 |
| In This Section |
| Swimming Main page for this section. |
| Swimming Books |
| Swimming FAQ |
| Swimming Gear & Aqua Fitness Equipment |
| Swimming Web Sites |
SWIMMING FAQ
The rec.sport.swimming Frequently Asked Questions file version 0.96
1. What is rec.sport.swimming?
Rec.sport.swimming is a usenet group devoted to the discussion of
all things related to swimming whether competitive or recreational.
2. So what gets posted here?
Nearly any topic related to swimming is welcome. (We have even
debated the pros and cons of swimming in the nude in a flame-free
although somewhat irreverent fashion) Don't be afraid that your
questions are too simple; r.s.s is read regularly by people with
a wide variety of experiences and ability from first year swimmers
to Olympians. Chances are that there's someone else at the same
stage in swimming that you are. Here are a few suggestions on
posting that make things easier on yourself and others:
Help with technique: The best way someone can give advice on
technique is to actually see how you swim, and then make suggestions
based on that observation. However current technology doesn't enable
us to get such a nice picture. So the more you can describe about
your particular problem, the easier it is for others to offer helpful
suggestions. "My stroke feels weird" is not terrible descriptive.
"I've been told I drop my elbows when swimming freestyle" gives a
better description of what the problem might be.
Meet Results: r.s.s welcomes meet results at any level and from
anywhere in the world. However, if you are posting results from a
large or multi-day meet, please break up your posts into several
smaller messages (i.e. Friday morning prelims is message one,
Friday finals are message two, etc.) Large messages can be hard
on system traffic as well as causing problems with some newsreaders.
Advertising: r.s.s is not normally an appropriate place to post
general advertising. However, if you feel you want to provide
information a relevant product.
1. Please use the word ADVERTISING at the beginning of the subject header.
2. Please make sure that what you are selling is directly related to
swimming and/or aquatics.
3. So what shouldn't be posted here?
SPAM: spam is unsolicited advertisement that is posted across a group
of newsgroups and has no relationship to the stated discussion topic
of the newsgroup. Some examples of spam are the Make Money Fast chain
letter, various sex phone line advertisements, and political action
fund solicitation letters. It is not a good idea to post replies to
spams. All that does is create junk messages in what can be dozens
of newsgroups. If you feel that an inappropriate advertisement has
been posted in a newsgroup, look for the e-mail address where the
post came from, and then send an e-mail message to that person's
postmaster complaining about the ad. Say the post came from:
goober@spam.com
you could then send a copy of the offending material to:
postmaster@spam.com
and otherwise express your displeasure.
FLAMES: a flame is an argument that disintegrates into basically a
slinging of personal insults. If you feel that someone has
insulted you, walk away from the computer for a minute, and
then reread the message. Up to 90% of the meaning in a conversation
can be derived from non-verbal means. On usenet and e-mail, those
shades of meaning are lost, and it's easy to draw a different
conclusion than the author intended. Sarcasm, for example, can
be very difficult to identify sometimes. If you feel that you
have indeed been insulted by another posted, take it to e-mail.
Threads on flames generally are interesting only to the people
doing the flaming.
TROLLS: A troll is a type of flame deliberately posted to a newsgroup
in an attempt to create chaos within that group such as "ALL SWIMMERS
ARE LOSERS. THEY STINK". The best course of action is to ignore such
a post. The troll quickly grows bored and tries to find some other
group he can antagonize.
ALL CAPS: Posting a message in all capital letters is considered
shouting, a common e-media convention.
BINARIES: Please do not post binaries to this newsgroup. If there's
a binary or graphic files you think people would like to see, find
a home for it on a ftp or WWW site and post directions for how people
can get there.
