Thanks to Carleanne Fierro, the coach of a few NAG Record breakers of her own, for capturing this video and sharing.
12-year old Destin Lasco broke the National Age Group Record in the 11-12 boys’ 200 IM on Sunday, swimming a 2:15.33. That broke Chas Morton’s 2:15.42 set back in 1983. (Read more about the record here).
Here’s a few things we noticed about Lasco’s swim, technically:
- He has great underwaters, which lead into a really incredible backstroke breakout.
- His butterfly and backstroke look almost effortless – most obvious when we can line him up with the swimmers next to him. He gets to 100 meters before he even looks like he’s trying. We haven’t seen much footage of his butterfly before, and while it’s not a stroke likely to break many records in those events individually, it’s a perfect butterfly for an IM (he may race that event differently when it’s all butterfly).
- No fancy turn on the back to breast, just a pretty simple, but solid, touch turn.
- Lasco’s breaststroke kick isn’t yet overly powerful, but he’s got a very good rhythm (aka, a well-timed late kick) that will serve him well as he develops that lower-half strength.
- Lasco is not a very tall swimmer, but his freestyle looks like that of a much taller swimmer. A powerful back-half on his pull and a fantastic kick, even at the end of a 200 IM, contributes to that visual effect. He also has very little wasted head motion as compared to most swimmers his age, even the very good ones.
That backstroke is INSANE. He looks like someone reverse-engineered Alex Popov, turned the body upside-down, and infused it into a 12-year-old. That effortless distance-per-stroke seems totally implausible.
Similarly, his freestyle – by any chance, is this kid 5 feet tall, with a 6.5 foot wingspan???
His breaststroke… obviously faking it. His timing seems just a bit off. The kick seems like an afterthought, an obligatory part of completing the stroke. But still, awesome swim.
Man, I wish there was a video of Chas Morton doing that time……….
For those who are interested, here are 3 other race videos from that meet.
200 back. 11/12 NAG record in 2.10.39 (30.77/32.76/33.88/32.98)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWSvB10eWJQ&list=UUy1k2vNPs9Rqu6m0s76D8PA
100 free. 11/12 NAG record in 55.04 (26.63/28.41)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY6mD-NsekY&list=UUy1k2vNPs9Rqu6m0s76D8PA
200 free. 2.02.93 (29.23/31.73/31.23/30.74)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvWmn75hWtg&list=UUy1k2vNPs9Rqu6m0s76D8PA
I’m not specialist but his split times are always amazing.
Thanks Mr Keith for the technical analysis.
Very interesting.
From my part and in simple words, I’d say it’s beaufiful to watch him swim.
Such a great facility. Same place Seliskar broke the HS 100 breast record back in February.
I always wish people who take video of their kid’s races would film their reactions after the race instead of feeling like they have to show the scoreboard. There are so many ways to find out splits and times for records after the fact, but that swimmer’s moment right after the race isn’t on Meet Mobile. I wouldn’t call Lasco’s reaction a celebration (like the Nationals Real-Time Recaps comment section has been arguing about) but watching it live was proof that to him the swim was more than just a 2:15.33 200 IM.
Nice article. Congrats Destin!