As usual, I will settle this debate, once and for all. You are all right. Many people(including myself) will swim faster with a buoy. In fact, if I were racing long distance, I would use one if it were allowed. I'm a sinker in the water, and my kick with my stroke is not much of a propulsive factor. Of all the swimmers I've known and swam with, abilities being irrelevant, I would say well over half fit into my category. On the other hand I've known really fast swimmers like Rob Mackel, who lose over 5 seconds a 100 with a buoy. He relies so much on his kick, that it really handicaps him to use one. He even had to go to a wetsuit with short legs, so that he could keep his kick in the water. He is the extreme, and not many like him( he kicks a 1:03 100 meters), but there are many similar. A lot of women don't do well with buoys, because as a group, they float much better than men do. If you float high, then your tendancy will be to get more out of your kick in distance racing, and the added buyoncy of a buoy does nothing for you, except interfere with your kick. If you sink, and have a poor kick, then the buoy will put you in a much better floating position, and force your legs to drag. This is why these people often feel like they go much faster with lower heart rates, the inefficent kick is not sucking oxygen from the system, but the good body position is there to move you through the water in a better streamline...

SO everyone is right here, it's just a matter of what camp you fall in to.....

Monty, Totally agree with you. I was a distance swimmer in college and had a lazy two (2) beat cross over kick. Any more than that and my stroke was affected. I was also a 200 free want-to-be as well and could uncork a 1:37 during a conference championships. Kick was totally different then but then again, so was my stroke. Even today I have a distance free stroke and a sprint free stroke. It's weird and kind of hard to explain. I think with your experience in the water you know what I am talking about. Bruce