TRIATHLON PHYSIOLOGY FOR DUMMIES AND THE TENDENCY TOWARD THE MEAN

Second part

I will continue with cadence in swimming.  I spoke about cadence running and biking.  Is there a cadence in swimming? Of course, when we see Michael Phelps swimming 100 meters his rpm is around 71 per minute.  20 strokes less than the ones leading the peloton in an ITU race for the same distance at the same pace.  Michael phelps has at least 50 centimeters more of span length compared to any triathlete.  The swimmers that get to semifinals in the Olympics usually take 8 or 10 more strokes than the ones reaching the finals for the 100 meters free.  Popov used to do 400 meters reps in 4:30 with almost the same length-per-stroke than swimming the 100 meters competition.

Atridf photo

I thank Gennadi Touretski for his teaching and for being a great teacher.  When we met, I was sitting on his desk at Tenero, Switzerland.  I did not know it was his desk until he came in and ask me who I was.  I explained to him my ignorance about the place and its rules, and above all my ignorance regarding who he was; although I had read about him.  I told him that I was watching his swimmers.  When he told me who he was, I said to him that I wanted to learn from him.  I stayed with him for two weeks, watching and listening.  Once he looked at my watch and told me to buy a watch to check cadence.  I did not know they existed.  I bought one and started to count cadence with him.  He introduced me to checking cadence with the new watch.  When in Switzerland, I saw Cancellara winning the Paris-Roubaix and I was surprised he was averaging above 100 rpm.  Later on, I saw Wiggins averaging above a 100 to win a podium at the TT in the Worlds; I was using my new watch.  Gennadi introduced me to the training of the great Alexander Popov and, of course, to measure cadence with the watch to check quality indirectly.

So, we need a cadence of 62-65 rpm to be with the peloton when swimming in an ITU race for the males; the better swimmers take less strokes. One can check that with a watch. Touretski said to me during those two weeks, “I do not use paddles to keep the rpm up; in order to keep the speed of the arms.” Interestingly, Paul Bergen, a former American and Canadian Olympic swimming head coach who we invited to help us with our team, told me: “the Mexican female who has the record for 800 meters cannot do a single chin up,” he was intrigued by it because Inge de Bruijn trained doing chin ups when she was trained by him.  I wasn't surprised, because I knew that you need more speed than force to move your arms rapidly.  There are two main forces in swimming: the propulsive and the resistance.  They opposed each other.  The resistance should decrease and the propulsive should increase to improve your length per stroke and speed.  That is why we need technique so much when swimming.  Although, it is like cycling, the faster one goes the higher the resistance; except that water is even worse compared to air regarding resistance by friction.  The more strokes one takes; the more resistance one produces. That is why the best swimmer do not produce much propulsive force and/or strokes. The resistance in cycling is done by air and the resistance swimming is done mainly by increasing the number of strokes, due to the viscosity and turbulence of the fluid when stroking.  At the end, you have to swim like Phelps, but with a higher rpm if you are not 6 feet 5 inches, without loosing your length-per-stroke. “Whites can jump,” it is a matter of practice and intelligence.  Watch Nate Robinson.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUgNhzqaoAw&feature=player_embedded

I will continue with chapter three on TRIATHLON PHYSIOLOGY FOR DUMMIES AND THE TENDENCY TOWARD THE MEAN. In the meantime, I will give you a homework based on the definition of wilkipedia on rev limiters:

A rev limiter is a device fitted to an internal combustion engine to restrict its maximum rotational speed. This is usually carried out to prevent damage to the engine, however sometimes these devices are fitted to prevent an engine reaching the point at which it develops maximum power. This may be useful in a driving school car or similar, or utilised in systems preventing Valet parking operatives from joy-riding in high-performance vehicles placed in their charge.

I hope you are competing and not riding a school car.  Human-made machines give us a better understanding of what I am talking about.  DO NOT GIVE UP YOUR POWER, IMPROVE YOUR CADENCE. What do you really want?