Transformed Stroke– Transformed Swimmer

By JONTY SKINNER

This is the first in a series of regular contributions from Jonty Skinner, who is responsible for the sophisticated technique and training analysis that keeps the USA Swimming National team in winning form. Jonty’s articles will provide insight into how elite swimmers solve the same kinds of problems and challenges the rest of us face and we’re grateful for the permission of USA Swimming to publish these articles.

Kalyn Keller was an up-and-coming USA National Team swimmer. She made the Pan Am Games team in 1999 and won the 800-meter Free at the Goodwill Games in 2001. She seemed headed for greater things…until she hit a bump in the road in 2002. Though she qualified for the World Short Course Championships in Moscow, she struggled in the second half of each race and felt frustrated with her results.

Hoping a change of scenery – and training environment – might get her back on track, she moved to Los Angeles to begin training under USC Head Coach (currently USA National Team Head Coach) Mark Schubert. In her first few weeks she struggled just to make it through Schubert’s more challenging workouts – let alone compete with her new teammates in practice. But, as is often true of elite athletes, Kalyn adapted by swimming more effectively, rather than just gritting her teeth and grinding.

Specifically, Kalyn changed from a less-powerful, more-fatiguing emphasis on pushing water back with her arms, to a stroke that allowed her to “hold her place” in the water, while using hip rotation to drive past her anchor. A combination of more power and more economy paved the way to her winning three national titles that summer and, I’m convinced, proved instrumental in her making the 2004 Olympic Team.

The following photo sequence illustrates the difference between Kalyn’s 2002 stroke (the top photo in each pair) and her 2004 stroke below it. The 2002 series shows a straighter- arm stroke, which forces her to rely almost entirely on her arms for propulsion because hip rotation occurs so late – and almost incidentally – in the stroke. The 2004 series shows a higher-elbow arm position propelled by hip drive during the entire stroke. Both sequences show a right arm stroke during a left-side breath.

Frame #1
In the ’02 frame we see a curve in Kalyn’s spine because she lifted her head to initiate the breath. The yellow line at her hips highlights how little her hips are rotated as she anchors her right hand.

In the ’04 frame her spine line is much straighter because her head is lower. Her hips are fully rotated, ready to generate power as her left hip drives down.

Frame #2
In the ’02 frame Kalyn’s arm is still nearly straight, there’s been no movement in her hips and her head is still off-line. This means her only source of leverage is her shoulders and arms. At the same time some of that modest power is being diverted to supporting the weight of her lifted head. And finally a good deal of what propulsive potential remains is being moving up rather than forward – following the line of her spine and head. In short, we can see precisely why she fatigued too soon and fell off the pace in races that year.

In the ’04 frame Kalyn’s high elbow is perfectly situated to trap water anchor and her left hip is driving down, while her left arm spears into the water. In effect Kalyn is swimming “with” her body rather than using her right arm to pull it forward. The energy efficiency of this movement – drawing power from gravity, body mass and nearly every muscle in the body – is dramatic in comparison to her arm-dominated ’02 technique. As well, because her head is in line with the body, all the considerable force she generates is channeled forward.

Frame #3
In the ’02 frame Kalyn’s hips barely moved from their initial position, meaning she is still relying entirely on her relatively “puny” arm muscles. To compound matters, her elbow has “dropped or slipped” and her head is only now returning to alignment with her spine.

In the ’04 frame her hips are midway through rotation and her right forearm is ideally positioned to maximize traction. Her head is aligned with her spine putting her in great position to take advantage of her right arm propulsion by driving into a streamlined position on her left side.

Frame #4
In the ’02 frame Kalyn’s head is finally in line with the body and the little propulsive potential that remains is belatedly directed to moving her body forward. This is the first time in Kalyn’s stroke that there seems to be a connection between the body and the propelling arm.

In the ’04 frame Kalyn is already finished with the “work” phase of that stroke and has begun to relax that arm and exit the water.

Frame #5
In the ’02 frame Kalyn has finally rotated past the horizontal and her right arm is still engaged in pushing water back – too late to do any good. Her left arm is already beginning to anchor, probably because her right arm stroke generated little momentum.

In the ’04 frame Kalyn’s left arm is still extending and “riding” the considerable momentum generated by her right arm stroke. This will allow her ample time to establish an effective high-elbow left-arm position, leading to another high-efficiency stroke. On such strokes – precisely and consistently executed dozens or hundreds of times – are national titles and Olympic medals built.It’s not unusual to find a difference in technique between two different athletes.

What makes Kalyn’s evolution valuable as a lesson for the rest of us is the potential it demonstrates for any swimmer to significantly improve their fortunes by learning to stroke more efficiently. If a swimmer like Kalyn, with national titles and Olympic team slots at stake, can “risk” a significant change in her technique at such a critical time, why not you?


Jonty Skinner is the Performance Science Director for the USA Swimming National Team. As a swimmer he set the World Record for 100-Meter Freestyle in 1976 – giving him temporary claim to the strictly honorary title “Fastest Man in the World.” He lives in Colorado Springs with his fiancé Carolyn and children Cleone 11 and Cydney 9. He wishes to thank Bill Boomer and Kalyn Keller for their contributions to this article.

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