OK I thought I should be gliding off the wall for a bit before starting my dolphin kick but you're saying push off and immediately up kick? Sounds like a plan. By the way "riding on the bubbles" was awesome today. I finished my 25x400IM set 3 minutes faster than my target (lane swim was 3:30 cut off time and I knew it was going to be tight and I got done in 3:27). In this set, I was doing zero dolphin kicks off the walls for free. I just glided to around 7m point and rested as much as I could. I will try two dolphin kicks with an immediate up kick the next time I swim the 1500m free.

I also do (or have done) the sighting coming into the flipturn. I too find that the extra O2 is well worth it...

BTW, how does one manage to dolphin kick off the wall without going into hypoxic narcosis?!? In another life, I will be able to do that....

Why nose only, not mouth? Is it because only through the nose do the bubbles head south under one's chest? Very curious about this!

Thanks in advance

Am I reading that correctly you did 10,000 yard/meters of IM?

Yes 25x400m IM SCM (dammit I earned those meters vs yards). It's been a two year long project since I managed to do my first 400IM without drowning in 2017.....just been trying to transform from life long runner to swimmer now.

Wow simply amazing!!! So impressive

I’m trying to get my horrible swim times, in HIM, faster.

What does training like that get you for time in HIM races?

Wow! I am impressed. I recall my love/hate relationship with 10 x 400 IM LC meters on 6:00. It was got me ready for WR times...back in the day.

Start up kick immediately off the wall with not too much knee bend on the subsequent down kicks. It is faster...yet harder than the glide.

Gary Sr.

I will try the upkick right off the wall. How many dolphin clicks for fly and freestyle should I target in a 400IM (all out race, not a long crazy set like today).

Also back to the breathing pattern, would it be faster on the breast leg in an IM, or in a 200 breast to do three short breast stroke cycles into a wall rather than two to get extra oxygen before a massive push off, dolphin kick and pull out? Also you mentioned blowing out bubbles through the nose....why not mouth....another person asked but is it because the nose bubbles stay closer to the surface of chest versus blowing out with mouth and sending the bubble perpendicular to the swimmer path. I COULD feel the bubbles rolling down my chest breathing out from mouth.

One of the best back-door-brags I reckon I've seen.

Yes.

BTW, can someone explain following two expressions to a non native english speaker resp. common triathlete who just swims sometimes:

-"25x400IM" (are these yards or metres and what does "IM" mean in this context)
"lane swim 3.30 cut off time".

Not sure in this case if it’s meters of yards

IM means individual medley. So 100 of back, 100 of breast, 100 fly and 100 free. 3:30 means 3 hours and 30 minutes.

Thank you.
But 3:30 is too little for 400m and too long for 100m???? So what does he mean with "lane swim?"

Sorry for the diversion. I was keenly following this thread as I wanted to use some of the technical items for a year long goal set of doing 25 x 400 individual medley (100 fly-100 back-100 breast-100 free in a short course meters pool vs long course meters or short course yards). The public lane swimming window when the pool was open was 3 hours and 30 minutes long. After that it was ending, so I had a cut off time to get it done or not. I think the extra breathing on the free was very helpful as was blowing the bubbles and riding on them. I did not dolphin kick much off the walls during free and fly leg, I just used a very tight streamline to come off the wall well past the flags (and thereby rested doing zero work). On a 400IM race, I would like to try the upkick that Gary Hall Sr is suggesting.

Thanks for explaining. Now even I understand.
Very impressing. I stick to crawl. At least in this life. Never more than 4000m.
But I'm practising this 2:3 breathing and it could be ok for me too, having air as limiter in swimming.

Thanks for posting this Gary.
Monty posted this technique last year (2019) as useful coming out of turns. I never tried it as I did open water turns in the pool (too lazy and didn't want to go anaerobic for long sets) so I never tried it.
Now I have.
It's good.
I get the extra O2 (great for building up strength in shorter sets without going into the red) and the bubbles (reduced drag) explanations for going faster but there's another reason for why it's better that hasn't been discussed that is food for thought.
I felt, when using it, that the impulse from rotating the body as the hand enters the water (at the same time the head rotates back to the midline as the breath is completed and the body begins to rotate) that there was a very strong platform for the pulling arm to stabilise against. The momentum of the rotating body was effectively doubled which meant 2 out of three pulling strokes were against a very strong counter rotation.
In short this is so good I wished I tried it earlier when Monty discussed it.
It does require good technique though and the ability to breathe bilaterally efficiently. I can see lots of sore necks if the upper body is not moving with the head!
Cheers Gary and I hope we get more tips from you.