HOW CHAMPIONS DO IT

Researched, produced, and prepared by Brent S. Rushall, Ph.D., R.Psy.

KOSUKE KITAJIMA AT 35 m OF HIS GOLD MEDAL 100 m BREASTSTROKE RACE AT THE 2004 ATHENS OLYMPIC GAMES

Each frame is .1 seconds apart. Kosuke Kitajima's time for this 100-m breaststroke event was 1:00.08.

This stroke analysis includes a moving sequence in real time, a moving sequence where each frame is displayed for .5 of a second, and still frames.

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Notable Features

Kosuke Kitajima has two outstanding features in his stroke. When force is produced by the legs or the arms, the unproductive remainder of the body is full streamlined. Considerable localized flexibility is needed to achieve streamline. The second feature is the "discipline" of completing the stroke to maximal streamline before initiating the next stroke cycle. That allows the swimmer to rest briefly while forward momentum is at a maximum. This latter feature results in some energy conservation as well as producing a very effective stroke length.

Another notable feature of this swimmer is the speed of the arm stroke cycle. It is very rapid and spends as little time as possible in unproductive positions. The whole cycle takes less than .8 of a second. It also demonstrates a very direct propulsive phase with remarkable speed in the remaining phases.

Kosuke Kitajima

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