News & Articles   Features  Swim Links   Speakers Bureau
 Contact Us  Marketplace  Clinics & Events

Presented by Forbes Carlile, Notes by Laura Matuzak
Saturday, September 8, 2001

I.  Changing for success – see also Coach Carlile’s Handout for this talk.

A.     Coach Carlile used video and films showing the technique of World Championship Freestyle swimmers from 1890 to present day.

B.     Coach Carlile did not separate the distance and sprint freestyle swimmers, even though he recognizes that their training is different and their technique can be a reflection of this.

C.     Evolution to the modern crawl stroke.

1.      Not a rapid transition.

2.      Transition was not quick or easy.

3.      Technology improvements and participation increases have been a factor in the evolution of the crawl stroke.

4.      Technique changes have been the contributor to the evolution of the crawl stroke.

5.      Competition and prizes have provided stimulus for change.

6.      False trials delayed progress.

D.     England

1.      Breaststroke.

2.      Sidestroke.

3.      Single-arm sidestroke.

4.      Trudgeon kick.

5.      Narrow scissor kick.

6.      1859 Champs of England.

7.      John Trudgeon developed the two-arm over water trudgeon stroke.

a)      Not an easy stroke.

b)      Used for distance swimming.

E.      Australia – became the testing ground in the late 1800’s for the over-arm crawl with a vertical kick.

1.      The skills were only acquired by a few.

2.      Dick Cavel in the U.K. was the forerunner of this stroke.

F.      How should we measure the effectiveness of these strokes?

1.      With a stopwatch.

2.      What are justifiable criteria to judge and teach a new technique?

3.      Underwater study.

a)      Sequential pictures.

b)      Frame-by-frame pictures.

4.      Biomechanical and hydrodynamic principles.

G.     Swimming Science.

1.      Scientific criteria of Rushall, Sprigings, Cappaert, and King.

2.      Two measures of stroke efficiency

a)      Streamlining.

b)      Effective application of the stroke.

(1)   Red Silvia from Springfield College – using the adductor muscles.

3.      See a-h on Coach Carlile’s handout.

4.      In studying past swimmers, crawl has been improved using these criteria (a-h) and crawl times have improved.

5.      There is still room for performance gains through streamline improvements and propulsion improvements.

II.                 Video footage and Coach Carlile’s interpretations.

A.     Please see Coach Carlile’s paragraph on the handout that starts “Training and a number of other factors . . . “  for his explanation of mobilizing the adductor muscles.

B.     Primitive conditions of the early Olympics.

1.      Human stroke.

2.      Over-arm stroke – Assyria.

3.      1830 Breaststroke in England.

a)      Sidestroke.

b)      North of England, one knee bent in kick for less resistance.

(1)   Used for distance swimming.

(2)   In 1900 this stroke was used to win the 1 kilometer race in the Olympics.

C.     1890’s saw the development of the Australian over-arm crawl.

1.      Alec Whikam, crawl for Tarzan.

2.      Cavel family

a)      Race with legs tied.

b)      Cavel over-arm crawl with legs tied versus Davis with single over-arm stroke.  Cavel won.

3.      Streamlined trudgeon.

4.      Freddy Lane – trudgeon crawl with two-beat vertical flutter kick.

5.      In distance races, some swimmers used the trudgeon and finished with crawl.

6.      American Charlie Daniels learned from these Australian developments.

7.      Dick Cavel and breathing patterns.

8.      Cecil Healey taught the two-beat crawl all over Europe.

9.      Frank Beaurepar had success with the crawl stroke.

10.  Boy Charwin used the trudgeon crawl to win the 1500 meter race in the 1924 Paris Olympics.

11.  Freddy Lane won the 200 meter in the 1900 Paris Olympics.

D.     1908 London.

1.      Splashing from the hands instead of from the legs.

2.      Distance swimmers did not splash.

3.      Fanny Durak used the Australian crawl with a splashing two-beat kick to win the 100 meter race.

E.      Duke Kohanamoko from Hawaii.

1.      1:03 in the 100 Free.

2.      Fast and vigorous kick to make waves.

3.      In 1920, Duke went 1:00.4 in the 100 Free with an independent leg stroke.

F.      1924, Johnny Weismeiller went a 59.00 in the 100 Free.

1.      He kept his head up to keep his body up.

2.      His technique wrongly inspired swimmers.

G.     Times for the men and women stayed about the same.

1.      World War II in 1928.

2.      Swimmers were not learning more about technique.

3.      Times got down to about 57.00 and held there.

4.      In 1928, everyone swam like Weismeiller.

5.      Boy Charlton had a 2-beat kick.

6.      1928 in Amsterdam, the women did distance events.

