While coaching in Richmond, Virginia, from 1978 to 1983, I worked at a pool with an underwater observation window easily reached via ladder from the pool deck. Climbing down to watch my swimmers – like fish in an aquarium – became one of my favorite habits, mainly because I could see, much more clearly than from on deck, what really mattered in swimming. Though I’d been coaching for six years and watched hundreds of swimmers cover millions of yards, it wasn’t until the first time I watched from “down under” that I understood the extraordinary advantage a great streamline provides. Just as apparent was the great cost of a poor one. Sleek swimmers seemed to travel forever before their first stroke. Angular ones slowed so dramatically, it looked as if they’d run into a wall!

In fact, it was those experiences at the window that first suggested to me the possibility that humans could learn to swim much faster by learning to be more “Fishlike.” Underwater is where we can be most sleek, slippery, and fast! It’s also the part of swimming most ignored by those who have never raced. And, as I could easily see, it’s the part too often ignored even by those who do race.

The most common urge of most swimmers under water, after a turn or start, is to get back to the surface as quickly as possible. But when you’re racing (or just trying to improve your final repeat in a set of 50s), under water is where you have the greatest potential for speed. Because water flows around you so much more easily below than at the surface, you can move 40% faster during your pushoff than once you start pulling and kicking. You’re not only faster under water – the reduced drag also makes speed easier – everyone appreciates the momentary respite we get during the glide that follows each turn. If you’re clever enough under water, you’ll go faster and easier. But, you’ll have to master the tradeoff between distance traveled under water and oxygen debt incurred. Here are some tips:

1. Slip through the bow wave. Did you know there’s a mathematical formula that tells you how deep to push off for the greatest speed and distance? The formula is 20% of your height in inches. For a 6-footer, that would be about 15 inches under the surface. This is because the bow wave created by your body during pushoff travels to the surface and bounces back toward you. If the rebound turbulence grabs you before your feet have slipped by, it can slow you down. If pool depth is less than 3 1/2 feet, simply split the distance.
   
2. Be laser-like. Just as the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, the best pushoff will travel the straightest line between the wall and where you break out to begin stroking. Coming off the wall at a downward sloping angle, then climbing toward the surface will not only increase the distance you must cover before you break out, but you’ll also lose much more speed before you begin stroking. Staying as horizontal as possible throughout your pushoff and approaching the surface at the smallest possible angle will result in the longest pushoff and the greatest initial stroking speed.
   
3. Thread the needle. The strongest impression I got from watching at that underwater window was the stunning cost of failing to completely streamline the body. Those swimmers who shaped their bodies into a tight torpedo traveled very far and very fast, before they began stroking. And their only energy cost was what was needed to squeeze themselves into a long, clean line and kick moderately. Those who let their arms separate even slightly, or lifted their head just a bit were dragged to a stop almost as if they had hit a wall, forcing them to begin stroking much sooner. The key parts of this streamline are a) hand over hand (with top thumb locking over bottom hand), wrist over wrist and elbows hyperextended, b) head within the chest cavity and biceps pressed behind the ears, c) stomach pulled to spine and glutes tight, and d) toes pointed until you begin kicking.
   
4. Kick compactly. Kicking is what sustains your momentum once the thrust from your pushoff begins to dissipate, but a too-large kick increases drag rather than propulsion. Think of that bow wave I mentioned earlier as being a “shadow” for your body. Just as a boat’s wake spreads, your shadow is wider at your feet than at your hips, Kicking within that shadow is propulsive. But the instant a foot or knee slips outside the shadow it becomes drag. The greater your speed, the wider your shadow, so the farther you get from the wall, the tighter your kick must be.
   
5. Keep your body in motion. A law of physics: It takes a lot more energy to move a body at rest than it does to keep a body in motion. Translation: Learn to be highly sensitive to velocity while under water. You get the greatest advantage when you break out for your first stroke while your speed is still slightly greater than the fastest you can swim on top. If you stay under too long, you’ll be falling behind while everyone else is on top and pulling away…and you’ll be getting more breathless than anyone else.

Fish School: Self-coaching tips for a stronger pushoff:
These exercises will help you go farther, faster with the least energy cost:
No Kick Pushoff: On most of my easy swimming and drilling, I push off without kicking. I just hold my legs in tight streamline, allowing them to separate (to begin my usual 2-beat kick) only as I take my first stroke. The no-kick pushoff is one of the best balance exercises. It makes you much more aware of balance – and that means your first stroke can be entirely propulsive, rather than used at least partially for body position. When you do a no-kick pushoff for the first time, you may sense your body torquing or wallowing. If so, this means that you normally have to use some of your kicking energy to keep a stable body position. The no-kick pushoff teaches you to stabilize purely with balance skills…so when you do start kicking it will be entirely propulsive.
Balanced Breakout: At the end of your no-kick pushoff, try to surface so the back of your head, shoulder blades and butt break the surface at the same time. The lower your breakout angle, the more of your energy gets channeled forward. The steeper that angle, the more speed you sacrifice.
Kick Differently: Once you have a great sense of balance from practicing no-kick pushoff, then you can experiment with different kinds of kicking to add some extra zip to your breakout and first stroke. Try it in two ways: (1) Practice a super-sensitized burst of flutter kicking timed to your first stroke and the breakout. Pay great attention to getting the most effect for the least effort with a tight, strong, quiet kick. A splashy, noisy kick is an ineffective kick. (2) Also try using a dolphin – kicking as much from your midsection as your legs. Your dolphin should be tight, quick, and quiet, and timed precisely to your first stroke. It only takes one kick, but if that goes well, you can do 2 or 3, starting earlier.
Stroke Differently: One of the many aspects of swimming that seem to grow into unbreakable (and usually unexamined) habits is how we take the first stroke each lap. From age 15 to 51, I always stroked first with my left arm, out of a freestyle pushoff. At age 52, I began to consciously use my right arm first, twice as often as my left. Because this was such a new experience to me, I had to do it in a highly examined way. As a result, after what must have been millions of left-arm-first pushoffs, I’m traveling a bit farther and getting a bit more purchase on my first stroke on both sides. It took a couple of weeks to get used to it, but it’s definitely been worth it.

This article is excerpted from the latest TI book – The TI Guide to Successful Self-Coaching – Part Two, a 58-page manual of practical advice given free to all who attend TI Weekend Workshops. For more info on bonus materials, visit http://www.totalimmersion.net/workshops-newtuition.html.