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Sprint
Kings
or
Sprint
Dunce?
Squads throughout the world, no matter what
age, have swimmers who specialise in different strokes and events.
Each squad will have their breastrokers, their medley swimmers, their
distance swimmers and their sprinters.
For many years now, sprinters have been
regarded as the bottom- dwellers of the swimming world, in particular
the 50 meter sprint specialists. Often people within the swimming
community regard these swimmers as a bit of a joke, not giving them
the respect they have duly earned.
It takes a special type of person to be a
sprinter: some people lack the motivation, others the genetics. Some
just can’t overcome the pain. Sprint swimming is without a doubt the
toughest swim in swimming. The swim itself isn’t the toughest –
just ask Grant Hackett or Kieran Perkins - but the training is. Many
are under the conception that sprinters are slack, unmotivated and
unwilling. WRONG!
Let’s take a closer look at Grant
Hackett, 1500-metre world record holder, Olympic champion and, without
a doubt, the best 1500-metre swimmer the world has ever seen.
Hackett’s training regime involves countless hours of continuous
laps, all day every day, the sole purpose being to maintain a time for
as long as he can. His program would be enough to drive a normal
person insane. As most swimmers will know, once you find a pace that
is comfortable, it is easy to keep going, and Hackett trains to find
this pace so he can use it in competition.
Sprinters, on the other hand, train to find
speeds they have never experienced before. Race day is the culmination
of weeks of training and mental preparation – to swim the ultimate
sprint leading to glory. Distance swimmers know they can go faster
than the speeds they’re swimming at, but are not able to maintain it
for 8, 16 or 30 laps. Sprinters face a different pain barrier like no
other. Sprinters must push past and overcome psychological and
physical barriers that confront them in seconds if they are to reach
the next level, if they are to grasp hold of that glory and hold their
heads high in victory.
When a sprinter swims competitively for the
first time they make many mistakes. As they continue to learn and
compete they gradually make fewer mistakes, this continuing for the
rest of their competitive lives. Each sprinter aspires to find that
perfect race, that race that inspires them - that swim that becomes
the model for their entire training career. Many swimmers will never
see this watery nirvana, but for those that have, it is made all the
better by knowing that they have made the sacrifice and met the
challenge to become the best. Are Australia’s Olympic and world
champions, then, simply making fewer mistakes than others, have they
found their ‘perfect race’?
The perfect race can be likened to martial
arts. A wrong move in a bout can lead to a knockout. Every move is a
delicate yet highly important one. In a competitive swim, the
shortening of stroke length or a breath before the flags could cost
gold. Sprinters spend many hours working on these minute details. They
are imprinted on the brains. During a race there is no time to be
thinking what must come next – it must be reaction. Sprinters need
to react quickly, react to the sound of the gun and react to the
competition.
Perhaps this means that sprinters simply
have better reactions than their long distant cousins. Perhaps they
are just more skilled at going flat out. Perhaps it is a combination
of the two, the ‘need for speed’ being deeply encoded within their
genetic helix?
Sprinting
is a great thing and should be embraced worldwide. We should include 4
x 50 metre
freestyle events in competitions at all levels. Not only would this
showcase the best in absolute sprint, but it would be exciting to
watch – four people, dedicated to sprint, willing to put it all on
the line in a controlled dash for glory! Four people, with absolutely
nothing to lose and everything to gain, simply going for it!
The swimming world needs to wake up to the
race that everyone wants to see. Picture it: a sleek, speedy swimmer
fired up before a 50m freestyle race, knowing they have absolutely
nothing to lose, their end in sight and nothing in their way except 21
seconds of full-blown power . . . .
now that’s inspirational!
Sprinters,
as they always have, spend many hours perfecting stroke faults but,
nowadays, look elsewhere too to gain an edge on the competition. Many
now spend hours in the gym as well as combining pilates, boxing,
sprint running and other various strength-based activities with their
training programme. It is not easy. Sprint training is consuming.
To become the best they must train like the best.
But physical strength is only a proportion
of their training, swimmers now seeking any mental advantage they may
find. For many swimmers, the race begins in the warm-up, letting other
swimmers become aware of their presence. Gary Hall, for example, is
often seen as arrogant and self-absorbed for his ‘muscle kissing’
antics. This is his psychological advantage over the competition. By
having all the attention on himself and creating an atmosphere of
intimidation and awe he feels most comfortable - his opposition does
not and this allows him to race at his best.
Many distance swimmers will train two pool
sessions a day and one weight session three times a week. Training
Monday to Friday and once on Saturday morning gives them a total of 14
sessions per week. Sprinters from such institutions as the Western
Sprint Academy have been known to train up to 23 times a week. For
anyone who knows anything about the body’s capabilities, training is
such an intense activity that it repeatedly leaves the athlete in a
highly fatigued state.
Sprinters though are fast becoming the
dinosaurs of the swimming world – soon to be extinct. Swimming
institutions find it hard to finance sprinters because they are not
versatile enough. Do these institutions want all round good swimmers
– or great swimmers who are going to bring crowds, generate interest
in swimming and ensure a steady flow of younger swimmers for the
future?
Think about this.
Of all the swimmers that went to the
Olympics, who swum three or more individual events, two, Ian Thorpe
and Grant Hackett, swum the same stroke, just over varying distances.
Of the squad, many went over for one event, some for just a relay
swim. If we are sending people for one event, would it not be better
to at least provide funding for these people in the years leading up
to the Olympics?
Sprinting in Australia needs a revival. If
we are to remain a superpower in the sport, something needs to be
done.
Sprinting gives you an edge. It can be
taught. It can be learnt. It must be experienced.
By Matt Lenton |
