Swimming World Presents – GoldMinds: Learn How To Be A Racer

Swimming World April 2021 - GoldMinds - How To Become A Racer - Wayne Goldsmith

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GoldMinds: Learn How To Be A Racer

By Wayne Goldsmith

It’s important to learn how to swim your event in such a way that you can perform to your potential in every possible racing situation, including different strategies for heats, semifinals and finals.

“There are two kinds of swimmers: PACERS AND RACERS.
PACERS can swim their event one way—usually all-out maximum speed.
RACERS learn how to swim their event in multiple ways and develop the racing skills to match and excel in every racing situation they face.”—Alexander Popov (4x Olympic gold medalist, 6x world champion and multiple world record holder)

Which swimming event are you preparing for? 50 free? 100

If you’re racing your event at a meet where you have to swim it only once, then you prepare to swim the event—i.e., the stroke and the distance—as fast as you can.

However, if you’re preparing to swim at a meet with a “multi-round” format—i.e., heats, semifinals and finals—you need to learn how to race the same event…THREE DIFFERENT WAYS.

Multi-round swimming is about knowing how to swim your event—as Popov says at the beginning of this story—like a RACER.

SAME EVENT, THREE DIFFERENT RACES
1. Heats = Accurate Pacing
The most important competitive skill to develop for swimming in heats is accurate pacing. As a general rule, the accuracy level of pacing skills should be mastered according to the following Pacing Skill Guidelines:

Young age group swimmers (10-12 years of age) should be able to pace their heat swims with an accuracy of plus-or-minus 1.0 second. This means if their target time is 35 seconds, they need to be able to swim between 34 and 36 seconds.

More experienced age group swimmers (13-15 years) should be able to pace their heat swims with an accuracy of plus-or-minus 0.5 seconds. This means if their target time is 35 seconds, they need to be able to swim between 34.5 and 35.5 seconds.

Older swimmers (16 years and over) should be able to pace their heat swims with an accuracy of plus-or-minus 0.1 seconds. This means if their target time is 35 seconds, they need to be able to swim between 34.9 and 35.1 seconds.

Accurate pacing is a critically important competitive swimming skill. Too many swimmers make the mistake of swimming too fast in their heat swim, leading to unnecessary fatigue and subsequent disappointments in their semifinals…OR…swimming too slowly, resulting in missing out on making the semifinal round.

To learn more about becoming a RACER through semifinals and finals,
Check out the full issue of Swimming World’s April 2021 issue, click here to download now!

[PHOTO CREDIT: MINE KASAPOGLU/ISL]

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Swimming World April 2021 Issue

FEATURES

012 A PANDEMIC PERSPECTIVE FROM MASTERS SWIMMING
by Dan D’Addona
Masters swimmers maintain a connection to the sport they love as well as to their team and community. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that connection has been missing the past year, but they are ready to face the challenges that lie ahead.

017 DEATH, TAXES…AND INDIAN RIVER!
by Andy Ross
Indian River State College will be shooting for its 47th straight men’s and 39th consecutive women’s NJCAA team titles.

018 TAKEOFF TO TOKYO: SPRINT TSAR
by John Lohn
As Swimming World continues its “Takeoff to Tokyo” series, the opportunity to examine the career of Russia’s Alexander Popov—accomplishments and approach—is the chance to pay tribute to a man who might be the greatest sprinter the sport has ever seen.

021 COUNT ON CHINA
by Dan D’Addona
Based on the results of the last eight Olympics—and the most recent World Championships held two years ago—China would be a good bet to once again dominate the diving competition, July 23-Aug. 8, at the 2021 Games in Tokyo.

022 EVER THE COMPETITOR
by David Rieder
Five years after her public introduction to the world at the Rio Olympics, little has changed about Lilly King. She will still speak her mind, tell you how she really feels, and she’s still a winner, a dominant force in sprint breaststroke.

025 THE GREATEST OF THEIR GENERATION
by Bruce Wigo
The General Slocum steamship disaster in 1904, the tragedy that changed swimming history, had an impact on two of the greatest swimming heroes of all time, Johnny Weissmuller and Charles Robert Drew.

028 NUTRITION: FUELING FOR COMPETITION—THE “CHERRY ON TOP!”
by Dawn Weatherwax
Athletes spend hours upon hours training. It is now time to put the sports nutrition piece all together when it matters most. A big part of the plan is to know what, when and how much to eat and drink before, during and after the event.

COACHING

014 FAST AND FURIOUS
by Michael J. Stott
College coaches Braden Holloway (NC State), Todd DeSorbo (Virginia), Matt Kredich (Tennessee) and Jessen Book (Kenyon) share their ideas on how they help their swimmers maximize turn speed.

038 SWIMMING TECHNIQUE CONCEPTS: APPLYING MECHANICAL PRINCIPLES TO IMPROVE SWIMMING TECHNIQUE
by Rod Havriluk
Many swimmers attempt to swim faster by modeling the technique of the fastest swimmers. Using champions as models is an archaic approach of painstakingly slow, trial-and-error that risks adopting technique limitations. A far superior approach is to apply mechanical principles that eliminate uncertainty and accelerate the skill-learning process.

043 Q&A WITH COACH MEGAN OESTING
by Michael J. Stott

044 HOW THEY TRAIN DIGGORY DILLINGHAM
by Michael J. Stott

TRAINING

037 DRYSIDE TRAINING: PUSHING POWER
by J.R. Rosania

JUNIOR SWIMMER

040 GOLDMINDS: LEARN HOW TO BE A RACER
by Wayne Goldsmith
It’s important to learn how to swim your event in such a way that you can perform to your potential in every possible racing situation, including different strategies for heats, semifinals and finals.

047 UP & COMERS: DANIEL DIEHL
by Shoshanna Rutemiller

COLUMNS & SPECIAL SECTIONS

008 A VOICE FOR THE SPORT

011 DID YOU KNOW: ABOUT THE STORY OF THE AUMAKUA?

030 2021 SWIM CAMP DIRECTORY

046 DADS ON DECK: BRENT BILQUIST

048 GUTTERTALK

049 PARTING SHOT

Swimming World is now partnered with the International Swimming Hall of Fame. To find out more, visit us at ishof.org

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