David Epstein makes a strong case for technology and innovation increasing our progress in sport. Case in point: 100 freestyle.
1956 – The flip turn is introduced, causing a big drop in time.
1976 – Pools with gutters are introduced, allowing rough water to splash off rather than creating turbulence.
2008 – The introduction of the full-body and low friction swim suits, tech suits. I smell rubber on deck! That created another big drop in time.
Are swimmers really getting faster, higher and stronger? Yes, but you have to appreciate the advancements in technology.
Courtesy of TEDTalks:
When you look at sporting achievements over the last decades, it seems like humans have gotten faster, better and stronger in nearly every way. Yet as David Epstein points out in this delightfully counter-intuitive talk, we might want to lay off the self-congratulation. Many factors are at play in shattering athletic records, and the development of our natural talents is just one of them.
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Interesting talk well done The last portion is the most important especially how the mind tries to protect us and we train to overcome it. Learned that a long time ago from a coach ahead of his time in DIII. His swimming references were not quite correct. The fip turn in sprints was used much before 56 and it was touching on the turn and in 400 up.was always grab turn. The no touch fip came in around 63 and began to be used on all freestyle. On 55-56 Japan and Australia were training much better then the US. Japan beat the US in dual meets in 55 and Aussies dominated the games in Melbourne. Jon Hendricks AUS. Introduce shaving… Read more »
It’s an interesting topic, and one that pertains to us a lot. I actually found something interesting if you look at the mens 50 free from 2000 to 2012.
I found that for each swimmer in 2012, his corresponding swimmer of the same place in 2000 was almost invariably about 5 tenths slower, +/- one tenth or so. Interestingly, Anthony Irvin, who was in both finals, is now about five tenths faster than he was.
Based on that evidence in that event, the overall depth of swimming in the 50 is approximately constant, and looking at Irvin we can say that his level of improvement correlates roughly to the world’s improvement too.
Not exactly scientific but I… Read more »
i like where this is going. I read a book called “bounce: the myth of talent and practice” which says that people are not as talented as they aer lucky and have time to practice better than others.
Either way, good discussion here. What about the Duke? I seen his pictures, he had a very athletic body and was a natural in the water. Who knows…
Makes you wonder how fast Johnny Weissmuller would be with today’s training and techniques. He went 58.6 LC in the 100 free in 1922 without flip turns, with his head mostly out of the water, no goggles, no lane lines or gutters, and in a wool singlet that sopped up water like a washrag compared to today’s suits.
My first thought was of Weissmuller too. He not only went that 58.6, he reportedly went a 48.5 for a 100 yard freestyle after he’d turned “pro” (the definition of “pro” was really strict back in this days, and prohibited anyone from setting official world records afterward). He did that 48.5 with open turns, in the type of wool suit you mention, and at age 35. And we can be pretty sure he wasn’t doing any dry land training for his swimming, either.
Weismuller’s coach was big, and early proponent, of dryland training (medicine balls, dumbells, etc) to improve swim performance. I doubt however, that he was doing dryland at age 35, however.
This reminds me that I really need to listen to “The Sports Gene” again. It’s basically an entire book of the stuff he was talking about there, it’s awesome. Can’t recommend it enough.
The book is fascinating. He has a number of fantastic interviews as well – the one from NPR is great as well as the one from Vice. Touches on a lot of the same material, but I don’t get tired of hearing it.
Simple test. Send Nathan Adrian to a pool without lane lines and gutters, no goggles and a 1950’s era suit. See what happens.
I actually really, really want to see this. And if anybody would be up for it…it would be Nathan, ehh?
yeah especially considering his MythBusters appearance
That would still not address impacts due to improvements in training (see above comment).
I think that the suits really helped improve the sport, because they brought a lot more money into the sport. All of the several hundred dollar racing suits bring in revenue. Some of that goes back to the athletes via endorsements. Now, swimmers continue to train past college.
Also, more geographic regions have good club teams these days. When I was an age grouper in Southern Caliornia, it seemed like half of the national team was there. Southern California has not gotten worse, but th rest of the country has caught up. More athletes being in the sport really helps. Probably the Phelps effect.
We actually have data on this already – RCP Tiburon Sprint Classic. If you see the pool, it is definitely not a “world class” facility for fast swimming. The times appeared to be about 3-4% slower than folks’ best times. Dan’s point is good too – training has changed, so we can’t control for that item.
Awesome…TED talks are always good brain candy. Hmm, I recall discussing this concept with Gold Medal Mel in Mesa, and he noted that swimmers these days train in “4th/5th gear” in shorter workouts versus the old days of high yardage/meterage. I guess this fits into Epstein’s comments on training technology.