Are There "Different Schools" of Swim Technique?

If you are new to swimming (or new to learning to swim faster), you may occasionally hear swimmers or swim coaches saying that there are "different schools" of swim technique. Is this true? We don't think so, and we think that comments like this lead swimmers in the wrong direction. It is a misleading statement that is often just a cover for ignorance.

Yes, there is sprint swimming technique and there is distance swimming technique and there are quite significant differences between the two (like, for example, in running where elite marathoners look very different--and for good reason--in the way that they run than do elite 100m sprinters). And also, in the subset of distance swimming, there are also some differences between the swim technique of racers that swim 1500 meters in glass-smooth pools vs those that swim 10 kilometers in the ocean. But all of these differences are not due to "different schools" of swimming. No, they are due to the laws that govern all sport and all movement: the laws of physics.

Because there is only ONE school in fast distance swimming and that is the one that is supported by EVIDENCE. What kind of evidence? Well, if you closely and carefully observe how exactly most athletes swim fast in distance events, patterns become readily apparent. Because easily 95% to 99% of very fast distance swimmers do almost exactly the same thing technique-wise. (Yes, there is a tiny bit of variation, but that is because all people are slightly different, shorter people swim a bit differently from taller people, women swim a bit differently from men because of body morphology, most people have different limb lengths, others have different flexibility, etc.).

So our suggestion is, don't follow "different schools" of swimming, just follow the EVIDENCE. There is a thousand times more information available to swimmers and athletes today than was available only a decade or two ago. You should use it to verify everything that people, swimmers, coaches (or even us) tell you about proper swim technique.

One of the best resources available is the many thousands of swim videos online of elite or national-caliber or world class swimmers, all easily available with just a few clicks. Study them and look closely at what those super fast swimmers are doing to propel themselves quickly and efficiently through the water. If they are doing what your coach instructs that you do, then your coach is probably on the right track. But if most of those fast distance swimmers are not doing what your coach suggests then, in all likelihood, your coach is wrong. Remember, it is not about 'schools of swimming' or blindly following someone's opinion, it is about following the evidence.

However, and this is very important, when you do your research, consider this critical caveat. If you are a triathlete or a distance swimmer, don't study 6'7" (2 meter) tall swimmers who are racing the 50m free. Instead, focus on swimmers similar in height to you that are doing distance freestyle racing, so the 800m, 1000m, 1500m, etc. And, if you are a triathlete, it is also helpful to study videos of ITU triathletes swimming 1500m in open water, those are often excellent as well.

Listen, observe, learn.  And trust, but verify.  Knowledge is power.

Happy swimming,