Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday

Apr 20, 15 10:20

Post #1 of 83 (12021 views)

I traveled to the DFW area last week and stopped by the Benbrook YMCA for a swim. It has been just over 3 1/2 years since I started Tri and it was at that time that I decided to learn how to swim. I have a local friend in central Texas that I feel is an exceptional swimmer. He went to state in highschool and had some smaller college scholarship offers. I have swam with this guy many times and his smoothness still amazes me. But this story isnt about him...this story is about my experience at Benbrook YMCA last Friday with the best swimmer that I have ever seen first hand.

As I was in the middle of my workout, the guy was standing around and waiting for a lane. I offered to share my lane since I only had 4x100 left. He said thanks and hopped in. The rest was embarrassment and amazement. Coming back on one of my 100 in 1:40 sets(which is pretty decent for me) I noticed something under me...it was a set of hands streamlined and then a head....and then a body dolphin kicking past me...under me!!! Thats not right. I mean in a humanly possibe kinda way. He would eventually surface on 1 side and be to the end of the pool in 2 one handed strokes. Wow.

That was amazing enough but when I usually pass someone coming the opposite direction...i can feel a little pressure wave from their body. This guy would pass by and I could feel the Tsunami from his stupid long arm. It literally pushed me over into the lane markers. I had to just stop and watch because I was hoping to learn something.

It was a very impressive thing to see for such an inexperienced swimmer. Something that I have never been able to appreciate from the television watching professionals swim....you just dont get the true speed and power these guys have. I dont know if this guy was a pro but he had to at least be an amateur. Hats off to all you badass swimmers!

"WHEW...I really regret that workout!"..............Noone

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [COJO] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 10:26

Post #2 of 83 (11987 views)

There's a guy at my pool. He lazily flutters his feet - not even a proper kick - and lazily strokes at low cadence - I timed him at 16 seconds per 25y length. I have never seen him put any effort into his swimming and yet he's blowing away all us lame-ass triathletes. I wonder what his speed would be if he did go hard. Probably close to world-class. Next time I see him I'll ask him.

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [COJO] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 10:40

Post #3 of 83 (11889 views)

There are some amazing humans out there. I don't think that people can appreciate, in terms of speed, what most world class athletes have been able to achieve. Think of the world record marathon at 2:02:57. I am sure a huge majority of the population could not hold that pace for 200m.

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [COJO] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 10:45

Post #4 of 83 (11847 views)

COJO wrote:

I dont know if this guy was a pro but he had to at least be an amateur.

I'm guessing too...

(sorry, couldn't resist)

It's always great to see world class swimmers. Cullen Jones grew up not too far from where I live and a couple years ago (pre-London Olympics) he was back in the area for a couple weeks and trained in my SCY pool. It was great to watch. Interestingly, for a sprinter, he rarely did much intense work, unless he was also swimming elsewhere.

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [COJO] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 11:02

Post #5 of 83 (11763 views)

I used to swim in a 50 LCM pool and local guy who coached the wounded warriors would do this from time to time when the lanes were 3+ and circle swimming. Really caught me off guard the first time he went under me, after that I just watched in amazement each time.

--------------------------
The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [COJO] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 11:10

Post #6 of 83 (11732 views)

COJO wrote:

I traveled to the DFW area last week and stopped by the Benbrook YMCA for a swim. It has been just over 3 1/2 years since I started Tri and it was at that time that I decided to learn how to swim. I have a local friend in central Texas that I feel is an exceptional swimmer. He went to state in highschool and had some smaller college scholarship offers. I have swam with this guy many times and his smoothness still amazes me. But this story isnt about him...this story is about my experience at Benbrook YMCA last Friday with the best swimmer that I have ever seen first hand.
As I was in the middle of my workout, the guy was standing around and waiting for a lane. I offered to share my lane since I only had 4x100 left. He said thanks and hopped in. The rest was embarrassment and amazement. Coming back on one of my 100 in 1:40 sets(which is pretty decent for me) I noticed something under me...it was a set of hands streamlined and then a head....and then a body dolphin kicking past me...under me!!! Thats not right. I mean in a humanly possibe kinda way. He would eventually surface on 1 side and be to the end of the pool in 2 one handed strokes. Wow.
That was amazing enough but when I usually pass someone coming the opposite direction...i can feel a little pressure wave from their body. This guy would pass by and I could feel the Tsunami from his stupid long arm. It literally pushed me over into the lane markers. I had to just stop and watch because I was hoping to learn something.
It was a very impressive thing to see for such an inexperienced swimmer. Something that I have never been able to appreciate from the television watching professionals swim....you just dont get the true speed and power these guys have. I dont know if this guy was a pro but he had to at least be an amateur. Hats off to all you badass swimmers!

