This is kind of a cool video, and a good challenge (and learning opportunity) for swimmers of all ages.
Watch above as Masters World Record holder swims the length of the 25 yard course at the Texas Swim Center in Austin from just a push, holding a streamline, with no kick.
Of course, being at the Texas Swim Center, he had depth on his side – which helps this process significantly. Still pretty impressive. Impressive enough that I’ve never seen it done before with my own eyes (our guess is that others are capable).
Did you know that a similar challenge actually used to be an Olympic event? At the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, the “standing plunge” required swimmers to stand on the edge of the pool, dive in, and “with no attempt to propel himself” go as far as they could underwater until their heads broke the surface or until they reached 60 seconds.
The winner of that event was American Bill Dickey, who went an astonishing 19.05 meters (62 feet, 6 inches) underwater on a glide.
This event, called the “plunge for distance,” remained popular until the 1930’s. As best we can tell, Brtain’s F.W. Parrington has the last recognized World Record of 86 feet, 8 inches. Yes, that’s Frank Parrington, patriarch of Zimbabwe swimming, and grandfather of current Tennessee diving coach Dave Parrington. Yes, that’s further than the distance of a 25 yard (or 25 meter) pool.
We, for one, would love to see a revival of this event. Of course, it probably wouldn’t be long before an underwater dolphin kick was allowed, but only one, and only right at the start.
Ande, next challenge?
Push off streamline tips
Always push off hard and fast
Streamline straight & skinny
Lock your hands & arms
Improve your streamline dolphin kick SDK
Take in a big breath before you turn & hold it
Keep your head down
Thanks for the video and the brief history of plunging, which was an awesome event back in the days when it was contested. To correct you though it was actually my Grandfather who was the world record holder, although I should say my Dad was quite good at it himself and I have done my share on and off having also completed 25 yards some years ago. There was a 30 second time limit during competition, so his world record was done in 30 seconds, while a rope was stretched across the pool and held on either side by officials to measure the exact distance.He could in actual fact do 33 1/3 yards without the time limit which he would… Read more »
Sorry coach about the father/grandfather and even more information!
Andre
Great video. Can you give us 3-4 of your secrets for such a great streamline? Would like to share with our girls HS team
Thanks much.
Greg
Really impressive control of body position, here. A lot of times the feet swing out to the side as you start to slow, but his body remains exactly in line with the direction of movement. Heck, depth or not, he still made it past the 15m mark before surfacing.
Could we get another video with a constant angle? You can’t tell if he’s cheating or not inbetween shots.
It was shot with an iPhone from the 5 meter platform as one continuous shot. It was not edited.
Next time, hold your phone sideways when using it as a camera.
He also understand physics well as he started off at the bottom of the pool to use the buoyant forces for acceleration throughout the effort.
Looks to me like the club wolverine video is edited & patched together instead of being a single interrupted shot from enough distance to offer perspective