Swimming News

Kelsey Floyd Leads Lady Vols to Third-Place Finish at Tennessee Invitational

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:56 GMT

With a convincing victory in the 200y back on Saturday, freshman Kelsey Floyd led the 13th-ranked Tennessee women's swimming and diving to a third-place finish at the Tennessee Invitational.

FINA World Cup, Singapore: Day Two Prelims Complete

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:37 GMT

Universal Sports FINA World Cup Dashboard, including webcasts and highlights SINGAPORE, November 22. THE second day of short course meter prelims came to a close at the FINA World Cup stop hosted i...

Tech Suits to Remain in Japan Until End of March

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:21 GMT

By Hideki Mochizuki, Swimming World Japanese correspondent TOKYO, Japan, November 21. THE Japanese Swimming Federation has decided not to end the ability to use tech suits domestically until the en...

Italian Short Course Championships: Niccolo Beni Sets Italian Record

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:51 GMT

RICCIONE, Italy, November 21. DURING the first day of swimming at the Italian Short Course Championships, Niccolo Beni topped the national mark in the men's 200 fly. Beni clocked a time of 1:53.72 to ...

Iceland Short Course Championships: Four More National Records Fall

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:35 GMT

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, November 21. FOUR more national records were set during the Iceland Short Course Championships held in Reykjavik today. Inga Elin Cryer clinched the national record in the women...

Kosuke Kitajima Claims Second in Second Day of Swimming

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:23 GMT

By Hideki Mochizuki, Swimming World Japanese correspondent TOKYO, Japan, November 21. IN his second day of action, Kosuke Kitajima placed second in the 200 breast with a time of 2:14.31. Ryo Tatei...

Broomfield upcoming events -- Nov. 22 - Broomfield Enterprise

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:23 GMT

Broomfield upcoming events -- Nov. 22
Broomfield Enterprise
The Sharks are a competitive USA Swimming-affiliated team for ages 5 to 18. Information: Jay at 303-466-0881 or e-mail at csaswim2win@msn.com. ...

Special Olympians place at regional swim meet - Coos Bay World

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:18 GMT

Special Olympians place at regional swim meet
Coos Bay World
Special Olympics swim competitions are held under the same rules and guidelines as USA Swimming. Stroke and turn officials are on deck at all times during ...

Local sports briefs - News Sentinel

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:38 GMT

Local sports briefs
News Sentinel
He has received a trip to USA Swimming's Golden Goggles awards ceremony in Hollywood. IPFW senior Rebekah Roehm has been named to the All-Summit League ...

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Tulare's pool shark - Visalia Times-Delta

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:03 GMT

Tulare's pool shark
Visalia Times-Delta
USA Swimming, the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United States, recognized Korenwinder on Nov. 1 as one of the top 10 swimmers in ...

and more »

FINA World Cup, Singapore: Whitney Myers Sets American Record

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:54 GMT

Universal Sports FINA World Cup Dashboard, including webcasts and highlights SINGAPORE, November 21. THE first day of finals at the FINA World Cup stop hosted in Singapore featured a few World Cup ...

Connolly's Win Paces Lady Vols on Day Two of the Tennessee Invitational

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:24 GMT

Sophomore Jenny Connolly won the 100y back, as the Tennessee women's swimming and diving team moved up from fourth to third at the Tennessee Invitational on Friday.

FINA World Cup, Singapore: Day One Prelims Complete

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:40 GMT

Universal Sports FINA World Cup Dashboard, including webcasts and highlights SINGAPORE, November 21. THE first day of prelims is complete at the FINA World Cup stop hosted in Singapore. Men's 10...

Kosuke Kitajima Returns to Action

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:49 GMT

By Hideki Mochizuki, Swimming World Japanese correspondent TOKYO, Japan, November 20. KOSUKE Kitajima returned to competition today at the Tokyo Swimming Center, where he first entered the sport at...

Irish Short Course Championships: Sycerika McMahon Downs Irish Record

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:41 GMT

DUBLIN, Ireland, November 20. SYCERIKA McMahon, 14, has been the highlight of the first few days of swimming at the Irish Short Course Championships held in Dublin. McMahon clocked a time of 2:31.8...

Iceland Short Course National Championships: Women's National Record Book Torched

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:24 GMT

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, November 20. THE women's side of the Icelandic short course record book met the match in the first two days of swimming at the Iceland Short Course National Championships. Sigru...

Time is Running Out to Get $5 Off When You Pre-Order the New Book "Swimming Anatomy" in the Swim Shop!

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:37 GMT

PHOENIX, Arizona, November 20. OUR special pre-order sale of the new book Swimming Anatomy in the Swim Shop ends Sunday, so hurry and get your copy at a great price! For just $16.95, you can own on...

MSS Streamlined

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:07 GMT

Nov. 20, 2009: Singapore stop of FINA World Cup tour to feature Cameron van der Burgh, Jessica Hardy, Jessicah Schipper, Christian Sprenger, Felicity Galvez, Aaron Peirsol and Peter Marshall; Auburn, Georgia, Stanford and Cal are top college teams competing this weekend; Golden Goggles Awards on Sunday.

