Endurance Swimming Assessment

Zuzka Trnovcova

Profile

MIT Tri Club Vice President

Last Update

April 25, 2010

Notes: Need to get a head-on clip (clip from 4/12 was no good). Older commented clip is: zuzka arms 2010-04-12.

Technique

Rating Scale: 1=beginner, 2=needs attention, 3=fair, 4=strong, 5=excellent
Skill	Rating	Observations and Video Clips
Posture	2	zuzka posture2 10-04-19. The arch in your back gets your hips too deep and leaves your shoulders too high. This may be the result of not focusing on your posture (belly in), or the result taking too long to breathe (which can drop the hips), or entering the arms too far out front and too shallow (which can lever your hips down). See the breathing and arms clips below.
Breathing	3	zuzka breathing3 10-04-19. The breathing looks good in terms of getting your face to the air early in the stroke cycle and leaving the leading arm extended out front. Too much of the head is out of the water, but I think that is caused by the arm entry and extension (see below).
Rotation	4	zuzka rotation4 10-04-19. Amount of hip rotation and timing of the rotation is good. Deep hips are a bit of a problem but I think that is the result of your arm entry and extension.
Arms	2	Extension: zuzka arms2 10-04-19. Good extension, but hand is too close to the surface.
		Front Quadrant Timing: You can begin your catch earlier if you leave your elbow extended out front (instead of pulling back).
		Catch: Pop your elbow toward the surface, and get your hand and forearm under your elbow, before you pull back on that elbow.
		Pull: Your pull is not as effective as it could be because you are pulling back on your elbow too early (before your hand and forearm are set).
		Recovery: Your hands are entering the water too far out in front of your body. Enter your hands closer to your body (and then extend your arm at shoulder depth, parallel to the surface).
Kick	4	2-Beat: zuzka kicking4 10-04-19. Your kick is relaxed and stays within the shadow of your body. It will be even more effective when your catch and pull are corrected.
Kick	4	6-Beat: not evaluated. Do not worry about this.
Sighting	0	not evaluated
Drafting	0	not evaluated
T1	0	not evaluated
Other	0	not evaluated

Recommendations

Priority	Recommendation
1	Work on your recovery first. Enter your hands closer to your body rather than reaching so far out in front. Your whole arm should follow your fingertips into the water. Do not let your arm come down flat on top of the water. When you reach full extension, your hand and entire arm should be extended at shoulder depth parallel to the surface (not angled up toward the surface). Entering your hands closer to your body and deeper will help you to keep your shoulders deeper and your hips higher in the water. It will also help you to get your catch, because your hand will be deeper in the water relative to your elbow.
2	Work on your catch second. Leave your elbow extended out front until your hand and forearm are under it.
3	Fine tune your posture after your recovery and catch are improved.

Critical Swimming Speed (CSS)

Date	Yd or M	Short Test			Long Test			CSS	CSS/100
Date	Yd or M	Distance	Minutes	Seconds	Distance	Minutes	Seconds	CSS	CSS/100
yy/mm/dd	yd	200	na	na	400	na	na	na	na

Vasa Ergometer CSS (ErgCSS)

Date	Door	Short Test			Long Test			Erg CSS	Erg CSS/100
Date	Door	Distance	Minutes	Seconds	Distance	Minutes	Seconds	Erg CSS	Erg CSS/100
yy/mm/dd	2	200	na	na	400	na	na	na	na

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