4. I'm a new swimmer. What are some of those terms you're using?
crawl stroke: a stroke performed on the stomach and using alternating
arm cycles and a flutter kick. It is also a technical description
of one of the four legs of a medley event.
freestyle: usually used synonymously with crawl stroke. A freestyle
race is a race in which contestants may use any stroke to complete
the distance. Because crawl stroke is the fastest, it is always
used during freestyle races
interval: a specific time period in which you must swim a specified
distance. A set of ten 50 meter swims on a 1:30 (one minute and
thirty second) interval means that you must complete each swim in
less than 1:30. If you complete your 50 meters in 50 seconds, then
you have forty seconds to rest before your next swim. Most people
feel that if you are going to gain the greatest physical benefit from
swimming, you have to incorporate intervals into your workout.
kickboard: a flat rectangular piece of Styrofoam used to isolate leg
muscles in kick sets.
lap: a lap is either one or two lengths of the pool. Whether it is
commonly used to designate on or two lengths can vary from area to
area and even pool to pool. It's usually easier to describe a distance
in yards/meters or in number of lengths.
long course: used as both an adjective and a noun in describing a
50 meter long pool
pull buoy: usually two cylinders of Styrofoam tied together with rope
placed between the legs. It enables you to focus on your pull without
kicking.
set: a number of repeated swims at specified distances with a stated
rest interval between each swim
short course: used as both an adjective and a noun in most of the
world to describe a 25 meter long pool. In the United States, it
commonly describes a 25 yard pool.
5. Help! My legs are strong, but my kick just doesn't get me anywhere!
It's very common for budding triathletes, among others, to encounter
this problem. A flutter kick uses leg muscles in different ways and
demands more ankle flexibility than a typical runner has. The best
way to get a better feel for flutter kick is to but yourself a
medium-priced set of flippers (fins). Flippers really give the
swimmer a good feel for how much you need to bend your ankles as
well as helping him/her develop a nice concise flutter kick.
6. I keep hearing about a drug problem in elite swimming.
What's the deal?
There have been three high-profile cases in swimming involving
illegal substances lately.
6a. Last summer, American Jessica Foschi tested positive for a
steroid at a national-level meet. There are questions surrounding
how the banned substance got into her body. Originally, she was
given probation by a three person panel. This decision was
reviewed by USS (United States Swimming) and she was given a
two-year suspension. Then, USS reversed their suspension. Regardless,
the USS avoided a series of potentially embarrassing questions when
Foschi failed to make the US Olympic team. Regardless of the story
surrounding her positive test, she just isn't as fast as Evans and
Bennett at this time.
6b. Last December, Australian breaststroker Samantha Riley tested
positive for a banned headache medication after taking a tablet
given to her by her coach. Riley received no further penalties,
but the coach received a two year suspension for providing her with
the illegal substance. There is a controversy that is not completely
resolved. A fellow Australian, also former Olympic gold medalist,
Dawn Fraser, commented that Riley should have been banned for 2 years.
The bottom line is that FINA has chosen not to ban her, and that's that.
6c. The China question. It is difficult to form an opinion unless
all facts are heard on an issue. The problem here is that China
shares a characteristic common with many communist countries in that
it places tight controls over the flow of news and information.
Here's what is known about the situation:
1. We now have proof that there was widespread steroid use among
East German elite athletes in the 1970's and early 1980's .
2. Coaches who were involved with this widespread steroid use later
were employed in China.
3. Chinese swimmers showed tremendous time drops in recent years
in patterns similar to that among swimmers in the former East Germany.
China went from having very few World-class swimmers to dominating
the world in many events.
4. Last year, 7 Chinese swimmers, of which 4 were men and
3 were women, tested positive for steroids at the Asian Games.
5. The steroid that was found in their system was previously considered
undetectable. It had only been very recently that drug testing
technology had advanced far enough to allow its detection.
6. Since then, the Chinese have been mainly absent from the
World rankings. In fairness however, since December 1994 till
December 1995, there were a limited number of major long course
meets. These were mainly the Pan Pacific and European
Champs. China was banned from taking part for the former, and
not eligible to take part in the latter. Many of the top times
according to the 1995 ranking come from these 2 meets. So the position
of the Chinese swimmers is cloudy. Clearly, the Olympics will shed more
light on this.
