Thorpe and breaststroke

Colin Priest said:

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

Quoted message said:

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 hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Colin Priest said:

There's been a bit of discussion about Thorpe's weakness in breaststroke

in

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

I was surprised to see that Thorpe was the 3rd fastest breaststroker in

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

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

Colin Priest said:

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.