MI_Mumps wrote:
I know - surprised the hell out of me too. Not something I'd played with as it was very unnatural at first. This was Monday before a 70.3 when I made the switch, so perhaps taper boost helped, but I'm not sure. Maybe swimming like a Y was just crazy inefficient, but since I wasn't a 2:00 per hundred swimmer no one said anything.
Interestingly, for me, it doesn't change my speed if I enter dead center or pretty far out. Even with my arm in a full "YMCA" position angle on the reach, if my stroke gets shortened by it, if I'm keeping up the same effort, stroke rate compensates and I end up the same speed.
I guess this part was surprising to me as you keep hearing about being like a "needle" going through the water, which should suggest entry and reach at the tip of your head, but pretty much no elite swimmers do this, and most enter decently wide. I suspect it's harder to maintain a power stroke without x-ing over if you enter dead center, but to my surprise, I'm no slower when I do so.
Then again, unfortunately for me, not much I do makes me go faster techniquewise. Even with the fisty drill where I lose all the area of my palm, I just increase my stroke rate and I'm like only 1sec/100 slower than normal.