Swimming Canada Receives $500,000 Boost for Open Water World Championships

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:46 GMT

ROBERVAL, Quebec, Canada, November 20. SWIMMING Canada and Traverse internationale du lac St-Jean inc., greeted with joy and great satisfaction the $500,000 contribution from Heritage Canada to help ...

Day 124: Jeff King 5, Paul Tenorio 0

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:57 GMT

Reporter Paul Tenorio swims with a closed fist during his set today. The closed-fist style helps swimmers get a better feel for the water. (Photo by Jeff King/Curl-Burke)

Diving Back In Archive

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It's been a long week and with five practices down I'd have to say the scoreline would read something like this: Jeff King 5, Paul Tenorio 0.

He kicked my butt this week in every which way, varying the workouts from distance to stroke to overall purpose. Every day I'd get out of the pool dead tired and wonder what the heck was up next. (On occasion I'd do well in the workout, but that doesn't give me a tally vs. Jeff. That only makes the score something like, Tenorio 5, Workouts 0…The Kingfish always wins.)

This morning I sauntered into practice with an idea of what the day held and still Jeff managed to surprise me with an aspect that he hadn't previously mentioned that proved both challenging and helpful.

We knew going in this morning that the set was going to be centered around learning to swim the 200, or how to pace a 200. Now, this isn't necessarily my forte. As my 50- and 100-freestyle times prove I'm very much still learning how to swim…uh, more than a 50 — not really a surprise considering I grew up swimming only 50-meter races.

I was definitely dragging a bit when I walked in this morning. I was up way later than I usually am after covering University of Maryland's 2-1 win over Loyola (Md.) in the NCAA men's soccer tournament last night, and I was definitely still feeling the effects of all that breaststroke yesterday.

We started with a warm-up of a 400 IM kick and then a few 75s (the group did 10, I finished eight) and then it was down to business on the 200. This is where Jeff added that interesting twist I wasn't expecting.

“Today is going to be about two important things,” he said. “Feel for the water and pacing a 200.”

Hmm, feel for the water. Definitely one of the area's where I could improve exponentially — especially when it comes to my 100 freestyle time.

How was he going to help us get a better feel? Five 100s of closed-fist freestyle.

In the past I had done closed-fist swimming to warm-up and to get a feel — only usually it was done in breakdowns of 25 or 12.5 or even just three strokes closed fist and three regular swim. So the prospect of doing 100s, five of them, was a bit of an unknown.

Basically when you're swimming with closed fists you have no pull in the water at all. The arms are moving and you're going nowhere, as the hands just slip right through the water.

The positive of doing closed-fist? When you finish them and start doing our sets of 200s…

(which broke down like this:

Four 50s
One 100, Two 50s
Two 100s
One 200)

… you feel like SUPERMAN! Seriously, it's amazing how much of a difference that small surface area of your hand can make. I felt so strong and was cruising — at least in those first few 50s.

Certainly as the set wore on I wore down, and as we were set to repeat the set and I had gone through my second set of the closed-fist freestyle I looked at Jeff and let him know how I honestly felt.

“The tank is running on fumes,” I said.

I was exhausted.

Jeff was understanding. “Of course,” he said. “You're not Superman.” (He didn't know that I had been Superman only a few 200s ago right after the last set of closed-fist 100s.) So he said it was okay to throw fins on — “that's not cheating he said. Putting on fins so that you can finish the set is not failure.”

I put the fins and voila, I felt wonderful. My stroke feels so much more efficient and I feel so much better when I swim with them on. And it's not about the fins making it “easier” on my arms or anything like that. I just feel like I'm not fighting my own body as I swim.

Jeff noticed, too.

After practice he said that he realized that when I put fins on I actually swim on a long axis (like I'm supposed to). We talked about the reasons for why, and as we tried to figure that out and here's what I told him: Honestly, when I'm swimming I feel like my lower half sinks a bunch and I end up fighting to pull my whole body with my arms the entire time.

Jeff, who had filmed Balazs Kiss and Pat Sullivan swimming during the practice so I could compare myself later, said he, too, noticed that they were floating on top of the water compared to my tendency to sink a bit more. I don't exactly have skinny legs…they're more like, soccer legs. Swimmers are so much more lean and I'm not really in that category at all — even after 18 pounds of weight that I've dropped.

I guess I'm just not that buoyant.

The point is, my goal is to eventually figure out that right balance with my body that I don't end up having to fight myself when I swim, thus making it so much more tiring to go longer distances. But right now, when I throw fins on I feel so much smoother and more capable of swimming distances.

And after yet another practice that kicked my butt, I can do nothing but tip my hat to Jeff for giving me my most challenging week of practice and one that was full of lessons. I couldn't put it any better than what my editor said when I told him about my workout today: “He [Jeff] is a really smart guy.”

Of course, this would be the perfect place to insert a video of Jeff singing and dancing on deck. If only I was in charge of the camera during practice…

Washington Post reporter Paul Tenorio will train with a swim club over the next few months and chronicle his journey as he attempts to transform from regular guy/sports reporter to competitive swimmer — everything from his waistline to his best times.