Brian Vande Krol, TI Coach in Denver, sent me this email query today, which raises perhaps the most provocative question in all of swimming:

>>From time to time, I’ve heard you mention a study about olympic swimmers and power output. Can you elaborate on it for me? >>

Here are the details of the study Brian refers to:

In 1992, Rick Sharp and Jane Cappaert, "performance science" specialists for USA Swimming, conducted tests of stroking power on swimmers at the Barcelona Olympics. They found that the also-rans — those who failed to advance out of prelims – generated as much stroking power as the eventual medalists.

Even more striking, when they analyzed data on swimmers who competed in the Mens 100M Free — usually considered the "ultimate power event" — they found that non-finalists averaged 16 percent more power than finalists!

Their conclusion? That "active streamlining" was far more critical than propulsive power to speed.

Here’s more: In 2005 when Defense Dept engineers and physicists studied human and fish swimming while designing a swim foil for the Navy Seals, they found that average (i.e. recreational) human swimmers converted only 3% of their power expenditures into forward motion, while dolphins convert 80%. They further found that dolphins have only 1/8 of the "horsepower" their calculations predicted it should take to move their mass at the peak velocities they achieve while swimming.

Their conclusion? Dolphins are brilliant — and humans hopeless — at "active streamlining." Which raises two questions:

Why does traditional swimming instruction focus almost exclusively on teaching the pull and kick, and virtually ignore teaching of "slippery or fishlike" body positions – i.e. active streamlining?

Why does competitive swim training focus so heavily on power development (kicking and pulling sets, , big paddles, swimming with drag devices, weight training sessions, etc.) and virtually ignore active streamlining?

Comments?