His DPS is incredible. 60spm is very deliberate for a swimmer of that caliber. There’s really nothing remarkable about his stroke. His body position is top notch and i think that enables him to maximize his propulsion… (obvious statement of the day).
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Post #8 (and the link) contains some key concepts. Basically, an unconsciously competent athlete is usually not a good coach (should be required reading).
As a AOS I got coaching, but, mostly my success came from: A high VO2 Max, real comfort in the water, and some disgustingly difficult workouts.
I can’t teach anything swim related worth a shit; despite being a corporate trainer for >3 decades
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May be of interest
The best ow swimmer I know is the slowest in a 100 of all of us in our local group.
But over a 3-5km race he can hold his steady state very well. The best distance swimmers can sit higher to their top speeds. Just lots of endurance required at the appropriate speeds, not too fast not too slow, to build that up.
Is your top speed or endurance what is holding you back from your times you want
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Here is a good one.
To find more (and there are a lot available), what l do is I search ‘800m swimming’ or ‘1500m swimming’ on YouTube. And then l look (within these search categories) for videos that have all or most of the swim footage. And for videos that show some underwater footage as well. Then l set the video resolution as high as possible and try to watch it on a big monitor or on a TV. Then you get a great visual of excellent distance swim technique.
Here’s a good one too. Look at head/body position, almost no kick required, and at a tempo that’s more relatable to us mortals. I love watching Katie Ledecky swim but her tempo is practically sprint for adult OWS.
Sun Yang - underwater shot (Final 1500M freestyle at Incheon - Asian Games)
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Another good one. This one is not a swim race video, but more of an irreverent swim technique video. Sort of funny, but also very very useful.
Sun Yang has complete mastery and there is a lot of analysis of what he does in the water, during the 1500m, as he winds up from the moderate (by his standards) early part to the mid to the faster end; kick changes stroke rate steps up etc. He also does some very cool things with the double breath into the wall etc. His 1500 is quicker than Ledecky’s 400 but the way they each get there is quite different; he’s also extremely tall so can run that low stroke rate more effectively I guess> I love Brendan’s analysis this was him talking about SY
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Yup, good point.
Because I think it is unlikely that a 5ft 4inch aspiring triathlete is going to be able to effectively emulate the distance stroke of a very tall world-class swimmer (like Yang). So another general suggestion for folks studying excellent swim technique on youtube: watch videos of fast distance swimmers that are at least in the same ballpark of your body size.
Super thread, as all of these technique discussions on ST are. I debated long and hard (7 minutes?) about new thread, July Fish thread, or replying here. Having a go here:
–What are some good in-pool core and streamlining exercises? That I can do during a regular pool workout.
(Ignore if this is taking the thread in a bad direction – it seemed like a healthy crew of askers and experts.)
I like warming up and cooling down with long period butterfly, breathing every second stroke and trying to get wall to wall (25scy) in as few strokes as possible - hones the stream lining and core as you porpoise.
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I really like Effortless Swimming’s videos. Here are a couple:
Can’t Float?
High Hips
Think body position and not core work. Your core is most likely strong enough to bring your legs up, but it’s practicing how to engage and use them to move efficiently and not battle drag from your legs. I was lucky when I started triathlon (no youth swimming) to end up with a master’s coach who spent a LOT of time on technique/body position using a lot of Total Immersion drills/philosophies. On average, we swam 2300-2800 yds 3 days per week. I dropped my IM swim time from 1:04 (was swimming solo 3000yds 4x/week) to :57 in 3 seasons.
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I think there is an added layer to this. Some people may have great body awareness and coordination for some land activities, but may struggle in the water. I find that gymnasts usually transition easily to swimming well, they have that body awareness in the air that translates well to the water. Some other proficient (with great coordination for ball sports for example) may or may not translate that easily to water/swimming.
You def have a point here. I know two girls, one a gymnast and the other a ballet dancer/runner, who both caught on pretty fast. The ballet girl was quite quick in the 50/100 free b/c she could point her toes really well and hence kick pretty fast. 
Further, talking of ball sports, we had a former pro basketball player swim at my club pool for a few months. He was literally 7 feet tall with proportionately long arms, but man, that guy could not swim worth sheet. He had this super weird recovery with a bad crossover so that he fish-tailed down the pool. I’ve never seen anyone swim like he did. I had forgotten about him but your comment brought this memory to the surface.
I would also imagine they have incredible flexibility which is a huge benefit.
Yutaka_Sonik and AKCrafty, thank you!
I use fly stroke count to judge my overall swimming condition, in an odd coincidence, for no reason I’ve ever articulated to myself. If the number is X, I am fit. If greater than X, I am not. It has not been X for a few years…
The Effortless Swimming vids were a productive path, for sure. I often go to some of the Slowtwitch posters’ channels, but I’ve never watched those.
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Incredible flexibility and strength, all highly functional. I’ve never seen a gymnast not be able to swim well.