Thursday, February 17, 2011

Justin Bieber likes to swim - new wiki answers post

A new post on Wiki Answers, answers the long wondered question.


Does Justin Bieber like to swim. 

the answer is Yes, apparently

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_Justin_Bieber_like_to_swim

thanks for the info Wiki answers.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Thorpeedos off the starboard bow.

Interesting news from Austrailia can be found on www.Sportal.com.au


Ian Thorpe has confirmed he will come out of retirement and return to international swimming in a bid to compete at the 2012 London Olympics.
Thorpe, who walked away from elite swimming four years ago, made the announcement at a packed media conference in Sydney on Wednesday.
The 28-year-old revealed he reached his decision in September and has been training in eight different Sydney pools in a bid to keep his comeback a secret.
He says good friend Geoff Huegill's successful return to the pool at the Delhi Commonwealth Games and a visit to the Olympic venue in London reignited his passion for the sport.
"It hasn't been something that I have taken lightly in making a decision to return to competitive swimming but I actually made a decision in September," Thorpe said.
"When I made that decision I was flying over the Atlantic and I then went on to not being able to say anything because I was actually commentating for the BBC so it was sitting in my gut for a while."
"I was then taken to see the swimming venue for the London Olympics, it's an extraordinary venue and I could actually taste it ... and I haven't felt this way about swimming for a very long time."
"I didn't at any stage get back into the pool to get fit, I didn't get back in the pool for any other reason than to be back at the stage of being able to compete at an elite level."
"So when I initiated the training I promised myself first to train for three days without pulling the pin on it, then I said if I got through that I would give myself three weeks, and if I got through three weeks I'll go for three months then make a decision about this."
Thorpe, who collected nine Olympic medals including five gold, 11 World Championship gold medals and 10 Commonwealth golds before walking away from the sport, will be based in Abu Dhabi in a bid to avoid the glaring media spotlight in Australia.
Australian head coach Leigh Nugent, who has been coaching Thorpe via text message since September, will continue to oversee his training from Australia in conjunction with other unnamed international coaches.
Thorpe plans to target the 100m and 200m freestyle relays but would not rule out contesting the 100m and 200m individual events should he successfully qualify at the Olympic trials next March.
He also indicated he may continue swimming beyond the London Olympics.
"I never thought this would happen," Thorpe said.
"I never thought that I'd be swimming in a competitive way."
"I'm very glad that I am. I've spent four years away from the pool and I needed those four years."
"I'm back in and I am happy with what I am doing."
Australia's most successful Olympian dabbled in television presenting, fashion design and a wide range of business ventures over the last four years.
He now has 19 months to prepare for his third Olympic Games but must wait nine months before he can return to international competition.
Under FINA regulations, competitors must be registered for drug testing for at least nine months before returning to competitive swimming, meaning the Sydney sider must apply by May in order to contest the Olympic trials next March.


Ian Thorpe was one of my favorite all time swimmers, and it will be interesting to see what (if anything) he came come up with.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

US Masters swimmer breaks Six Masters World Records in One Race

Hey Guys, I just read this piece on Swimming World web site  for this and other stories on swimming chech out  http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com

Laura Val Breaks Six Masters World Records in One Race -- January 18, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO, California, January 18. LAURA Val wasted no time in setting new Masters world records in the 60-64 age group, bettering the marks in all the short course meters freestyle events in one race at the 1500 Meter Swim event at The Olympic Club.

Val, a regular on the Swimming World Magazine list of the top Masters swimmers of the year, is now 60 years old according to FINA rules that determine an athlete's age as of December 31. She ushered in the new age group with a 1500-meter freestyle race, setting world records with each intermediate split. She started with a 29.89 at the 50-meter mark, erasing the six-week-old 50 freestyle record of 30.01 set by Charlotte Davis.

At the 100-meter mark, another record fell, this time Davis' 1:06.58 from last December with a 1:05.16. At 200 meters, Val took down Conny Boer-Buys' 2:31.69 with a 2:24.19.

