Is it really about the form?

I say people get caught up in TI "drills" and this and that and the other which, for beginning swimmers, probably helps.  These swimmers have all been swimming since pre teens, double workouts, 8-10K per day, for year upon year.  They make up for what we would call "poor form" with talent, consistency and dedication.

The fastest swimmers in my pool all have low elbows, lopsided strokes, and sometimes higher stroke counts.  Doesn't stop them doing sets on 1:15/100 interval

High elbow is a reference to its position during the catch  & pull phase under the water. not the position during recovery.

But to answer the gist of your question, Their form isn't as controlled as in a pool race. But, Olympic OWS swimming is more akin to the running of the bulls than a swim meet. The racers are jockying and sighting. Losing conatct with the group will leave you playing catch-up the whole race.

HOWEVER, you must still be a good swimmer with true foundation. The swimmers aren't dragging their legs or dropping their elbows in the water. Think of it as the aquatic equivalent of a trail-run. You need to be agile and able to surge.

Sometimes I relate this to something I read about professional golfers and their swings.

There is the "perfect" swing, but many players have their own habits and quirks.  However, through hard work and dedication, they are successful despite the minor swing flaws.  Or they make other adjustments to compensate....

Just like people don't fit on a bike the same way or run with the same gait, nobody swims the same way either.  In the pool, it's best to look at the under water cams.  While on top of the water they look entirely different, underwater you will see a lengthened and streamlined position with similar and very strong pulls.  In triathlon an open water, you're going to have even more differences.  I noticed the swimmers at the front looked nice and smooth.  Like they are almost in a pool doing the 1500.  In the washing machine, you have to be STRONG and you have to adapt.  There are waves and other swimmers constantly beating on you, so if you had a nice, relaxed, smooth, pool like stroke, then you are going to get beat the heck up and tossed around.  They also probably lift their head so they can get above the chop to breathe and maybe even take longer breaths.  A lot of that is for sighting as well. 

In the end, their are guidlines and good basics to follow.  However, YOU must find YOUR efficient and comfortable stroke, just like YOU must find YOUR fit on the bike or YOUR gait length.

When you're just starting, ya gotta start somewhere and that's gonna be form. It's like art. You learn the rules, then you learn how to break them to accomplish your goals.

I did notice that when Michael Phelps was just casually stroking over to the side of the pool, his elbow was high and it looks like he was doing 'catch up'  with his hands. All the stuff I get told to do.

I spent alot of time watching the swimming and wishing they would zoom in or do the underwater camera so I could really see how different strokes looked when "real swimmers" did them. I am new to swimming. Any of the athletes at the olympics probably swam more last week than I have in my life. If it takes 30 days to form a habit and I only swim 3x/week, then it's gonna be a long time before I have even the basics down. Wish there had been a swim team at our high school.

That’s the problem, what is proper form? Iit seems that in this site there are some myths (IMO) about what it is perceived as perfect swim form such as TI for swimming and perfect run form such as Chi or Pose running, etc. I believe there is no one way to do things and as you can see at the Olympics from running to swimming there are more than a few athletes who are very very fast with what it seems to be unorthodox form.

I thought this might stir the pot a bit.

I have been concentrating on form some recently but I think I started to just get in a rut with my swimming and was not making progress.  If you read the forums and books, etc.  most will say, it must be your form and I don't totally disagree but....

After 4 sessions of interval workouts, I did a 55s 50 today for the 1st time ever.  Still not fast but about 10-15 seconds faster than a few weeks ago.  Now, I am focusing on form too and I think my pull as improved but I also decided that I need to be focusing on strength, speed, and cardio and moving faster too.  Prior, I was just doing form drills and swimming laps on end. 

So, yes it is about form but that is not the only thing. 

"As you do it over and over you get ‘aha’ moments, you develop feel for the water and you find the stroke rate that works for you, but that after many laps in the pool. "

Yes, I had one of these recently. 

After watching the Olympic swimmers with some of the underwater views, I realized I have been trying to bend my elbows during my pull but also trying to keep my hands toward the outside of my body line.  I saw that many of the swimmers, did bend the elbows but brought their hand down the midline and around their hips.  I started doing this the last few workouts and it definately feels better and has helped drop my times. 

High elbows refers to the arm's position under the water during the catch and pull phase of the stroke; not the arm's recovery out of the water.

TJ

 Exactly right. Look at Janet Evans windmilling her arms vs Dana Torres who lloks like shes going for a wrestling hold, but when you look at a swimmers at the beginning of a freestyle pull you will see the arm in the same position for both swimmers.

Right. What happens above the water is largely irrelevant---it's all about getting your hand in a good position to do what it needs to do underwater. As you see in different swimmers, there's more than one way to skin a cat. BUt if you look at their underwaters, they are all remarabley similar.

I think another element at play is most of the Olympic swimming events are sprints. On the track, you are going to have a different stride, arm motion, breathing, etc running a 100 than you are going to have for a marathon. You can't throw form out the window (and perhaps a better way to put it is you'll have different forms for different distances), but the balance between efficiency and power slides depending on the distance.

Even the OWS folks who are doing longer swims aren't jumping on their bikes when they are done, though I'd expect you'd see more of what you'd expect in terms of from them. 

I have only started triathlons this year and started struggling to swim 100m crawl without gasping for breath. First OW sprint race had to do the last 400m breaststroke due to being exhausted doing crawl.

I went for a lesson with swimfortri in London and they videoed me over and under water. my form was so bad that to swim my 60 second 50m I was working very hard and so tiring myself out too quick. what you look like on film is very different to how it feels when you swim.

they gave me some common drills to do and worked on my streamlining, gliding and slowing my stroke rate. This has led to a drop in time to 50 secs per 50m and I can swim that for 400m no problem.

2nd OW swim of 800m I did crawl the entire race and came ou the water running rather than staggering after breaststroke the previous time.

I have been back for a refresher and while my stroke is still poor it is getting better and I looked a lot more streamlined than before.

I guess my point is that form isn't everything and may not make you faster but it probably makes you more efficient so you have more in the tank for the bike and run.

I will put it to the test next month !