Metamorhpic, or changing, is the way Larry Weisenthal described American swimmer Kaitlyn
Sandeno's freestyle. If you paid attention, you could see her changing her crawl technique during
the same race.
I think all Masters swimmers should be metamorphic freestylers.
After all, our workouts span short sprints to long distance. One style can't accomodate such a large
range. Plus it's a great workout and it keeps things fun.
For myself, I see a need to master three distinct styles based on the kicking rhythm - light
(2-beat), medium (4-beat), and hard (6-beat). And of course a changing kicking style would be
accompianied by changing arm rhythms. Generally stated, hard kick-slow arm turnover, light kick-fast
arm turnover.
Unless we can swim with these basic styles, I don't see how we've become competent swimmers. I've
been at this Masters thing for almost a year, but you know what? I still can't swim with a good
6-beat kick. Oh I can flutter quickly back there but I really have no idea what pattern my legs are
doing. That's a sorry state of affairs, akin to a baseball player not knowing some of the
fundamentals of their position. So I've been studying video of Peter VDH and Grant Hackett. Their
6-beat rhythm is nearly identical and a thing of beauty. I've almost got it down.
Now I don't kick too well, so a 6-beat is not the most efficient way for me to swim. But it's still
fun using it from time-to-time. All sorts of good things come from a well timed 6-beat kick - you
burn lots of calories, jack-hammer your heart rate, and maybe the best thing is that for a cycle or
two, you ARE swimming like VDH or Hackett. Not as fast, not as efficient, but by God you can feel
some of the beauty of their style and power.
And once you learn the six beat, you're on the way to learning the Hackett 4-beat, which can be
seamlessly alternated with the 6-beat. I've got video of Hackett racing Thorpe for 800 meters.
That's what Hackett does trying to keep up with the "Thorpedo". Those guys are utterly World
class, but it can be just as fun for us using that technique trying to keep up with a swimmer in a
faster lane.
Anyways, I'm kind of on a soap-box but it has opened up a whole new swimming World for me. I
consider having various styles a kind of secret weapon against my lane-mates and our usual friendly
competitions during work-outs. Just the other day we swam broken 800's. First set was 8x100 - cool,
use the 4-beat and maybe even the 6-beat at the end of each one. Second 800 was broken into 4x200.
Whoa, no more hard kicking, maybe kick the first 100 lightly and the last moderate. Third 800 was
2x400. Light kicking only territory. The other swimmers in the lane kept banging out the same style.
Try it, I think you'll like it.
-Eric
PS. Larry's original theory for why metamorhpic freestyle could be effectively used by an elite
swimmer is quite interesting. I'll try and get the gist of it down here. Unlike sports which
involve the legs, like running and cycling, the cardio demands of the upper body CANNOT
overwhelm the capacity of the heart and lungs to deliver fuel and oxygen, as well as clear
waste products. Hence picking the most efficient style from the standpoint of energy
consumption is NOT paramount in swimming like it is in those other sports. The advantage is
that the range of different freestyle techniques, which are book-ended by "big kick, slow arm
turnover", and "light kick, fast arm turnover", use slightly different muscles. You can feel
this if you try swimming this way. Your muscles may be burning after a few repeats of a certain
style, but if you then switch, suddenly it feels like your upper body muscles have "new life",
because they're not being used in exactly the same way. It's also a great way to improve "feel"
of the water, as you the different styles give you slightly different body position, water flow
around you, etc.