混合泳中仰转蛙的相位图文back-to-breast turn in the IM

小臭贝

LEARN FROM THE OLYMPIANS

Gabrielle Rose is one of those rare individuals who can call two countries "home." Though she grew up mostly in Tennessee, she claims citizenship both in the U.S. and Brazil. At the 1996 Atlanta Games, 18-year-old Gabrielle represented Brazil. She swam well, setting a national record of 57.16 in the 100 meter free while placing 23rd -she missed making finals by only a bit more than a second--and finishing 22nd in the 200 IM in 2:18.98. Solid performances, but nothing earth-shattering.

Then it was on to Stanford, where she helped lead the Cardinal to an NCAA title and had a satisfying--though not spectacular-collegiate career. Gabrielle's versatility made her particularly valuable to Stanford coach, Richard Quick, but she was always overshadowed by such superstars as Jenny Thompson, Catherine Fox and Misty Hyman.

After graduating in 2000, Gabrielle decided she wanted to be an Olympian again. Assured of a spot on the Brazilian team, she opted, instead, to try to make the U.S. team, where her chances were, by all reckoning, remote. She would focus on making the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay and would also swim the 200 IM Only Swimming World gave her any chance at all-noting how well she had swum since joining Irvine Novaquatics under Coach Dave Salo. Swimming World thought her best shot would be in the medley.

And so it was. Gabrielle did not even make semifinals in the 100 free. But her improbable odyssey in the 200 IM was one of the great stories of the U.S. Olympic Trials.

In prelims, she finished 16th, barely sneaking in to take the very last spot in the semis. Swimming in lane 8 in her semifinal, she managed to post the seventh fastest time overall-just fast enough to get her an outside lane in the final.

The race was supposed to be in the middle of the pool, between Kristine Quance, Maddy Crippen and Cristina Teuscher. None of the "Big Guns" noticed Gaby swimming her heart out in lane 1.

When she jammed the wall, 2 minutes, 14.95 seconds later, only one other woman, Teuscher, had gotten there ahead of her. Improbably, impossibly, Gabrielle was a U.S. Olympian.

In Sydney, Gabrielle improved her time, made the final, and finished seventh. That should have been the end of the story-you know, time to hang up her suit, find a job in the "real world," and get on with life. But Gabrielle was not through with swimming. She thought she had faster times within her. This particular Rose, she felt, was just starting to blossom. So she committed to another year under Salo

That decision paid off big time, when Gaby earned female high-- point honors at the 2001 USA Swimming Long Course Nationals last summer. She won the 100 free and 200 IM with lifetime bests of 55.41 and 2:13.78, and finished third in the 200 free (2:00.81) and fourth in the 100 breast (1:10.04). She also led her Nova team to a first-place finish in the 400 medley relay and a second in the 400 free relay. Now 24, she is convinced her best performances lie before her.

Here, Gabrielle describes the turn she uses in the transition from backstroke to breaststroke in the individual medley. Bobby Patten, head coach of the Dallas Area Masters, offers some instructive comments from a Masters perspective.

Gabrielle Rose: In my preparation for Olympic Trials in 2000, 1 focused almost entirely on my freestyle in hopes of making a relay spot. As it turned out, I made the team in an individual event, the 200 IM, and not on a relay at all.

Improving the technical aspects of any stroke other than freestyle had not been a priority for me prior to Trials. But when I made the team heading for Sydney, I realized my individual medley had some definite weaknesses that I had not addressed in my training. Among the most glaringly significant of these weaknesses was my standard open back-to-- breast turn.

While I did not feel comfortable adopting a new turn in the brief period between Trials and the Olympics, I came back in 2001 determined to learn a faster turn and make it a new skill and subsequent strength for my IM. With help from my coach, Dave Salo of Irvine Novaquatics, and a lot of practice and patience, the turn came more easily than I expected, and I now feel it gives me a significant advantage.

The advantage of this turn over a plant-and-pivot turn or open turn is that, much like a freestyle or backstroke turn, it uses a quick rotation to get you on and off the wall and keeps your momentum going into the next length. Bringing your legs out of the water and over your body to make the rotation cuts down on drag in the water, and, therefore, it cuts down on the time it takes to transition into and out of the wall from back to breast.

At first, I was somewhat hesitant to adopt this turn because the rotation does put a bit more strain on your lungs, as opposed to a regular open turn. However, by incorporating it into my training for the 200 IM, I became comfortable with the change and confident that the advantage it gave me far outweighed my concern over decreased air intake.

Coach Bobby Patten: Gaby chooses the roll-type backstroke turn because for her, it is the fastest, most effective way to change from backstroke to breaststroke. The roll turn demonstrated by Gaby is significantly faster than the commonly seen open turn. With the rollover turn, the swimmer avoids the tendency to grab the wall and hold on. It is, quite simply, the quickest way to get from the back to the breast.

One of the few areas in swimming where you have to worry about the subjective call of a human judge is if you use a roll turn in the back-to-breast transition of an IM. Just ask Kristine Quance (who was disqualified at the 1996 Olympic Trials). The rule states: "The swimmer must touch the wall while on the back. Once a legal touch has been made a swimmer may turn in any manner, but the shoulders must be at or past the vertical toward the breast when the swimmer leaves the wall, and the prescribed breaststroke form must be attained prior to the first arm stroke."

