My stroke mechanics haven’t changed much. I must stress…you cannot swim like shit and expect to go fast. But to be dismissive of the amount of hard work it takes to get fast (even for 12 year old boys and girls who are probably swimming 2-3 times as much yardage a week than most people on this forum) really gets under my skin. I’m very doubtful they have figured out a magical technique of kicking faster (in this case) than me.
Here’s the thing. There is no denying that many people will get faster simply by swimming more, and at greater intensity - it happens all the time. I have not seen you swim before or after your comeback, but all the laps in the pool change a persons stroke in subtle ways, you may not be consciously TRYING to do something better, but your body has ways… adaptation is what it does.
I submit that many of the adaptations that occur spontaneously with people who simply throw the spaghetti against the wall to see what will stick (training a bunch) are technique based. Some involve training muscles that are not activated by our terrestrial activities - the stroke improves as a result of this training in subtle, but substantial ways. Those same muscles can be strengthened more rapidly with specific, targeted activities - be they drills, fins, other toys, what have you. I know, because myself and many other coaches out there have successfully employed these devices for years.
I don’t dispute your success with the method that you have employed. Neither do I doubt that there are more EFFICIENT ways to accomplish nearly any goal that one can conceive of. A persons natural yearning to devise a more efficient strategy for attaining improvement is NOT a sign of laziness or weakness, it is one of the prime motivators for breakthrough improvement in sport, and it is a characteristic of champions.
My $0.02,
r.b.