Michael Phelps Freestyle Video. Quite Remarkable.

Pretty cool video but I read some of the comments and this one cracked me up.

Ever notice how Michael? Phelp's dad is never at the olympics cheering him on?

That's because his dad is a dolphin, and that's not what dolphins do

I noticed that during the Olympics with him and a number of others. Seems to work though

LMAO!!

He makes it look wayyy too easy. I hate that! At least make it look hard!

His kick alone though looks like it could blow me flat out of the water. That's some serious kick power there.

I heard a great comment on the radio this morning about athletes (they were talking football and basketball but it applies across the board) - "If it looks easy, you know they are really, really, good".

I'm amazed by the flexibility of his feet, if you watch the slo-mo sequence they have the exact look and flex of scuba flippers.

I'm pretty sure my feet don't do that when I swim.

Here is an article form the great mind of Dan Empfield I consider an iconic insight:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Training/General_Training/The_High_cost_of_good_form_947.html

In it, Empfield likens swim speed and stroke performance to aircraft performance, an analogy I liked because I like reading about airplanes.

In a nutshell Empfield points out that for a stroke to be truly efficient the swimmer must first acheive a minimum velocity. Getting to that velocity takes some baseline fitness, training and and technique.

To a degree- but not entirely- this flies in the face of slower swimmers doing endless drills, like Total Immmersion espouses. It speaks to an approach where you first have to acheive a basic level of speed and its corresponding velocity.

I believe Empfield is right. Once you "brute force" your way up to a certain swim speed then, when you clean up your stroke, you do seem to swim at a better velocity with less work. Again- a visceral feeling, nothing scientific here.

When I watch Phelps' stroke and try (quite feebly) to emulate that... I sink. I'm not moving through the water fast enough. I do a 100, flat out, in about 1:10-1:15. Olympic Gold Medalist Nathan Adrian does it in 47:52, a staggering 23% faster than me. His velocity through the water would complete an Ironman swim in... 33:58.

AdventureBear, FWIW, total immersion techniques, videos and drills are pretty relevant to me. The "swimming downhill" concept is a golden nugget from their doctrine.

I think a good athlete pulls together relevant excerpts from a lot of resources, and T.I. and Terry Laughlin are huge resources in swimming doctrine.

No examination of swimming freestyle is complete without a detailed survey of the Terry Laughlin/Total Immersion swim philosophy. It's relevant.

My coach says all swimmers have their own strengths and own techniques - Ian Thorpe for example - has flippers not feet, he can touch his shin with his toes!

What I noticed most with this one was the ferocity of the kick - my HR would be - well probably flatlining at that pace!  And how much splash!

I barely kick at all when swimming as it seems to slow me down according to my coach!  It certainly doesn't propel me along any faster!

Contrary to that in a kick drill with board - I blow everyone out of the water, if only I could translate my kickboard drill into my freestyle!  Just doesn't happen!

Truly he is a freak of nature - or indeed a dolphin.

This is what I noticed too. crazy flexible feet.

I just wish I could do 100yards OWS in under 3minutes... *sigh*

The time between breathing for Phelps, I can't even do while sitting on the couch.

Or holding my breath as long as he is underwater...