At the 400-meter mark, Val began crushing the records, this time erasing Barbara Dunbar's world record of 5:22.47 with a 5:02.65. The 800 freestyle record didn't stand a chance when Val reached that point in the race, with Val touching in 10:21.68, ahead of Dunbar's 10:58.58.

To top off the day, Val finished her 1500-meter swim with a blazing time of 19:38.63, taking down Dunbar's record of 20:46.82.

Val now owns the short course world records in all the freestyle events for the 55-59 and 60-64 age groups, as well as all the long course freestyle records in the 55-59 age group.


Women 60-64 1500 SC Meter Freestyle
===============================================================================
Name Age Team Seed Finals
===============================================================================
1 Val, Laura B 60 Tamalpais Aquati-38 20:00.00 19:38.63
29.89 1:05.16 (35.27) 1:44.35 (39.19) 2:24.19 (39.84)
3:04.03 (39.84) 3:43.74 (39.71) 4:23.40 (39.66) 5:02.65 (39.25)
5:42.50 (39.85) 6:22.34 (39.84) 7:01.92 (39.58) 7:41.50 (39.58)
8:21.75 (40.25) 9:01.62 (39.87) 9:41.84 (40.22) 10:21.68 (39.84)
11:01.81 (40.13) 11:42.02 (40.21) 12:21.83 (39.81) 13:01.82 (39.99)
13:42.09 (40.27) 14:21.93 (39.84) 15:02.32 (40.39) 15:42.12 (39.80)
16:22.05 (39.93) 17:02.12 (40.07) 17:41.88 (39.76) 18:21.22 (39.34)
19:00.23 (39.01) 19:38.63 (38.40)

So it looks like the challenge has been made. now its your turn

Monday, January 17, 2011

nice 4k practice for those who bore easy

1x500 F/c swim dec 100's 1-5
2x250 as 100IM 50F/c 100IM
4x125 as either 100 f/c 25 IM stroke  or 100IM +25 IM stroke
8x75 odd F/c dec 25's 1-3 even IM (No f/c)
20x25 as (4x25 Max effort 1x25 Easy) x4
10x50 Pulling Breathe 5 and breath 7 each 25
and then either
5x200 F/c short rest
or 10x100 f/c off short rest
Kicking to finish practice

Nice little set - with Tonnes of Kick - lovely jubbly

Warm Up
8x100  odd f/c dec 100's 1-4   even IM or MI
8x25 sprint on Choice

Main set  3 sets
4x25 Kick max effort
2x50 Kick even more max effort
1x100 Kick biggest effort ever!
1x300 Pull breath 5

Swim down
8x25 drill

Friday, January 14, 2011

Masters Distance pacing set - 60 mins

Warm Up
8x75 as 50 swim 25 kick (all choice - same swim and kick)
8x25 IM  Drill/swim x 25

Main set
4x400 descending 1-4 as follows

1x400 Fast - the faster this swim is , the more challenging and rewarding the set becomes.
1-2mins min rest
2x200 Fast 15-20 sec between 200's- add up times for 400m (faster than 400m before
1-2 mins rest
4x100 with 10-15 sec rest between 100's - add up times for 400m faster than 2x200 before
1-2 min rest
8x50 on 5-10 sec rest between 50's - add up times for 400m faster than 4x100 before.

Swim down to finish.

Most swimmers attempt this set on Frontcrwal, however the set can be done on IM in the following way

1x400 as 4x100IM continuous swimming
2x200 as 200IMs
4x100 as 100 fly 100bk 100 brst 100 f/c
8x50 as 400 IM order (aim to neg split each strokes 1st and 2nd 50)

