OOPS! Sorry 'bout that...

Two weeks ago we said we would give our answers in a week...and then we had a better idea...so here are our answers to the quiz two weeks ago. Keep in mind that no two coaches will agree exactly on anything and neither will swimmers. Having said that, here are our answers and the reasons. Please make your comments known along with the reasons why...feel free to disagree

Swimming 101
A Mid Term Quiz

1. In freestyle which is more important:

• a. Head position - this is our choice since body position is #1 and that is set up by the head position...remember to lead with the crown of your head looking down at the bottom of the pool as opposed to ahead, watching where you will be going...if your head is down your hips will be up creating a flat line in the pool...and that is a very good thing!


• b. Depth of kicks


• c. Elbow position on catch


• d. Volume of air on breath

2. In backstroke which is more important:

• a. Depth of entry on catch


• b. Hip rotation


• c. Arm speed during recovery - this is our choice over #1 since doing this will make it easier to do #1...tempo is king in backstroke and recovery speed sets that up...of course make certain your baby finger leads the entry as opposed to your knuckles.


• d. Kicking with the soles of your feet

3. In the IM which is more important:

• a. Push the fly and breast hard


• b. Push the back and free hard


• c. Float the fly; it is a 3 stroke race - this was the easiest one...since you know in advance that on all multiple choice tests the answer to 3 is always C...ask any person who has taken the SAT's ...really ...the fastest IM'ers in the world get through the fly with the least amount of effort and while they may be near the front after the fly they really are not concerned with leading...the race is back, breast and free.


• d. Save your legs for the freestyle

4. In the breaststroke which is more important:

• a. Foot speed


• b. Recovery speed


• c. High hips


• d. Streamlines off walls


• e. All of the above


• f. None of the above - this was our choice here since a. & b. was not an option...all of the above are important but the question is "which is more important" and in our minds the correct answer is not included here...and that is that it is most important in breaststroke to spend as much time as possible in each stroke cycle in the streamlined position...which absolutely means fast foot speed and fast recovery speed but more importantly holding the streamlined body position as long as possible while not allowing yourself to slow down...very challenging stroke to swim.

5. In butterfly which is more important:

• a. How big your kicks are - of the available answers we think this is the best one since the size of your kicks will determine how fast your tempo is...bigger kicks, slower tempo, slower time...smaller kicks, faster tempo, faster time...it is competitive swimming after all.


• b. How many breaths you take


• c. How fast your turns are


• d. How far you can go underwater

The answers - according to us!

This is an open book, open note quiz. It is permissible to ask others before you answer. All answers are final, unless after further thought you wish to change your mind. If you are a student of multiple choice quizzes you will automatically know the answer to # 3.

See you at the pool!

Disagree? Let us know which ones and why and we will have a friendly exchange of ideas and quite possibly we will all get smarter at what we are doing...a very good thing ...