Keeping the rule in mind, a fast turn, when done properly, is a modified backstroke roll turn. This turn is what used to be taught as the crossover or roll turn for backstroke. Once upon a time, swimmers actually had to stay on their backs for an entire backstroke race. Then, when they reached the end of the pool, they were required to touch the wall with their hand before they turned.

I mention this because many Masters swimmers swam when the rules were different. In those days, the fastest backstroke turn was a roll turn. When doing this turn, the swimmer would roll to his side, keeping his shoulders just shy of the vertical. At the same time, he would reach for the wall with his extended arm touching the wall before his shoulders moved past vertical. Once the wall had been touched, the swimmer rolled, flipped and completed the turn by pushing off on his side with his shoulders vertical or past vertical toward the back.

One of the best at the rollover turn was Stanford's American record holder, Dave Bottom. The rule change made the roll turn obsolete for backstroke, but a modified version of the same turn is used for the back-to-breast transition.

The turn Gaby demonstrates is a rollover turn for switching from back to breast. While doing this turn, the swimmer must not let the shoulders go past vertical as she reaches for the wall. The swimmer must also be sure when leaving the wall that her shoulders are vertical or past vertical toward the breast. If this does not occur, the swimmer can be disqualified.

(One note: although Gabrielle is quite comfortable with this turn, it may not be the best choice for some Masters swimmers. Many Masters are more comfortable executing a somersault, Naber or even an open back-to-breast turn. The Naber turn has several advantages for the Masters IMer, the most obvious being the chance to get an extra breath. It is also fast.)

Gabrielle: As I swim backstroke into the wall, I'm counting my strokes under the flags and varying the tempo to be able to touch with my dominant hand, my right.

Coach Patten: Gabrielle is swimming backstroke into the wall, holding a good head position and most likely counting her strokes to the wall so she knows when to begin her roll and reach for the wall to begin her turn. It is important not to start the roll too soon.


Gabrielle: As I'm reaching for the wall, I'm rolling to my side. In order to stay legal, make sure to keep the upper part of your arm behind your head.

Coach Patten: Gaby is beginning her roll and extending her right arm toward the wall. Once her hand has touched the wall, her shoulders will move past the vertical as she begins the flip portion of the turn.


Gabrielle: Your hand must touch the wall at some point, but I try to let it feel more like I'm skimming it along the wall as I rotate. When I first tried this turn, I kept feeling scrunched at the wall, as if there weren't enough room for me to do the turn. Again, play with letting your hand just skim the wall for the touch as opposed to the normal plant and pivot or open back-to-breast turn hand touch.

Coach Patten: Gabrielle does an excellent job of bringing her body around quickly; it appears she focuses on bringing her chin to her knees. Notice how she presses with the left arm to add speed bringing her legs over toward the wall.

Gabrielle: As I begin to bring my legs over my body, I'm thinking about landing them on the wall so that as I push off, I will be facing opposite the direction toward which I came in and rolled. As I rotate over into my turn, I bring my legs into a tuck and whip them around to land them on the wall so my body is positioned opposite the direction from which I approached the wall.

The tricky part is in this rotation and twist. Though in some ways it feels similar to a freestyle flip turn, the feeling is one of going from facing one side as you approach to facing the other as you push off, rather than going from facing the bottom of the pool to your push-off position for freestyle. To get the movement down, I suggest repeated turns in the middle of the pool without worrying about the wall and push-off.

Coach Patten: In #4, Gaby brings her legs over the top for added speed-this is an above-the-water view of what is seen in #3. As her legs come over the top of the water, her feet hit on the wall just under the surface of the water (#5). Photo #6 shows an underwater view of the previous photo. Note that her right hand is still touching the wall

Gabrielle: I'm positioned to push off on my side facing opposite of the direction from which I approached the wall.

Coach Patten: Gabrielle's feet have made contact with the wall and her right arm has been brought up to meet her left hand in preparation for her push-off. Gaby will need to rotate her shoulders quickly toward the breast so that when her feet leave the wall, she is in a vertical or past-vertical position.

Gabrielle: I push off on my side and rotate to the middle before I begin my breaststroke pull-down.

Coach Patten: Gaby pushes off the wall in a tight streamlined position. Note she is vertical; therefore, the push-off portion of the turn is legal. In an excellent streamlined position, she is ready to begin the underwater pull of the breaststroke.

Gabrielle: My experiences in preparing for the 2000 Olympic Trials and actually qualifying for the team in an event other than the one for which I had trained, taught me a lot about expecting more from myself.

In my approach to swimming now, I challenge myself with higher goals and expect more from myself on a daily basis to reach those goals. I find it exciting that there's always something to learn and something to improve upon. This allows me to continue to achieve more, even as I follow a path of higher and higher expectations.

As I experienced with learning this turn, the process of challenging yourself and exploring new areas of technique certainly brings with it initial frustration before finesse or a sense of fulfillment is attained. But, finding a way to make a weakness a strength was part of what my journey to Sydney 2000 taught me about never settling for less than my best.

As I prepare for Athens 2004, my belief in never settling for less than my best fuels much of my vision for myself and my possibilities. It also helps me enjoy my many daily opportunities to challenge myself and find new ways to move my vision closer to reality.