SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side.
Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers which ability is the most important in the ever-evolving world of college swimming:
Question: Which skill is most valuable in college swimming?
RESULTS
- Underwater work – 72.8%
- Sprinting ability – 13.3%
- Versatility – 8.9%
- Turns – 4.0%
- Starts/relay exchanges – 1.1%
There is nothing quite like college swimming.
The Division I NCAA Championships have frequently been regarded as the “fastest meet on earth,” which is hard to argue with given the short course yard format. The speeds reached are faster than what we see at the Olympics, no doubt, and while there might be an argument for the Short Course World Championships, the extra bit of swimming required in the short course meter pool makes it hard to deny NCAAs as the fastest meet in the world.
As a result, the skill set required for success in college is vastly different than it is internationally—which is why foreign recruits coming from across the globe with an impressive resume are far from a lock to be successful in the NCAA.
Our latest poll showed that without a doubt, underwater work is the most valuable skill in college swimming.
We’ve seen it continuously develop over the years. At one point, a great ‘over the water’ swimmer could get away with being competitive in the NCAA with suspect underwaters, but that’s no longer the case.
It was on full display on the first two nights at the NCAA Championships.
Leon Marchand might be faster than everyone else swimming freestyle, but it was what he did under the water that earned him new U.S. Open Records in the 200 free (1:28.97) and 500 free (4:02.31).
In the 500 free, he won by more than four and a half seconds and broke his month-old record by nearly four. Watch how powerful he is off each and every wall:
That’s an obvious example, as is how dynamic Gretchen Walsh was off the walls last week en route to rewriting the women’s record books, but it’s clear that swimmers need to have their underwaters dialed in to be competitive in the NCAA.
We knew that before the poll was sent out, but it was driven home just how important underwaters are when it received nearly three-quarters of the votes at 72.8%
The only other option receiving more than 10% was sprinting ability.
Swimmers who can perform in the 50 and 100 free, and the 50s and 100s of the other strokes to a lesser extent, have multiplied value in NCAA and conference championship meets due to the importance of double-point relays, earning the sprinting option more than 13% of votes.
There are also only three individual events in college championship meets longer than 200 yards, and the ability to “sprint” essentially transfers over to 200s in SCY, so the points available for distance swimmers are much fewer than the sprinters.
Versatility was next up at 8.9%, as the ability to fill in on multiple strokes on a medley relay, or race one of your secondary events competitively to score points, is also a valuable asset.
Turns and starts/relay exchanges both received a handful of votes. They’re important, and more so in SCY than in long course, but not as much as underwaters. A bad turn or start can be made up for with blistering underwaters, but a good turn (where gaining hundredths of a second on your competitors would be regarded as ‘good’) won’t cancel out poor underwater work.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: Which NCAA Championship performance was better?
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Not just college … for ALL ages and levels.
underwaters are truly the common factor between all the top swimmers at this point. You just can’t avoid it. No matter what level meet it is, from age group to high school to NCAA, all the best swimmers are at the top because of their underwaters. When only a few people were doing it, like Phelps and Coughlin, it was possible to still be elite without them. Now there is no way around it, you have to have good underwaters for short course
And that’s why I’m of the opinion the underwater marker needs to be moved back from 15y to 12.5y. Put more value on surface swimming, not UW.
The marker is at 15 meters not yards. It’s 15 m in a yards pool it’s 15 m in a meters pool. Backstroke flags change from 5 meters to 5 yards depending on whether it’s meters or yards pool.
Changing the 15 m rule would definitely have a huge impact. Would it help or hurt development for long course. And should long course meters development continue to be the ultimate goal?
If someone like Marchand can push the UW element to new heights in events like 400 IM and 500 free, and Walsh in 100 free/fly, to a degree that they, and others could apply 15m of amazing UW work to more LCM events, and then have the surface swimming to match it, perhaps that is the key?
Maybe, the “bathtub” training is actually elevating LCM performance? Instead of focusing on 40ish meters or surface swimming each 50, if we can get that down to 35 more consistently, and not be ruined for those tough swimming meters late in a race, THAT is the key.
It seems Marchand is showcasing this idea best in races beyond the 100s.
The… Read more »
Thank you for the correction.
I can argue that shortening the UW mark would boost long course development because swimmers would need to develop their surface speed. But that’s not really why I’m arguing for it.
Since the 15m mark allows swimmers to swim up to 65% of their distance underwater (primarily 50/100 events), I believe that just violates the spirit of swimming. I want to see surface specialists, not UW specialists.
The progression has been amazing to watch. When I was a college swimmer, the most important skill was keg stands for greater than 10 seconds.
Perfect example on how to take something simple and make it difficult. Short course meters or yards means more turns per race. More turns per race means less strokes taken because of the turn(s) and the underwaters. Europeans swim short course meters in the winter the way the US swims shorts course yards. Most US swimmers never heard of the short course meters world championships because few if any will ever train for or swim in it. Clearly we see from Dressel, Kate Douglas, the Walsh sisters and Leon that great underwaters has something to do with their success.