Success leaves clues. And there can a lot of value is studying someone that's at a level where we'd like to be. This can be true of watching a professional athlete compete and paying attention to what they are doing differently or at a higher level. The ISL (International Swim League) has kicked off season two in Budapest, Hungary. The best swimmers in the world, including Kierra Smith from Kelowna, are competing as part of teams including the LA Current, which Kierra is on, as well as the newly formed Toronto Titans. Last week we had a number of swimmers in for training while the ISL races were happening. So we put the races on the TV while they were training. And it was interesting to see what the best in the world were doing differently than everyone else. For example, Caleb Dressel, Chad Le Clos, Sarah Sjostrom and Florent Manadou were better than the rest when it came to this aspect of the races. And the commentators were picking up on it. Can you guess what it was? It was how strong they were off the wall. Dressel, Le Clos, Sjostrom and Manadou were surging ahead during the underwater portion of the turn. Or if they were slightly behind at the turn they were able to close this gap and catch the leader by the end. So why were they better off the wall? This can be summed up into three main things they are doing well which are: A strong push off the wallA seamless streamline positionA strong and stable core Let's look at each in more detail below. A Strong Push Off the Wall The turn is different than the start in that the feet contact the wall with motion as opposed to a static position for the...

Growing up our parents put us in competitive swimming. My dad's sports background was football and although he still follows the game I guess he thought swimming was as different from football as you could get. And although I spent countless hours in pools and had permanently wrinkled fingers I'm not that strong in the pool these days. The technique has changed enough that I'd have to spend some time with a coach to learn the new way to swim. But if there's one thing I would change with my swimming technique it would be head position. And maybe it wouldn't be so much to change my head position but instead it would be to be aware of it. Below are 6 Reasons Head Position Matters for Swimming. Less Resistance - When you watch a non-swimmer swim a short distance this is usually done with the head up. The problem is that when we lift the head we increase drag resistance. And swimming is all about over coming resistance forces. If you are swimming in a pool you should be looking down at the line on the bottom not ahead of yourself towards the end wall. If you're not sure about your head position have someone shoot a video. Or time yourself for 50 m with your chin tucked, your chin up and with your head in a neutral position. Which position resulted in the fastest time? Ideally it would be best to video yourself doing these time trials.Better Gas Exchange - Distance swimming is primarily an aerobic sport and relies primarily on the availability of oxygen to fuel the activity. When oxygen supply is diminished or delayed, swimming performance suffers. As well, we remove waste products with cellular respiration. If breathing patterns are impaired we won't be as effective drawing...

One of the characteristics that define living things is that they respond to stimuli. In other words there is a response as a result of some external cause or action.For example blow in a baby's face and they will blink and hold their breath. Swim instructors will use this technique before a baby is submerged in a pool.***By the way, you may notice more references to babies in coming blog posts. It's what we talk about at our house these days.***Anyways, we need this stimuli for there to be a response. And the more varied the stimuli the better. This helps us develop more complete neural patterns.Think of all the things we do the same way everyday.We probably brush our teeth with the same hand. We use the computer mouse with the same hand. We probably get dressed the same way. And mow our lawn in the same pattern.You get the idea.So if the stimuli is infrequent or not varied there is a reduction in the response of the nervous system. Our brains get to take a shift off. And we don't grow as much as we could.In order to be your best you need to constantly challenge yourself. You need to step up to the line and see where you stand. Where are you at with your training? What do you need to work on? What could be better?While we can self assess to get an idea of where everything is at this doesn't compare to entering a race or event. When you compete you can't have any excuses. You have to battle through conditions that are less than ideal. You have to work with the way things unfold on a given day.Sometimes this can be malfunctioning equipment. Or cold weather. Or a change in the schedule. Or travel complications.There...