Yep, you can really only appreciate top swimmers if you are actually in the pool with them, or right on the pool deck, and witness first hand the depth of that bow wave they're breathing out of, and see and/or feel the wash from their speed as they go by you. JOOC, did you time him at all and/or count his strokes??? Dual meet at U. of Tenn back in the 90s: saw Melvin Stewart (WR holder in the 200 fly at the time) swim the 1000 free in 9:10 at precisely 10 strokes/length. The guy was just cruising, just an average workout pace of 55 sec/100 scy:)

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [COJO] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 11:11

Post #7 of 83 (11723 views)

COJO wrote:

I traveled to the DFW area last week and stopped by the Benbrook YMCA for a swim. It has been just over 3 1/2 years since I started Tri and it was at that time that I decided to learn how to swim. I have a local friend in central Texas that I feel is an exceptional swimmer. He went to state in highschool and had some smaller college scholarship offers. I have swam with this guy many times and his smoothness still amazes me. But this story isnt about him...this story is about my experience at Benbrook YMCA last Friday with the best swimmer that I have ever seen first hand.

As I was in the middle of my workout, the guy was standing around and waiting for a lane. I offered to share my lane since I only had 4x100 left. He said thanks and hopped in. The rest was embarrassment and amazement. Coming back on one of my 100 in 1:40 sets(which is pretty decent for me) I noticed something under me...it was a set of hands streamlined and then a head....and then a body dolphin kicking past me...under me!!! Thats not right. I mean in a humanly possibe kinda way. He would eventually surface on 1 side and be to the end of the pool in 2 one handed strokes. Wow.

I am pretty fast dolphin kicker. By pretty fast I mean I went a 22 in a 50 fly. There are people who can destroy that of course but to the naked eye I think there is very little difference. I do a decent amount of dolphin kicking now. Maybe once per week I might to something like 4 x 50's on 1:00 coming in around :36.

I say all this to assure you that he was showing off. 25 UW early into a workout? Nah. But hey, if you can do it, why not show it off!

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [COJO] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 11:18

Post #8 of 83 (11683 views)

This is the reason they created a rule in competitive swimming to limit the distance of dolphin kicking underwater during a race, especially the backstroke. When done right, it can be extremely efficient and fast.

Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [ajthomas] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 11:22

Post #9 of 83 (11662 views)

ajthomas wrote:

COJO wrote:

I traveled to the DFW area last week and stopped by the Benbrook YMCA for a swim. It has been just over 3 1/2 years since I started Tri and it was at that time that I decided to learn how to swim. I have a local friend in central Texas that I feel is an exceptional swimmer. He went to state in highschool and had some smaller college scholarship offers. I have swam with this guy many times and his smoothness still amazes me. But this story isnt about him...this story is about my experience at Benbrook YMCA last Friday with the best swimmer that I have ever seen first hand.

As I was in the middle of my workout, the guy was standing around and waiting for a lane. I offered to share my lane since I only had 4x100 left. He said thanks and hopped in. The rest was embarrassment and amazement. Coming back on one of my 100 in 1:40 sets(which is pretty decent for me) I noticed something under me...it was a set of hands streamlined and then a head....and then a body dolphin kicking past me...under me!!! Thats not right. I mean in a humanly possible kinda way. He would eventually surface on 1 side and be to the end of the pool in 2 one handed strokes. Wow.

I am a pretty fast dolphin kicker. By pretty fast I mean I went a 22 in a 50 fly. There are people who can destroy that of course but to the naked eye I think there is very little difference. I do a decent amount of dolphin kicking now. Maybe once per week I might to something like 4 x 50's on 1:00 coming in around :36.

I say all this to assure you that he was showing off. 25 UW early into a workout? Nah. But hey, if you can do it, why not show it off!

IIRC, you're swimming mostly scm now so i assume your 4 x 50 was scm??? W/ board or w/o board so you could go 15 m UW??? Or, w/ board but pushing off UW with the board UW???

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [COJO] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 11:27

Post #10 of 83 (11635 views)

Some of the guys I swim with at masters will occasionally warm up with some underwater dolphin kick stuff. It totally catches me off guard every single time to see them zip by on the bottom.

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [Miamiamy] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 11:40

Post #11 of 83 (11571 views)

I consider myself a good swimmer. Swam at nationals over here in England ect. But swimming with my little brother is just ridiculous.

Last year he had a few weeks off after his last big competition of the year, so he jumped in the pool with me. I was doing 20x100scm off 1:25. He was just taking the piss, wasnt even swimming just kinda sculling on his side, giving me rude hand gestures. Not even out of breath.

Hes gone sub 4mins for 400m longcourse and sub 16mins for 1500 longcourse.

Hes also completed many times 60x100. Where the first one is off 2 mins then each one a second quicker. So 2min,1.59,1.58,1.57 ect. Means the last 400m of a 6k set is done in 4.06 last 200 in 2.01.