Enjoy

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Kicking for succes Part 2

Training & conditioning
In this section, example kick sets are proposed to develop different aspects of leg-kick conditioning. We also present some of the alternative methods used in kicking, time standards for senior swimmers to target and a number of general recommendations are made to move this area of training forwards.
The approach to conditioning the legs should be similar to that employed in other aspects of the programme, namely that they follow training categorisation and similar to those proposed for swimming within the training programme. For further information on the details and explanations for the British Swimming training categories, please refer to the downloadable documents on the web site (www.britishswimming.org >Swimming >Useful documents >World Class Swimming Sports Science/ Medicine info). The following sections cover some of the key Physiological developmental areas: Aerobic (Threshold), Overload (VO2 max/ Heart Rate [HR] max), Anaerobic (high lactate) and Basic Speed.
In order to gauge a comparable Physiological effect to that experienced during swimming, a HR max should be established for kick. This will vary amongst swimmers, but on average, will be approximately 25 beats lower than for full stroke swimming. Once this is done, sets can be monitored and compared using a typical method of prescribing intensity, „beats below max [BBM]‟.
Kicking can be a useful method of aiding recovery. Using a kick board, swimmers can breath „freely‟ enabling good airflow and the necessary pathways to consume oxygen in the relevant metabolic pathways. In addition, the action of the large leg muscles will help the circulation and oxidation of lactate from the general blood circulation. In many ways, the contrast from intense swimming followed by steady kicking can be recommended in the recovery process.

Kicking Standards
Perhaps the best assessment of good kicking is to choose a typical „test-set‟ and record some „best average‟ times to compare. Completing this set (or similar) every month will provide a useful tool to monitor progress. The following example provides some guidelines for kicking standards.
Example set: 12 x 100 on 2:15 [Long Course pool] - Swimmers try to achieve the fastest average time for all 12 reps
Excellent Under 1:25
Very Good 1:25 – 1:32
Good 1:32 – 1:38
These targets are realistic for Senior, elite swimmers; we acknowledge that Age Group swimmers will struggle to achieve these times, but these should be used as a challenge to work towards. For example, a 17 year old swimmer who joined the Loughborough National squad in September 2006 first achieved an average of 1:57 for the above set. In February 2007, he had managed to reduce this average to 1:33. This new „best average‟ was accomplished from performing a higher volume of kick and regular completion of harder kicking sets than he was previously used to.

Other Considerations – Planning, the Taper and Competition
The sequence of training throughout the week will vary between intensive and recovery work. For an Age Group swimmer, there might be up to 6 intensive sessions, whilst with senior swimmers, 4 intensive sessions might be recommended. In many cases, kick sets will also vary between intensive and recovery and can compliment swim sets. For example, a training session might generally be recovery in nature, but with a hard kick set. Alternatively a hard swimming set may be followed by light kicking for the reasons already stated.
During the taper, as with the overall volume and intensity of swimming, kick sets should be sequentially decreased as the competition approaches, but not dropped completely. Sets should be reduced in volume and intensity over the 2-5 weeks of the taper period.
Performing regular „quality‟ kick sets over a prolonged period of time gives swimmers confidence in competition to be able to bring in the legs towards the later stages of a race, particularly in a sprint finish. Over-kicking early in the race should be avoided as the swimmer will struggle to pick up pace in the later stages and may lose good body position, thus slowing them down. The correct balance between leg kick and stroke rate has to be experimented with and practiced by athlete and coach. For instance, Paul Palmer (who frequently completed significant kick sets at all intensities) did not kick very hard until the latter stages of a race. When he did increase the kicking intensity (and speed), stroke rate dropped to accommodate the legs, usually in the last 50m of a race. The relationship between the propulsion gain from the legs and the maintenance of the appropriate stroke rate is a fine balance.

  1. There should be a set dedicated to an aspect of leg kick in every session 
  2. 20% of all volume should be conducted on kick (~ 1400m in every 7000m session) 
  3. 50% of all kick should be done as dolphin kick on the back 
  4. Core strength will improve from adopting kick with sculling, kick with a pull float, vertical kicking and kick on a board if a good body position is present at all times 
  5. Identify kicking Max Heart Rate (kMHR) and construct sets that target this area 
  6. Set sessions to target energy systems similar to swim: Recovery/ Maintenance/ Threshold/ VO2 Max/ Glycolytic (Lactic acid)/ Speed (ATP-PC) 
  7. Kicking speed can be improved almost immediately if the volume and intensity are increased within the programme 
  8. Do not allow easy options in training: Much of the volume should be on best stroke and dolphin kick on the back 
  9. Establish a Kick P.B. for various distances: 50/ 100/ 200/ 400m 
  10. Establish a ‘best average’ kick time for various distances and sets 
  11. Don’t be afraid to do mixed or combination sets of kick and pull with quality efforts

