When Matt swims smooth freestyle, it’s as if he’s sprinting in slow motion.  The timing of his stroke varies only slightly.  While the arm reaches full extension, he doesn’t keep it out front, he doesn’t ride out the extension, but drops his arm into the catch nearly immediately.

He pushes his entire arm deep and straight into the catch and keeps the elbow in a position that keeps the arm solid for as far into the pull as possible.

Matt has a purpose driven stroke… the purpose is to reach the highest speed possible, and even when he’s swimming slowly, he focuses on all the aspects that he’ll need to know when he needs to react, to attack and race.  There will be no room for thought when the race is over in 18 seconds.  The habits and skill that it takes to move that quickly through the water are learned in all the small actions when most swimmers stop thinking.

Matt keeps his head position, body rotation, kick consistency, all as close as possible to what he’ll need when he asks his body to perform.

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Matt Targett - Smooth Freestyle