Feel like a complete non swimmer when in the pool with him the bastard

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [Janner] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 11:42

Post #12 of 83 (11558 views)

Hes also completed many times 60x100. Where the first one is off 2 mins then each one a second quicker. So 2min,1.59,1.58,1.57 ect. Means the last 400m of a 6k set is done in 4.06 last 200 in 2.01.

I don't think I could even do the math on this set, regardless of my ability to complete the intervals.

Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [ericmulk] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 11:59

Post #13 of 83 (11492 views)

E: I converted because 25Y is the assumed course. Without a board, and 8 kicks UW (about 10 M) off each wall.

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [Tri-Banter] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 12:03

Post #14 of 83 (11471 views)

That's the beauty of electric pace clocks. Having a coach on deck writing the next "go" on the board is helpful too.

In college we went 100's scy starting on 1:30, dropping 1s/100. I think i missed on the 0:54.

I wrote this, you should read it:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_Swimming_6700.html

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [tallswimmer] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 12:06

Post #15 of 83 (11453 views)

That seems to be a standard torture, I mean test, set. I remember doing the same thing, but I missed on the :57 (I think, might have been the 58. it was a long time ago...)

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [ajthomas] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 18:04

Post #16 of 83 (11082 views)

ajthomas wrote:

E: I converted because 25Y is the assumed course. Without a board, and 8 kicks UW (about 10 M) off each wall.

Well, 36 is still very quick for doing 4 x 50 dolphin kick scy on the 1:00. I'm def a non-board user myself for about 90% of my kicking.

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [ajthomas] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 18:57

Post #17 of 83 (10921 views)

Actually, underwater dolphin kick is part of my warm-up, I wasn't showing off. I swam for Eddie Reese at Texas and dolphin kick is sacred in that program. A normal warm-up from Eddie includes 500-700 yards of it. A normal warm-up for me these days looks something like 4 rounds of 3x100 swim and 4x25 underwater dolphin kick, starting with 9 kicks off each wall then adding 3 to each round. Anyway, thanks for posting cojo, made me feel good!

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [Sweem] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 19:08

Post #18 of 83 (10895 views)

When the OP said he was in Texas and some guy was doing some stupidly fast dolphin kick underwater, my thoughts immediately went to Eddie Reese.

How long ago did you swim there? And congrats on NC2A's this year, you guys have an amazing crop of flyers.

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [Sweem] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 20:20

Post #19 of 83 (10731 views)

Well there you go. I had written, " you never know it could have been Jack Conger," but deleted it :)

I actually even went to the UT and SMU website to see if I could figure out who it might have been but figured it was a lost cause...

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [COJO] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 20:43

Post #20 of 83 (10679 views)

Wasn't me.

___________________________________________
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2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [COJO] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 15 21:01

Post #21 of 83 (10643 views)

I know Barrett Brandon swims there, that would be my guess of who it was. But I think he may have been in the Bahamas last week, so not sure. If it wasn't him he would know who it was.

-Brad Williams
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Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [@BW_Tri] [ In reply to ]

Apr 21, 15 5:29

Post #22 of 83 (10308 views)

See above

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [@BW_Tri] [ In reply to ]

Apr 21, 15 5:55

Post #23 of 83 (10246 views)

It depends, I think BB got back late last week. Honestly not sure where he swims though.

Had something similar happen to me about a month ago but the guy was big, probably 6'2" 200 pounds and 10% BF. I was doing 100s in something like sub 1:20s and he just kept flying past me. We took a break at the same time and I saw a skeleton frog tattoo on his back (Navy SEAL). Before I left I thanked him for his service and left. Found out the guy went to the Naval Academy as a swimmer.

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [PUTU] [ In reply to ]

Apr 21, 15 6:24

Post #24 of 83 (10184 views)

The guy I posted about was very ripped and muscular with a beard. Not necessarily too muscular for a swimmer but more muscular than most that I have seen on T.V. I looked at some of the pictures of swimmers that have been suggested above and they dont really fit the build of this guy. Do you swim in the Ft. Worth area?

"WHEW...I really regret that workout!"..............Noone

Re: Screw you! Guy that was dolphin kicking passed me at Benbrook pool last friday [Sweem] [ In reply to ]

Apr 21, 15 6:28

Post #25 of 83 (10172 views)

Sweem wrote:

Actually, underwater dolphin kick is part of my warm-up, I wasn't showing off. I swam for Eddie Reese at Texas and dolphin kick is sacred in that program. A normal warm-up from Eddie includes 500-700 yards of it. A normal warm-up for me these days looks something like 4 rounds of 3x100 swim and 4x25 underwater dolphin kick, starting with 9 kicks off each wall then adding 3 to each round. Anyway, thanks for posting cojo, made me feel good!

So it was you Sweem?! Or is this a troll?

"WHEW...I really regret that workout!"..............Noone

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