Are You A Swinger?

Do you know the type of swimmer in the fast lane of your squad with the not-so pretty but very effective stroke? He's the guy or girl who breaks all the 'rules' of swimming - they have a short stroke and a fast turnover, sometimes they seem to fight the water and yet they swim very quickly indeed. Much quicker than many of the middle lane swimmers trying to glide along. Somehow they seem to keep this up for longer and go further - without complaint - than much more stylish swimmers! How can this be?

We call this type of swimmer a 'Swinger' - because fundamental to their stroke is less body roll than someone with a classical long smooth stroke. This means their arms have to swing more around the side rather than over the top.

Other characteristics of a classic Swinger are:

- Often a quite asymmetrical (lopsided) stroke
- A high stroke rate with lots of rhythm
- No deadspots or pauses
- A slightly rushed catch, often hindered by a thumb first entry
- A high head position looking forwards
- A tendency to cross over at the front of their stroke
- Minimal leg kick - the legs often seem to just trail behind being towed along
- Likes to get on with it and swim fast all the time
- Goes very well in open water
- Often has an outgoing, easygoing, personality

Important: don't confuse Swingers with some of the guys and girls who share many of the same 'flaws' in their stroke but are much slower and less proficient. This is a different type of swimmer.

The fascinating thing about Swingers is how amazingly fast they can become. Many of the world's best open water swimmers have a refined version of this stroke and even some of the best pool swimmers do too. The vast majority of pro-triathletes are Swingers also (sometimes not that refined!).

To become quicker, a Swinger shouldn't lengthen out and glide in their stroke, that would be throwing away their fundamental strength - the rhythm and momentum in their stroke. By gliding they would end up being less efficient and slower as a result. Instead, the unrefined Swinger should work on improving their alignment to remove that crossover and set themselves up for a better catch and pull. Taking a fraction longer over the catch - and not rushing through it - will improve their hold on the water. They might also like to formalise their kick a little into a more rhythmical, defined, two-beat action.

At Swim Smooth we believe that everyone's different and when we swim we are different again. To this end we've been beavering away on a new project to explain your individuality. It explains why some swimmers respond to slowing down and lengthening out their strokes whilst for others it's entirely the wrong thing to do. It shows you why some swimmers are quicker in a wetsuit while others are slower - and how to fix that. In every instance it shows you have to improve whether you're struggling to swim a lap or if you already swim like Mr Smooth  And, of course, it explains how Swingers do what they do and whether you have the make-up to consider throwing your keys into that particular pot.

Don't worry, in true Swim Smooth style we've worked hard to make things easy to understand and easy to act on. We're very excited about how it will help your swimming and can't wait to properly launch the system to you very soon. Damn we feel quite emotional!

Swim Smooth!