The Race Club – Swimming Camps • Coaching • Competitive Training • Advanced Techniques

Maggie MacNeil is the fastest dolphin kicker that we have ever tested. She is the best in 11 of 17 parameters we use to test the dolphin kick. Coach Gary highlights 5 key swim techniques that makes her kick so extraordinary. Kick cycle time, knee bend, range of motion and hip flexion are the parameters that coach Gary reveals in this video.

There are 17 parameters we use to measure the Dolphin Kick. Olympic Gold Medalist Maggie MacNeil has the best results we’ve seen in 11 of those parameters. Coach Gary Hall Sr analyzes Maggie’s velocity meter data with Louisiana State University head coach Rick Bishop and Maggie. Even though Maggie has the fastest dolphin kick in the world Coach Gary finds a few areas to improve on.

Coach Gary Hall analyzes Maggie MacNeil’s swimming starts with LSU head coach Rick Bishop.  We tested Maggie’s start using her normal weight forward technique vs a weight back start.  We believe the true test of a start should be the time to 12 meters however this doesn’t mean the quickest off the block will be the fastest.  With the weight back start you sacrifice a bit of reaction time but if done efficiently can yield much higher velocity speed as the swimmer leaves the block and ultimately faster at 12 meters.  Most elite women use a weight forward start while the elite men typically use a weight back start.  Find out the difference in these two swimming starts with LSU head coach Rick Bishop, Maggie and Coach Gary Hall. 

We recently tested Olympic Gold Medalist Maggie MacNeil’s swimming start using our Velocity Meter technology. Maggie won the Gold Medal in the women’s 100 m butterfly at the Tokyo Olympic Games and most recently at the Commonwealth Games. She is known for coming home faster than any other swimmer in history. Maggie does have a good swimming start, but could use improvement. Like most elite female competitors, she uses a weight forward start. This requires more weight to the front foot and the center of mass to be positioned directly over the hands. The advantage of this start is typically a quicker reaction time off the blocks. We believe that the measure of a good start is not the reaction time, but the swimmer’s time to 12 meters. When done properly, a weight back start often is faster. We tested Maggie’s weight forward vs weight back start in this video.

Mental Training: Attitude is Everything Part I

During COVID, I wrote a couple of books. One is a textbook on swimming technique called Fundamentals of Fast Swimming. The other is a motivational book entitled Winning Life’s Gold Medal. Both are available on our website, www.theraceclub.com. The following is an excerpt from the first chapter of the latter book. I hope you enjoy it.

Mental Training: Attitude is Everything Part I During COVID, I wrote a couple of books. One is a textbook on swimming technique called Fundamentals of Fast Swimming. The other is a motivational book entitled Winning Life’s Gold Medal. Both are available on our website, www.theraceclub.com. The following is an excerpt from the first chapter of…

Dryland: Building a Great Race Club Program for Swimming

Dryland training is one of the five key pillars or disciplines required to become a fast swimmer. Every elite swimmer has a good dryland program. The other key disciplines are swim training, mental training, nutrition and recovery. Whether you are an age-group swimmer, Masters swimmer or triathlete, if you don’t already have a good dryland program, you need one. Even the youngest age group swimmers at ten years of age or younger should have a dryland program.

Dryland: Building a Great Race Club Program for Swimming Dryland training is one of the five key pillars or disciplines required to become a fast swimmer. Every elite swimmer has a good dryland program. The other key disciplines are swim training, mental training, nutrition and recovery. Whether you are an age-group swimmer, Masters swimmer or…