Summary and Conclusion
The importance of the legs in contributing to optimal performance in swimming races cannot be under-estimated. The necessity to spend significant time and effort in training to condition the legs and improve kicking technique should not be underplayed. Methods of training and conditioning and example training sets to improve leg kick have been proposed in this article, but this should not be a limit to what should be tried. The suggested standards to achieve excellent kicking are current and will continue to advance along with our understanding of training methods and the challenges of performance improvement.

Ian Turner was the Head coach to British swimming for many years, coach to the University of Bath and is currently coaching in New Zealand.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Kicking for success

Here is an part 1 of and article writen by Mike Peyrebrune and Ian Turner in 2007

Kicking: Foundation for successful Swimming
Introduction
It has long been acknowledged that leg kick in competitive swimming is important mainly to provide balance and ensure a good body position is achieved in order to minimise resistive drag. What has not been particularly clear is the potential of the legs to contribute to propulsion (if at all), and the necessary training that should be conducted in order to condition the legs to cope with the speeds maintained by world class swimmers throughout their races. It is not a coincidence that most of the world‟s best swimmers are also the world‟s best kickers.
Current Best Practice
Recent observations of top swimmers and the type of volume and intensity of kicking conducted in training has revised some of our previous recommendations on the quality and quantity of kick necessary to succeed at the highest levels. In addition, presentations by some of the World‟s best coaches (Eddie Reese [University of Texas], Frank Busch [University of Arizona] and Jack Bauerle [University of Georgia]) at recent international conferences support the need for a greater volume and faster kicking times than have previously been recommended.
Many clubs have a limited number of hours of training time, but despite this, coaches must include kick sets in every session. It is apparent to us that neither the quantity nor the intensity of kicking is being done in many club programmes around the country. In many cases, swimmers in America or Australia are performing 2000-3000m per session, including some very hard endurance or sprint efforts. There are numerous examples of impressive sets performed world-wide including a University squad in the States who regularly kick 20 x 100m on 1:50 averaging under 1:30!
It is clear that the fast kicking times achieved by swimmers such as Ian Thorpe, Michael Phelps, Ian Crocker, Aaron Piersol and our own Simon Burnett and Caitlin McClatchey are in part contributory to their status as some of the fastest swimmers in the world. It is the information gathered from observing these world class swimmers, some of the key messages and practices from the world class coaching fraternity and our own observations in working with the world class 200 FC swimmers at the National Centre in Loughborough that form the basis of this article.
The Contribution of the Legs
Simple analysis of typical 100m and 200m races suggest that up to 30% of the race can be swum underwater (2 x 15m in 100m, 4 x 15m in 200m events). Although many swimmers do not take full advantage of this opportunity, it is clear that many of the top swimmers spend considerable time during the start and turns executing powerful and fast dolphin leg actions. In addition, the majority of top class swimmers will use their legs to achieve a body position „riding high‟ on the water. This in itself will reduce resistance and improve forward speed. The legs also provide the mechanism for balance in the stroke, again aiding improved body position and flow through the water. Unless good kicking is executed in every session, this will not happen.
Good Kicking Technique
The legs were traditionally thought to provide very little forward propulsion. Although difficult to quantify, and variable between individual swimmers, we can say with some degree of certainty that the legs contribute (either directly or indirectly) a significant amount to forward propulsion in
Freestyle, Backstroke and Butterfly. In order to execute a fast and powerful dolphin or flutter kick, there are many factors to develop to a high degree:
  • Ankles and hips should be extremely flexible – improving this aspect can be done using specific stretches before and after each training session 
  • Hip flexors, gluteal muscles, quadriceps and hamstrings must all be exceptionally strong and well conditioned specifically in the correct technique for swimming 
  • Land conditioning (including running) can assist this process 
  • Fast, rhythmical kicking action is vital and can only be gained through constant practice in the water 
  • Top swimmers performing excellent dolphin action usually „flow‟ with the upbeat beginning almost before the downbeat has finished. Fins can assist in helping this process, but swimmers should not become over-reliant on using them. 
  • Kicking volume and intensity should be increased progressively from a young age (e.g. 10-13) to train both the technique and conditioning of the dolphin and flutter actions; don‟t be afraid to progress the volume of kick conducted from an early age 
  • Encourage a minimum of 3 dolphin leg kicks off each wall; 5 kicks are preferred in Back & Fly