H.     1932 in Los Angeles.

1.      Helene Madson used low elbows, independent kicking, and a high head in her stroke.

2.      The Japanese women were coming on.

3.      Jean Taris and Buster Carbb used a straight-arm stroke.

I.        1936 Mastenbrook went a 57.6 in the 100 Free.

J.       In 1948 London.

1.      Glenda Anderson went 1:06.3 in the 100 Free.

2.      Walter Peese went 57.00 in the 100 Free.

3.      John Marshall led the revival for Australia, yet was tragically killed.

K.    In 1952, the Japanese distance swimmers failed.

1.      Sprinters used a drag kick.

2.      Tanaka competed.

L.      1956 - 1964.

1.      Fourisahi used a drag kick and created a flood of interest.

2.      Ford Carnaugh swam with a straight-arm stroke and a six-beat kick.

3.      Henricks used a high elbow, s-pull, pointed kick, and shoulder roll stroke.

4.      Dawn Frasier used the Australian crawl with a shoulder roll stroke, she exhaled and took a breath every stroke.  She used good underwater roll and streamline underwater kicks.

5.      Molly Bublain used a high-wrist entry.

6.      John Conrads used weight training.

7.      Yamanaka used stretching and kicking.

8.      Murray Rose used rolling shoulders, 2 to 4-beat whip kick, low head position, and high elbows.

9.      George Breen had decreased flexibility, swung his recovery wide, and used a crossover kick.

10.  Robert Windell used minimal kick.

M.   1964.

1.      Don Shollander swam the 400 Free with a six-beat kick, was lower in the water, used little glide in the stroke, and took his breaths under his arm.

2.      Steve Clark rode high in the water, used fast turnover, and a 6-beat kick.

N.    1968 Mexico City.

1.      Debbie Meyer won the 200, 400, and 800 Freestyle events using a double cross-over kick and a high-elbow pull.

2.      Michael Wenden of Australia won the 100 and 200 Freestyle events with quick turnover and a crossover leg kick.

O.    1971.

1.      Karen Moras used a 2-beat kick and bilateral breathing.

P.      1972 Munich.

1.      Rick Demont had arm crossover and leg crossover in his stroke.

2.      Mark Spitz used high elbows and good shoulder roll.  His stroke was technically pretty good.

3.      John Kinsilla swam the 400 Freestyle.  He used upper body strength, long push back, an irregular kick, and high elbows.

4.      Windatt swam under 16 minutes in the 1500 Free. 

5.      Larsson from Sweden had a flexible kick and glided into the arm pulls.

6.      Shane Gould used a 2-beat kick, high tempo, and arm dominated stroke.  She took 55 arm strokes in a 50 meter race.

Q.    In 1973,  Jenny Turrell took hold of the water earlier in her stroke.  She used high elbows and a 2-beat kick.

R.     1976 in Montreal.

1.      Steven Holland used a high elbow stroke and an early catch.

2.      Ender used a 6-beat kick.

3.      Shirley Babashoff used a long stroke and a 2-beat kick.

4.      Salnikof held his head low and used a drag kick.

S.      Janet Evans used a straight-arm recovery.

T.      1988.

1.      Otto used a straight-arm recovery and an independent kick.

U.     1994.

1.      Kieren Perkins held his head low in the water.

2.      Popov used a high-elbow recovery and grabs the water very early in the stroke.

V.     Recently.

1.      Torres, De Bruin, and Thompson use straight-arm recoveries and grab the water early in the stroke.

2.      Popov, Von Don Hoogenbond, and Klim use a high elbow pull.

3.      Popov and Klim use a dolphin finish with questionable value.

4.      Bennett and Poll use a leg flick at the end of their kicks and use high elbows to grad the water early in the stroke.

5.      Stockbauer, Munz, and Rogamonti use a 2-beat kick.

6.      Perkins, Hackett, Vendt, Needling, and Thompson all use a high elbow pull with a variety of kicking patterns.

7.      Grant Hackett uses good body roll, shoulder strength and a high elbow pull.

8.      Thorpe and Von Don Hoogenbond use high elbows and 6-beat kicks.

9.      Ian Thorpe never missed training since 1998 due to illness.