7. What's a taper? What's the deal with shaving?
In swimming, it is not uncommon for an athlete to focus on swimming
well at one particular meet during the season. A taper is a pattern
of reduced but high intensity yardage leading up to an important
meet. Early in a taper, a practice may not look that much different
than a normal practice, but at the end of a taper, a practice may be
a warm-up, and a few strong sprints. Take note: just as you can't
have frosting without cake, you won't have a successful taper unless
you already have a strong aerobic base to taper from.
Shaving is something of a swimming tradition that often accompanies
tapering for a big meet. The rationale behind bodyshaping is that
the drag created by body hair is removed, and the swimmer is thus
able to go faster. It is difficult to determine what difference
shaving actually makes because it is always accompanied by increased
rest. However, shaving most of your body hair does also remove a l
ayer of dead skin from your body, creating a truly unique feeling as
you enter the water shaved.
8. My hair's drying out. How can I stop this?
First, wearing a latex or silicone cap helps reduce the amount of
chlorinated water that goes through your hair. Second, make sure
that you shampoo and condition your hair thoroughly after your
workout. Some people find that shampoos designed to strip chlorine
out of hair help them while others find them ineffective. Try a
few different types of shampoo and see what works best for you.
9. My eyes keep getting red. What can I do?
Get yourself a pair of comfortable goggles. Your eyes and visual
health will thank you for them. There are dozens of different
goggle brands and styles on the market, each slightly different
from the other, and fitting slightly different on the face. A
couple of specialized brands and types are:
Prescription goggles: for those with vision problems, it is
possible to order goggles with prescription lenses in the
eyepieces. They give a better sense of wall location and also
aid in seeing paceclocks and coaches better. Consult your eye
doctor for further details.
Barracuda goggles: some people swear they're the best fitting
goggles on the market. However, they're some of the most expensive
on the market (about $30 US).
Swedish goggles: Swedish goggles (aka Swedes) are basically
goggles with small eyepieces, no foam or sponge gaskets around
the eyepieces, and thin double rubber head straps. There is
something of a cult surrounding them and a lot of people swear
they're the best goggle on the market. After a break-in period
of a few weeks, the eyepieces seem very comfortable, they secure
well to your head, and they're extremely cheap. ($3.50 US)
'Real' Swedes are made only in Sweden. Accept no substitutions
from Speedo, Hind, and the like.
10. So where are some good swimming sites on the Web?
One of the oldest, and very best of the swimming links is at
http://www.lornet.com/swimming/sports.htm
The Yellow Pages of Swimming (many, many links):
http://www.tcd.net/~jj/swimlinx.html
United States Swimming has a good site at:
http://www.usswim.org/ During the Olympic trials,
they were averaging something like 27,000 hits a day, so it
may take a while to get around it, but it's worth it.
The American Swimming Association has it's page at:
http://lornet.com/asca/
The Swimming in Australia page is available at:
http://www.gil.com.au/~logan It's a little graphics-heavy,
but is generally a good source of Australian swim news.
Colorado Swimming: http://www.csi.org/ is a good
example of a Local Swimming Committee under USS rules.
They've also got a nice officials section as well as many links.
The World of Masters Swimming:
http://www.hk.super.net/~kff/wms.html
lists master's records and has a nice section on FINA rules.
The Harvard Men's Swimming page:
http://hcs.harvard.edu/~menswim/
is the granddaddy of all web pages for college teams.
St. Rick (AKA Rick Oosterberg, net.saint) also has done
a great job of posting results from other major US meets
at this site as well.
Pacific Masters:
http://www.hooked.net/users/swim/
and the Canadian Masters Swimming Homepage:
http://www.unb.ca/web/Masters_swimming/
talk about Masters swimming and list open water swims.
Swim 2000: http://www.swim2000.com/ is a commercial
site with some good links and other info.
http://lornet.com/~creek/ is the homepage of Cherry Creek High School
and is an excellent example of a high school page.
11. How do you convert long course meters to short course yards
and vice versa?
