Volume 40 Number 4 January-March 2004 SSWIMMINGWIMMINGTHE “HOW-TO” MAGAZINE FOR BETTER SWIMMING TECHNIQUE A Coach’s Dream Tech Tips: Learn From The Olympians Back to Basics: Eddie Reese Speaks Out Be sure to visit Swimming Technique’s website: www.SwimInfo.com AARON PEIRSOL WORLD RECORD HOLDER 200 Meter Backstroke The leader in technical training equipment introduces its 2003 Comptitive Swimwear line durable • chlorine resistant • comfortable • fully lined www.finisinc.com • 888-33-FINIS (TOLL FREE) • Exclusive North American Distributor of LANE 4 Made in the U.S.A. CONTENTS Volume 40 Number 4 January-March 2004 FEATURES 6 A Lifetime Opportunity With arguably the world’s top two backstrokers likely to be training together at Irvine Novaquatics, Coach Dave Salo is DEPARTMENTS excited about what should be an exceptional summer. Editor’s Note By Erik Hamilton Training Technique—A Pre-Req for Swimming Really Fast: 10 Road to Success A Chat with Coach Eddie Reese Proper preparation, training and taper are the key ingredients By Phillip Whitten ....................4 that the coaches of Blue Tide Aquatics use to get their 14-and-under swimmers ready for championship meets. NSSA By Steve Wilson One Banana, Two Banana, Push and Breathe 14 Establishing an Aerobic Base 24 By Jon Foss............................ The first step for any successful swim team begins with the building of an aerobic base. Tech Tips By Michael J. Stott Starting the Flip Turn Demonstrated by Lindsay The Crossover or Modified Roll Turn with Pullout Benko ...................................30 18 Michael Phelps demonstrates the difficult crossover or modified roll turn from backstroke, the following breaststroke pullout and the breakout. By Kevin Milak 22 Unfair Advantage? University of Arizona head swimming coach, Frank Busch, speaks out on...the bodysuit! By Kari Lydersen SWIMMING TECHNIQUE Vol. 40, No. 4, January-March 2004.. Printed in the U.S.A. by R.R. Donnelley. Published by Sports Publications, Inc., ISSN #0039-7415. Published quarterly by Sports Publications, Inc., 228 Nevada publishers of Swimming Technique, Swimming World and SWIM Magazine. Street, El Segundo, CA 90245. Periodical postage paid at El Segundo, CA., and at Change of address: Send current label and new address to Swimming Technique, additional mailing offices. Rates $3.75 a copy, $15.95 a year in the United States; 228 Nevada St., El Segundo, CA 90245. Publisher is not responsible for failure of all other countries $22.95 a year. Foreign subscriptions and sales should be remit- delivery due to change of address. Replacement of publication(s) due to change of ted by international money in U.S. funds. address or loss in transit will not exceed the last issue. © SWIMMING TECHNIQUE POSTMASTER: send address changes and notice of undelivered copies on Form Microfilm copies available from University Microfilms, 313 N. First St., 3579 to Swimming Technique, 228 Nevada St., El Segundo, CA 90245. Ann Arbor, MI 48103 All swim training and instruction should be performed under the supervision This journal is listed in the Physical Education Index. of a qualified coach or instructor, and in a manner which ensures the safety of Note: Permission to reprint articles or excerpt from contents is prohibited without participants. permission from publisher. GET YOUR FEET WET AT SWIMINFO.COM SWIMMING TECHNIQUE January-March 2004 3 Editor’s NOTE SWIMMING TECHNIQUE ECHNIQUE RE EQ FOR EDITORIAL AND T —A P -R PRODUCTION SWIMMING REALLY FAST: A CHAT P.O. Box 20337, Sedona, AZ 86341 (928) 284-4005 • (928) 284-2477 fax WITH COACH EDDIE REESE e-mail: [email protected] By Phillip Whitten [email protected] Web Site: http://www.swiminfo.com Publisher Richard Deal (This is the third in a series of mini-inter- e-mail: [email protected] views with some of the world’s leading coaches—a new feature replacing the tradi- Chief Executive Officer tional “Editor’s Note.” This issue’s interview Brent Rutemiller is with Eddie Reese of the University of e-mail: [email protected] Texas, the 2004 and 1992 U.S. men’s Editor-in-Chief Olympic coach. In 25 years of coaching at Phillip Whitten Texas, Reese’s teams have won nine e-mail: [email protected] NCAA titles. They have finished in the top Technical Editor three 21 times and the top five 24 times. In Kevin Milak 2002, Coach Reese was inducted into the e-mail: [email protected] International Swimming Hall of Fame.) Senior Editor Swimming Technique: Coach Bob Ingram e-mail: [email protected] Reese, how important is technique in the success of your program? Art