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

In our first session with Max, Coach Gary identified the problems with each of his 4 strokes for the Individual Medley. In freestyle and backstroke his lack of rotation and stroke rate is causing the biggest weakness in his Individual Medley.  Once Max is warmed up with a kicking set, we begin right away with a test set of underwater freestyle.   This set is a great way demonstrate how powerful this ‘coupling motion’ in freestyle and backstroke is.  Find out how Max improves on this classic test set. 

Sculling swim drills can be a great way to improve your swim technique. In our introduction to Max Seidel coach Gary identified the problems to work on for their private sessions. When working in a private session we like to have the swimmer show us some of their favorite swim drills. This not only helps us learn new drills but we often modify or alter the drill to work towards our goals. Like many world class swimmers and coaches, Max’s favorites were sculling drills. These drills are great for any age/level of swimmer. They allow the swimmer to slow down and feel the water. Through practice these drills will make you a much faster swimmer.

Max Seidel is taking a year off from school at Princeton to train with renowned coach David Marsh at Team Elite in San Diego.  Max is competing for Switzerland and is focused on the 200 Individual Medley , hoping to qualify for the Olympic Team in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.    After watching Max train and seeing some of his race videos, Coach Gary put together a series of swim drills for each stroke that emphasize the technique we want Max to use.  Follow along our Individual Medley series with Max as we explore swim drills for each stroke that will help Max achieve his goals!

In our first video we introduce Max and analyze his strokes before our session began.  Coach Gary identifies the ‘problems’ he sees in his technique and prioritizes those for the upcoming sessions.

There are many facets to a great swimming start. One of the most important being the hip lift just before entry. Timing the ‘hip lift’ is quite nuanced and can make the difference between a poor, or great start. We have found running dives to be the best and fastest way to learn the hip lift. We worked with 5 different athletes that each made common mistakes in the running dive. This allows the athlete to understand what they need to work on in order to improve their swimming start. We are fortunate to practice at a pool that allows us to perform running dives safely so please follow your pool rules and practice safely.

We often see swimmers who are pretty fast freestyle kickers, but when it comes to using that kick when they’re swimming, it disappears almost entirely. This week’s main set is dedicated to not only developing your freestyle kick but also learning how to use that kick when swimming.

Mental Training: Visualization

As swimmers approach the end of their summer season and prepare for championship meets, it is important to recognize how valuable the exercise of visualization becomes.

Mental Training: Visualization

As swimmers approach the end of their summer season and prepare for championship meets, it is important to recognize how valuable the exercise of visualization becomes.

This week’s main set
A freestyle technique we really stress is the elevation of the hand at the end of the recovery. The
idea is to get the tricep to hit the water, then the forearm and finally the hand.