First, ask any swimming coach and they'll tell you, "meters is
meters and yards is yards." That is completely true, they are
just different and there are too many variables to do the
conversion perfectly. There are many times however, that you
need to convert as closely as you can. The following is the
best conversion I've found. It takes into consideration the
differences in the strokes, since the breaststroke turns, for
example, are more important than a freestyle turn.
LCM -> SCY SCY -> LCM
50 Fr x - .8/1.11 x*1.11 + .8
100 Fr x - 1.6/1.11 x*1.11 + 1.6
100 Breast x - 2.0/1.11 x*1.11 + 2.0
100 Back x - 1.2/1.11 x*1.11 + 1.2
100 Fly x - 1.2/1.11 x*1.11 + 1.2
200 Fr x - 3.2/1.11 x*1.11 + 3.2
200 Breast x - 4.0/1.11 x*1.11 + 4.0
200 Back x - 2.4/1.11 x*1.11 + 2.4
200 Fly x - 2.8/1.11 x*1.11 + 2.8
200 IM x - 3.2/1.11 x*1.11 + 3.2
400 IM x - 6.4/1.11 x*1.11 + 6.4
For example, a SCY time in the 100 Breaststroke of 1:07.49
would be 67.49*1.11 + 2.0 = 76.91 or 1:16.91 LCM.
12. What swimming software is available?
This list is a start (ie. still under construction) at identifing the
variety of swimming related computer software. It has been compiled from
posts to the r.s.s. group and email replies to me from interested
individuals. Your comments and additions are welcome (Tim Meinke:
twmeinke@facstaff.wisc.edu).
NO ENDORSEMENTS are intended.
_____________________________________________________________
For running meets:
ProSwim -> proswim@macon.com -> complete meet software; DOS; Colorado
Interface Available
EasyMeet -> dabineri@tso.cin.ix.net -> complete meet software; DOS;
Colorado Interface Available
Swim Meet 5.0 -> complete meet software; Windows 3.1 or up needed ->
Multiple Electronic Interfaces Available.
Meet Manager -> complete meet software; DOS
Additional Notes:
I know that ProSwim and EasyMeet have demo versions available that can
be requested by email. Send your smail address.
Swim Meet 5.0, Jim Cooper's program (LSA) can be downloaded either from
Colorado Swimming (see below), or from Jim's Wilton Wahoos Home Page
(http://www.spav.com/wilton/wahoos/).
_____________________________________________________________
For managing team data:
EasyTeam -> dabineri@tso.cin.ix.net
Also check out Jim Cooper's programs which can be downloaded either from
Colorado Swimming (see below), or from Jim's Wilton Wahoos Home Page
(http://www.spav.com/wilton/wahoos/)..
Team Manager -> ???
_____________________________________________________________
Also, below is the start of a list of ancillary swim related software:
The American Swim Coaches Association (800-462-6267)
Swimming MAChanics which shows animated strokes, item W100,
Swimming workout manager item W200
Swimming Manager Item W300.
The Athlete's Diary (log program)- full information and a working
demo copy are available at the Web and FTP sites listed below.
Available for Windows, Mac, and DOS.
Stevens Creek Software
The Athlete's Diary & Bookstore
WWW: http://www.stevenscreek.com
FTP: ftp.stevenscreek.com
e-mail: slp@stevenscreek.com
UltraCOACH for Windows is at:
http://www.ultracch.com
email: ucsales@ultracch.com
Interactive Windows based software for 3.1 or 95.
Colorado Swimming has information on available computer programs.
You can find it under "Available Software" linked to from their
main web page (http://www.csi.org).
==================================================================
Much thanks goes to Jill Marie Spetoskey (jillmari@aol.com
for putting together the initial version of this FAQ.
Additional thanks to John Lorimer at Lorimer Network
Research for providing the server space to contain the FAQ.
Additions or corrections to this FAQ may be sent to:
Don Overton <doverton@ix.netcom.com>
copyright NetSweat.com 1996-2003