Go Swim Freestyle with Kara Lynn Joyce

I think Kara Lynn Joyce is a superb swimmer. She clearly focus on a strong kick (don't know how many pounds is she wearing on that kick set), although she doesn't use a "wide entry" she clearly pulls very wide and the whole timing of her stroke is perfect. Awesome swimmer.

Of course she is pretty fast. What strikes me the most of this clip (can't wait to get her DVD) is the stength with which she swims.

Thanks, Stefano! Kara has a gorgeous stroke, and that beautiful pool just highlighted everything.

Agree - great video. Music sure sounds like a great Canadian band by the name of the Tragically Hip....

Focus point number 2: Sprint breathing

Well I am not a sprinter, nonetheless I really have my doubts if hypoxic training is THAT beneficial. I realize that we are talking of hundreds of a second and obviously it works well for Kara Lynn.
What I have experienced is that I get more fatigued if I hold the breath for that long (35 mts.) and that it doesn't compensate for "less resistance" do to less breathing...so in this one I will take Tom Jagger's advice: breathe more.

Glenn I owe you an upload on my swimming...you'll see. Breathing comes very instinctively and natural to me.

oh glenn, you make me laugh.

Hey guys...back to the DVD, which I find beautiful!!!

Focus point #3: Take advantage of all the angles.

I think that the message is very clear and she is referring to literally take advantage of all the angles in order to hold as much water as possible.
My "problem" with this focus point is that I have changed my stroke mechanics (includes angles) so many times that I think I should work and develop more the one I currently have and with which I feel comfortable (not as wide as hers and the elbow not as high).
Also stroke mechanics go along with the endless discussion on swimming propulsion theories (drag and lift forces, whirlpool propulsion, action/reaction etc.) and I don't want to get into that. She clearly "pushes water back" and it works really well for her.
One thing that she mentions and that I have really experienced in my swimming is when she says that a high elbow allows her to apply more preassure to the water...it really does make a lot of difference...just do the single arm freestyle drill (non stroking arm out in front) at different levels of "elbow height" and you will notice the difference.

Humor is a very important part of swimming. You're right on wiken. Man... if we couldn't keep some levity in this sport... we'd all go crazy looking at that silly line huh? I actually really appreciate that Tomas is posting things in a way that mean something to HIM! This is a major change from years ago, and I do appreciate it.

I love that you're searching and experiencing things so deeply. It really is why we do what we do... not to compare our products or the athletes to others... or to quote what coach A said... but rather... how does this information help YOU in YOUR swimming.

OK... enough seriousness here... did you hear the one about the backstroker who couldn't count? ;)

Focus point # 5: Soft swimming

This really comes very natural to me. I have been an advocate for soft swimming as a prerequisite to FAST swimming. It was Popov's former coach, Mr. Touretski, from whom I first got the idea and soft swimminf as Kara Lynn says, forces you to really concentrate on your swimming and all the stuff going on.
For me the biggest challange from "soft swimming" is getting under control all the little things that FAST swimming is built on...and quite frankly is almost impossible....drills will help you with the most difficult movements.

Well, I have been working on the balance focus point, specifically on balancing the pull with the kick. I don't know if I have this concept all messed up but it seems almost impossible to balance those to...as Karlyn says I put the "umph" on the front and looking at Kara Lynn DVD it seems very much the same...she has an impressive and powerful pull.
So, Kara Lynn, if you are out there maybe you can shed some light on this one...if not maybe someone else out there can help me with this.
Thanks.

I would like to thank you for posting the clip on the Site of Kara swimming front crawl. my daughter is a good standard club swimmer but is primarily a breatstroker. However her frontcrawl stroke is getting quicker. Being able to view Kara in action she was able to see were improvements could be made to her stroke. Last weekend at a sprint meet she took 2.5s off her 100m fc time (from 1.08.5 to 1.06 dead)and all this from the video clip. She also took 10s off her 100m fly time. She was within a hand touch of beating one of the county borough elite swimmers in the 100m fc.

To see the confidence now oozing from her when she has returned to training is a joy for any parent. Hopefully before the end off the year she will be in the county elite squad as well.

Many Thanks for the inspirational clip

She is now getting very close to making the

Very amusing sequence of postings - had me in stitches. Tomás was not going to be sidetracked. Every good comedy moment needs a straight-man. Well done Tomás :o)

Alx...I think she uses a soft 6 beat kick even when swimming soft...in fact the whole purpose of swimming soft is to concentrate on all the things that she needs to concentrate and one that she stresses the most is the balance between the kick and the pull...she works a lot on her balance (horizontal, symetry and kick/pull balance).
When she swims soft, she is not catching up. She works a lot on her full extension of the arms on every stroke she takes.

And more happy with her silver medal in the 4x100 medley relay...well done.

When I started doing that high elbow catch I ended up with biceps tendinitis a couple days after. I feel terrible because I had to stop swimming about a month ago because of that and now I have to wait until this pain is over (and it seems it will never be over). I feel terrible because I wanted to do it correctly as Kara does and I hurted myself, now all I can do is to put ice every day. Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for your message, Glenn. I still think the high elbow catch is a very important point to focus on for any swimmer who wants to improve. All good swimmers, Popov, Thorpe, Phelps, you know all these people we love use this technique, so that's why I wanted to do it too. And I got surprised when I realized how faster and smoother I could swim that way! My arms are very thin and I could not find a good doctor specialized in sports to help me with this but do you think maybe this happened to me because I don't have enough strength in my shoulders and I was requesting too much from them? Maybe I should do some slight weightlifting first?