Thorpe and breaststroke



C

Colin Priest

Guest
There's been a bit of discussion about Thorpe's weakness in breaststroke in the IM.

So here are the splits for all of the finalists:

Phelps 29.04 Thorpe 30.58 Rosolino 31.44 Sievenen 31.21 Bovell 29.87 Mori 30.99 Clements 30.99
Johns 30.63

I was surprised to see that Thorpe was the 3rd fastest breaststroker in the field, and not
the worst!

But I'm astounded by Phelps' split. Has he ever swum a 100m breatstroke race? The guy must be
capable of a low 60 or even a 59.
 
On Mon, 28 Jul 2003 03:23:02 +0000, Colin Priest wrote:

> There's been a bit of discussion about Thorpe's weakness in breaststroke in the IM.
>
> So here are the splits for all of the finalists:
>
> Phelps 29.04 Thorpe 30.58 Rosolino 31.44 Sievenen 31.21 Bovell 29.87 Mori 30.99 Clements 30.99
> Johns 30.63

Splits, BR BK Phelps, 34.51 29.04 Thorpe, 35.31 30.58 6th,3rd Rosolino, 33.35 31.44 Sievinen, 34.04
31.21 Bovell, 35.82 29.87 Mori, 35.26 30.99 Clements, 34.76 30.99 Johns, 35.58 30.63

> I was surprised to see that Thorpe was the 3rd fastest breaststroker in the field, and not
> the worst!
>
> But I'm astounded by Phelps' split. Has he ever swum a 100m breatstroke race? The guy must be
> capable of a low 60 or even a 59.

Mmm, I think he might have a slight challenge with some of the technical requirements.....

--Mike
 
Woops - you're correct - I'd lined up the wrong column of splits. I should have noticed that they
were too fast to be breaststroke. What do you mean by "he might have a slight challenge with some of
the technical requirements"?

"mike" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:p[email protected]...
> On Mon, 28 Jul 2003 03:23:02 +0000, Colin Priest wrote:
>
> > There's been a bit of discussion about Thorpe's weakness in breaststroke
in
> > the IM.
> >
> > So here are the splits for all of the finalists:
> >
> > Phelps 29.04 Thorpe 30.58 Rosolino 31.44 Sievenen 31.21 Bovell 29.87 Mori 30.99 Clements 30.99
> > Johns 30.63
>
> Splits, BR BK Phelps, 34.51 29.04 Thorpe, 35.31 30.58 6th,3rd Rosolino, 33.35 31.44 Sievinen,
> 34.04 31.21 Bovell, 35.82 29.87 Mori, 35.26 30.99 Clements, 34.76 30.99 Johns, 35.58 30.63
>
> > I was surprised to see that Thorpe was the 3rd fastest breaststroker in
the
> > field, and not the worst!
> >
> > But I'm astounded by Phelps' split. Has he ever swum a 100m breatstroke race? The guy must be
> > capable of a low 60 or even a 59.
>
> Mmm, I think he might have a slight challenge with some of the technical requirements.....
>
>
> --Mike
 
On Mon, 28 Jul 2003 06:21:06 +0000, Colin Priest wrote:

> Woops - you're correct - I'd lined up the wrong column of splits. I should have noticed that they
> were too fast to be breaststroke. What do you mean by "he might have a slight challenge with some
> of the technical requirements"?

mmmm, it was an oblique reference to the backstroke though, upon review, I think I should probably
refrain from posting late at night :)

--Mike
 
Looking at the underwater footage of Thorpe's breaststroke, it seems like if he would just hold his
streamline position for a beat or two after the kick instead of imediately churning his arms, he
would pretty much solve his problem. I used to churn like he does, and when someone pointed it out
to me (and showed me a video of myself), I was able to immediately fix it.

Of course, if it was really that simple, he'd have fixed it, I guess.