#I cant even exaggerate how special this video is and how close i hold it in my heart.
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A Day in the Life of a Bull-dyke (1995). Directed by Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan.
#leather dyke#bulldyke#butch lesbian#butch dyke#shawna dempsey#lorri millan#lesbianism#a day in the life of a bull-dyke#I cant even exaggerate how special this video is and how close i hold it in my heart.
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Open water swimming technique
A couple months ago, I (Isabel) had the chance to swim with open water swim legend, Becky Fenson. In every way she lives up to the Aquatic Park buoy named after her: the "Bad Becky". She holds a handful of records at the Dolphin Club, has completed a number of super impressive marathon swims, has been a swim coach for many, many years. Becky also has a special mix of spunk, candor, confidence, deep swimming expertise and personal experience that makes her total powerhouse to learn from. When she's not in the water she dedicates her life to fighting for animal rights as an officer in training for SF's Animal Control team. Basically, Becky kicks ass and takes names in all that she does. I certainly count her among my swim (s)heros.
We met in the locker room at USF while we swam at Koret's Master's team. Lucky for me she said yes when I asked her to give me coaching. After our session in the pool we had a debrief on land, which I noted in detail right afterwards. I hope that others can benefit from her advice and water wisdom.
The one thing I'll call out here is her emphasis on individualizing advice to your own personal style. Some elements of open water technique are universal (keeping a high elbow, not crossing the center line, rotating your hips), but so many of the other nuances of swimming depend on all the qualities that make each swimmer (and swim!) different: strengths and weaknesses, body type, comfort in a pool or open water, training level, environmental conditions, etc. This seems obvious, but hearing Becky say it out loud helped me let go of the idea that I *should* be swimming a certain way, and instead focus on trying out new things one at a time, keeping what works for me, and scrapping what doesn't. The result of that process is improvement.
So, enjoy these (messy) notes below. Becky's follow up comments are in capitals, as well as a follow up message she sent me about solid swimming videos. ***
3/27/2017 - Swim technique feedback notes. Becky’s follow up comments are in capitals.
Re catch / pull. Best swimmers will almost hold the water with their hand and forearm and move their body forward.
RIGHT - BASICALLY, GREAT SWIMMERS PLANT THEIR HAND UNDERWATER AND PROPEL THIER BODY OVER THEIR HAND. SORT OF - IT'S AN EXAGGERATION, OF COURSE YOUR HAND IS MOVING, BUT THAT'S THE IDEA. HOLD THE WATER. SKULLING IS AN EXCELLENT DRILL TO PRACTICE HOLDING THE WATER EFFECTIVELY AND TO INCREASE YOUR FEEL FOR THE WATER.
Biggest thing to work on is gaining power and momentum during arm recovery
Elbow is too high and hand too close to the water to get powerful, too "textbook" pool arm
Open water needs big movement, power, momentum, an aggressive recovery. Really lift the arm at the shoulder, open armpit and swing arm over head w high elbow and hand position. enter the water as far forward as possible without flattening the hand.
HIGH RECOVERY, CLEARING THE WATER MORE. LONG, LOOSE RECOVERY.
whole hard and arm should go through the same water hole, fully extend a few more inches, then catch back
elbow should always be the highest point, except when its fully extended forward and fully extended back
hand should be relaxed and soft, like you're petting an animal. hand must be soft to feel the fur. same thing w feeling softness of the water.
keep fingers open slightly to let the streams of water flow through cracks. water tension from water streams expands the amount of water you're catching and pulling back.
YES , AND A RELAXED, SOFT HAND WILL HAVE THOSE CRACKS.
experiment with how deep to catch w hand/forearm before "hugging the barrel" and pulling the water back. esp. in open water, deeper water will be more stable, less movement. could get more leverage from deeper vs. surface water moving faster. no right or wrong way, should be individualized.
YUP.
hip leads the stroke. this is not a drill.
hip/torso rotation look good.
kick looks good. keep feet floppy like flippers. leg muscles are big and energy suckers so no need to over exert. break out a powerful kick when you need to (like fighting against a strong current). otherwise, smallish bubbles and floppy feet.
head looks a little high. press chest / sternum down slightly to move the head/neck/shoulder down as a unit. this will naturally bring the hips up and level the body, reducing drag.
pool vs. open water differences
you'll need raw strength for strong currents of the channel. don't be dainty about it. get power.
keeping the hand high during recovery is important in avoiding choppy surface water.
you want to get as long and lean as possible.
legs will tire you out faster in endurance swimming
***
4/1/2017 - Follow up email with recommended swim videos
What I think you should do is watch videos of Natalie Coughlin swimming freestyle. Keep in mind that she's a pool swimmer so open water adaptations have to be made/considered, but she's such a perfect swimmer technically, and so strong, that I think she's the best model for us mere mortals. Here are three links to videos that may be helpful. More than listening, watch her technique - how high she recovers, how she never drops her elbow even in the slightest, how long her reach is, and esp, what I was talking about, how she reaches a bit deeper before starting her underwater pull. She really grabs and holds that water and puts her body over her hand. And she finishes beautifully - pushes all the way back with a slight outward orientation at the end. And her core is always in motion, she rotates her hips perfectly. Check these out and search for other vids. You cant go wrong w/ Natalie!
Video 3
youtube
Video 2
youtube
Video 3
youtube
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