The Power of a Well Timed Surge

Watching the Kentucky Derby last weekend we were again impressed with the power of a well-timed surge. If you will click on the link below and watch the race unfold you will see that the eventual winner, Animal Kingdom, is not anywhere near the front until it counts. And what pushes him past the other horses – racers – are not one but two well-timed surges of power. It is almost as if he were shifting gears.

The first occurs as he runs past the “S” in 300 yards. The 2nd as he hits the 0 in 100 yards. Watch carefully and you can see it. It is almost tangible.



If you race at anything, think what would happen if you could develop that ability. There are several ways to get it. They all involve your ability to change speeds on the fly. Swimmers get it by being able to call upon more kick power to keep or even increase their tempo late in a race.

Simple swims, or sets of repeats where that is the only thing being worked on is a good place to start. Negative split swims are another. We even do swims of varying lengths of time – 3 to 10 minutes – where a predetermined amount of distance or time is done at a “surge” speed.

Play with this concept. It will give you another race tactic plus it gives you a real feeling of empowerment when you can pull it off. Let us know what you think.