HOW CHAMPIONS DO IT

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

TOM MALCHOW AT 170 m OF HIS MEET-RECORD SETTING 200 m BUTTERFLY RACE AT THE 1999 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS IN SYDNEY

Each frame is .1 seconds apart. Tom Malchow's time for this race was 1:55.41, the #1 ranked swim in 1999 and the second fastest of all time.

Notable Features

Tom Malchow's stroke has three very distinguishing features.

  1. He performs one full and one half-kick. The most obvious reason for the half-kick is its relationship to a very quick recovery. For such a big man, the recovery (frames #8 through #11) is very fast (less than .3 seconds). This means that before recovering, the size of the kick has to be sufficient to counter-balance the exiting arms and to get back to the surface to kick again to counter-balance the entry of the arms. If the "exit-kick" had been larger, it would have taken more time and therefore, hindered or restricted what could be performed.
  2. Tom Malchow has excellent streamlining. For only a short time, probably less than .2 seconds, his hips rise way from streamline (frame #3). That length of time should be compared to that exhibited by other swimmers and in particular, female swimmers. A concentration on streamlining at all stages of the stroke and minimizing shoulder dive, much in the manner displayed by Mary T. Meagher, is worth emulating. One should also contemplate restricting kicking and hip and shoulder movements to preserve streamlining.
  3. Once the swimmer begins to propel, propulsive forces are maintained until the hands exit the water. Many butterflyers "attempt" to do this but often terminate propulsion before exiting. If a swimmer raises the exiting hands vertically while they are still underwater, then propulsion will cease. Tom Malchow continues to push backward while elevating his hands as part of the exit action. This continuation of effective propulsion to the very end of the stroke increases the length of the effective pull. Jenny Thompson and Michael Klim are other swimmers who exploit a full thrusting stroke whereas Denis Silantiev and Frank Esposito do not (the drag-force turbulence disappears off the hands before exiting).

Tom Malchow has the potential to rewrite the 200-m record as this stroke, and in particular, the set-up early in the arm pull, is developed further.

Tom Malchow

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