Director Coach Eddie Reese: (Pauses...) I’m Karen Deal trying not to give you a one-word e-mail: [email protected] answer, like “very.” Photo by Bill Collins Coach Eddie Reese Production Assistant Judy Jacob ST: Thanks. If you did, there would e-mail: [email protected] be an awful lot of blank paper in this Reese: My second theory is that issue. swimming technique is like yard work. Advertising Production Coordinator Betsy Houlihan Reese: OK, let’s try it this way. I If you don’t tend to it, it looks bad as e-mail: [email protected] have two theories relating to tech- hell. And the longer you let it go, the nique. The first is that most swim- harder it is to fix. MARKETING, ADVERTISING, mers—the vast majority—only reach In my program, we work on tech- SUBSCRIPTIONS and about 90 percent of their potential. A nique every day. We go over and try to ADMINISTRATION 228 Nevada St., El Segundo, CA 90245 swimmer who goes beyond 90 percent, perfect all the little things—stroke, (310) 607-9956 • (310) 607-9963 fax that’s rare, but that’s the nature of the starts, turns, breakouts. But these little beast. Now, if you don’t have funda- things add up to one monumentally big Subscriptions mentally sound strokes, you can only thing: the ability to swim fast…and up Pennye Monk • ext. 104 achieve about 90 percent of your 90 to one’s potential. e-mail: [email protected] percent. That equals 81 percent. Merchandise Manager So a lot of swimmers with great nat- ST: So to make sure you keep your Marsha VanAmersfort • ext. 106 ural talent and potential are consis- yard looking good, how often do you e-mail: [email protected] tently beaten by swimmers with much work on technique, and how much Advertising and Marketing less in the way of natural gifts—either time do you devote to it? Toni Blake • (310) 607-9956 ext. 110 because they are more committed and Reese: Daily. I talk to my swimmers e-mail: [email protected] train harder, or because they have daily. Sometimes it’s on an individual superior technique, or both. basis, sometimes it’s on a team basis. One Tempo, Kim Miller • (602) 418-2102 Generally, we spend 15 minutes to half e-mail: [email protected] ST: That’s very interesting. What’s an hour on technique. It may be on a Printer your second theory? general topic like balance, or it may be Schumann Printers, Inc. Printed in the U.S.A. 4 SWIMMING TECHNIQUE January-March 2004 GET YOUR FEET WET AT SWIMINFO.COM Editor’s Note on a specific skill, such as the underwa- you’re tired at the end of a race or in Reese: Yes. Never forget it (tech- ter fly kick. practice, and you try to swim fast, it nique). That goes for everyone—from On a formal basis, in the first three just messes up your stroke. At those 10-and-unders to Masters. For age weeks of the season, we spend four days times, Brendan has a tendency to groupers, typically, we’ll have a group on each of the five strokes—underwa- squeeze his elbows too far back. In of 12-and-unders in camp, and they ter kicking counts as a separate breaststroke, the paradox is that to have pretty good strokes. Then they’ll stroke—and cover everything related swim your fastest, you can’t go all-out. come back as 14, 15 and overs, and to that stroke. There’s no way to speed up your stroke their technique has disappeared. Let’s say you have a freshman: he’s and go faster, as there is in the other fast, but limited because of faulty tech- strokes. ST: Why is that? nique. Right now he swims as fast as Do you remember when (Mike) Reese: I’m the wrong person to ask. his strength will take him. I want to get Barrowman came to the last 15 meters Ask their coaches. No, technique can him to be as fast as his strength can of a race—he’d shift into a spin drill? be boring, and trying to get kids to carry a sound mechanical stroke. Then he realized he actually was going change can be frustrating. You can tell slower, so he went back to his long, them the same thing for 18 months ST: Do you do any underwater efficient stroke. But that’s why he sometimes and nothing changes. video? never really swam the 100 (breast) in Coaches are human, too, and after Reese: Yes, though not as much as top-level competition even though he months of trying to pound the same we’d like to do. Right now, essentially probably could have won—he was wor- thing into a swimmer’s head, they can it’s just Chris (Kubik) and me coach- ried about maintaining the integrity of become frustrated. Then they bring in ing. What I’d like to do is set up a Tivo his stroke count and rhythm for his key an “expert.” He says the same thing system.