.  Despite a severe head cold, she still managed to win a total of 5 medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics.  She also owned all the Freestyle world records at one time, from the 100m through to the 1500m (there were no records for the 50m as it was not a recognized event in those days), showing her complete dominance of her era.  At one stage she also held world records in the 200m I.M., as well as the 100m Fly, an indication of her great versatility. 
• For a variety of reasons, women were excluded from swimming in the first several Olympic Games. In 1896 and again in 1906, women could not participate because the developer of the modern games, Pierre de Coubertin, held firmly to the assumption, common in the Victorian era, that women were too frail to engage in competitive sports. In 1900, the committee organizing the Paris games allowed women to participate in golf and tennis, since these were popular sports in Europe. (Until the International Olympic Committee was formed, events at Olympic Games were chosen by the host committee.)
• The 1904 games in St. Louis were dominated by the President of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), James E. Sullivan, who allowed women to participate only in archery, a demonstration sport. Sullivan's control not only of the Olympics but of the AAU is attested by the fact that one month after his death in 1914, women's events were allowed by the AAU. In 1908, women were allowed to compete in archery, and women's gymnastics was a demonstration event.
• Women's swimming made its debut in the 1912 Games at the prompting of the group that later became the International Olympic Committee.
• From the humble beginning with four swimming events, the Olympics have developed to 32 swimming races, 16 for men and 16 for women.
• The 50 metre Freestyle event was only introduced at the Olympics at Sydney in 2000. 
• Men swim the 1500m Freestyle event but not the 800m, whilst women swim the 800m but not the 1500m.