Nice blog and nice job! I think it’s remarkable you’ve come this far. I’m also an aos swimmer and besides occasionally bothering guys like Eric and Ken L, I found that the Mike Bottom and Dave Durden videos on YouTube helped me out a lot. Total immersion teaches nice smooth technique but it wasn’t for me (that may be because I’m a wannabe sprinter).
I hope (and think) your blog will motivate other aos swimmers to stick with it.
You are NOT a “wannabe sprinter”!!! Any guy in his late 30s who can go 50.X for 100 yd free is a real, honest to God sprinter. You and Ken are the poster children for fast AOS!!! You’re just so modest, but then that is a very admirable quality.
Speaking of Mike Bottom, I picked up a copy of"Swimming for Dummies" at the book store a few weeks ago, and it happens to be written by him, which I thought was pretty remarkable for a “Dummies” book. Anyway, reason I bring this up is that Bottom says that even the majority of elite swimmers get very little propulsion from their kick in freestyle. I thought this was a very interesting comment from a coach of his stature. I didn’t buy the book but that one sentence on kicking stuck with me. Of course, that “very little” could be diff between 1st and 8th in a world class 100 m free final. 