While there are several points to remember in developing good kicking practice and technique, there also many things to try to avoid. Common errors in kicking technique include:
  • Kick too high (wasted effort in creating excess splash; only heels should break the surface) 
  • Kicking too deep (causing unnecessary, unwanted frontal resistance and slowing down the leg action; kick should not be much deeper than body width) 
  • Excessive knee bend, often observed as an action similar to „bicycling the legs‟ 
  • Dropping the hips; this can be due to weak core strength in the back and abdominalsLack of co-ordination in the dolphin action caused by „out of sequence‟ between arms-shoulders-core-upper legs-lower legs and ankles; training this technique can include practicing on land, exaggerating hip movements, emphasising the hands (in the extended position) leading the movement and again using fins 

Part 2 coming soon

Sunday, January 9, 2011

9th Jan 2011 - RMSC Set

Warm Up

6x200
  1. F/c
  2. f/c/kick x50
  3. f/c
  4. f/c/chx50
  5. f/c
  6. f/c/Im x50
16x50 odd choice ez/fast x25  even F/c  easy/fast x25

Main set

3 sets
1x500 Pulling breathing every 5th stroke
4x25 sprint
4x50 kick

Enjoy!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Friday 7th Jan 2010 - RMSC Set

Nice little set, to add to weeks repertoire

Warm Up
6x150 odd F/c descend 50's 1-3
even IM/F/c
4x50 Kick

Main Set
4 sets
4x25 Sprint
1x 100 Easy
4x50 Max at faster than 200m Pace

Side target - using a score from a pervious "Golf Game" can add an extra dimention (and difficulty to the set.)

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Jan 6th 2010 - RMSC Set

Warm Up
3x200 1- F/c 2- F/c/Choicex50 3- Choice
8x50 odd - Kick/swim x25 even swim/kickx25

Main set

7x200 Step test or Descend 200's 1-7 (although most folk just swim a descending set)

#1-5 Dec 200's 1-5 (on 5 mins)
#6 - 2x100 Add up faster than #5 (15 sec rest only)
#7 - 4x50 add Up faster than #6 (10 sec rest only)

Goal
  • descend about 5-7 sec each 200m swim
  • Check HR after each 200m block
  • Check Stroke count on 3rd 50m
  • Rate of Perceived effort
Swim down rest of practice to finish.

Tuesday 4th Jan 2011 - RMSC Set


This is the "pure work out" that is as it was planned. Things changed in the running of this session due to the cold nature of the water. most only lasted 35mins of the hour, only had 3 in at the end (out of 22 swimmers).

Warm Up
5x200
  1. F/c as drill/swim/kick/swim x25
  2. F/c/Choice x 50
  3. Swim/Kick x50
  4. Pull Breath 5
  5. F/c dec 50's 1-4
4x50 Fast (at 200 Pace or faster)

Main set

15x100 Dec 100's 1-3 off short Rest intervals (10-15 rest only)

Swim down
1x300 Easy choice

Total 3000

New Year, New Posts!

Its been a while since I last posted. New years resolutions and all that, I am going to try to put up at least the work outs and training sets that Regina Masters Swimming Club are doing. I will still be putting up articles and random musings about swimming and swimming related subjects (I'll try and stick to topic.)