TIMING, RHYTHM, AND MOMENTUM

TIMING, RHYTHM, AND MOMENTUM

Many swimmers think low stroke count is the only key to speed, and they’ve sacrificed every natural instinct of athleticism to reach an all-time low count. They hold their extended hand/arm in front of their head, envisioning a “gliding” effect, to achieve low stroke count. Yet, many swimmers in this group remain mystified as to why their times don’t improve after years of working at lowering stroke count.

The reason is a lack of tempo (the rate side of the swimming equation, # Strokes × Rate = Time), and this is directly related to rhythm, timing, and fluidity of forward momentum.

Tempo (rate) is as important as stroke count. A swimmer must strive to lower either of the two numbers without adversely affecting the over-all equation. Optimizing the equation can be complicated with freestyle because our pulling arms move asynchronously. While one arm presses back on the water, the other arm recovers forward over the water.