Gary W. Hall M.D. OLY - Fundamentals of Fast Swimming

Copyright July 10, 2020 by The Race Club, Inc.

Registration Number TXu 2-209-205

All Rights Reserved.

ISBN 978-1-7354414-1-2

Dedicated to my coach and mentor, James Doc Counsilman, who

inspired and taught many people about the sport of swimming.

And to my wife, Mary, and my son, Richard, who have devoted

so much time, talent and effort to The Race Club.

Doc with his sidekick, Hobie Billingsley, former head diving coach at Indiana University

Acknowledgments

Many great people have contributed to my knowledge of swimming along my long career in the sport. Starting from my beginning as a competitive swimmer at the age of seven, Id like to thank all of the coaches I have been honored to work with and that shaped my path. Some of these coaches also shaped my childrens path in the sport of swimming. The following list reads like a Hall of Fame of swimming coaches: Rick Rowland Sr, Lee Arth, Jon Urbanchek, Flip Darr, Don Gambril, Peter Daland, George Haines, Doc Counsilman, Charlie Hickcox, Pierre LaFontaine and Mike Bottom.

Id like to thank my son, Gary Jr, who co-founded The Race Club, for providing me with an opportunity to start a second career as a swimming technique coach. Not everyone has a chance to do that, but I did. I am grateful. Coaching swimmers has breathed new life into my older body.

Special thanks to Nunzio Lanotte, who developed the technology that helped further our understanding of swimming technique.

Id like to thank my friends and fellow Masters swimmers, Alan Bernard and Bob Colyer, for editing and correcting my many grammatical and organizational errors, leading to the final edit of this first version of the book.

I thank my son, Richard, and Eric Brandt, who have the ability to take dry, boring science and turn it into entertaining videos for The Race Club. Their production quality is what makes The Race Club special.

And, of course, I thank my wife Mary, who is the real boss and driving force behind The Race Club. She encouraged me to write this book, which helped keep me from going crazy during a pandemic.

Many of the coaches I mention above are no longer with us, but thank you all for helping to make swimming the best sport in the world.

Gary Sr.

Foreward

Nestled in the coconut-palm landscaped beauty of the Florida Keys and the charming Coronado Island near San Diego are two locations for the most technologically advanced swimming company in the world, The Race Club. Once a training ground for over 50 Olympic swimmers, The Race Club has evolved into a premier teaching institution, using cutting-edge technology. Their expert team of coaches are razor-focused on improving the techniques of swimmers from six years and older, of all ability levels, and from all around the world.

Co-founded in 2003 by 10-time Olympic medalist, Gary Hall Jr, The Race Club has since expanded to two beautiful locations, Islamorada, Florida Keys and Coronado, California. In both locations, swimming technique camps and private or semi-private instruction are offered year-round. In addition, swimmers can subscribe to and receive some of the highest quality videos and articles produced and written in the sport of swimming.

In Fundamentals of Fast Swimming , Race Club Technical Director, Gary Hall Sr. and Head Coach Devin Murphy guide you to a better understanding of the science and nuances of what makes great swimmers so fast. In each chapter, every swimming stroke is broken down into its most important and basic components, explained in great detail with photos, including helpful drills at the end.

After reading Fundamentals of Fast Swimming , you will become more knowledgeable about the sport of swimming. If you are a swimmer, you will become more efficient and faster. If you are a coach or parent, you will develop a much better appreciation for and understanding of swimming technique.

To get all of the links in the book, you must sign in on The Race Club, under any Lane. Lane 1 is free, but you must register first to join.

We hope that Fundamentals of Fast Swimming will increase your passion for the sport of swimming.

Gary Jr. and Gary Sr. at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Introduction

S wimming is a sport that takes place, for the most part, at the interface between water and air. When it comes to making mistakes, water is not very forgiving. Because of that, one could easily consider that swimming is the most technique-sensitive sport in the world. Yet, relative to other sports or businesses, and with our current state of knowledge and technology, the swimming world is a relatively low-tech world. I hope to see that change.

My son, Gary Hall, Jr and his training partner, Anthony Ervin, have each won 2 Olympic gold medals in the 50-meter sprint by a combined total of .02 seconds in three events. The two swimmers tied for one gold medal in 2000 and each won another individual gold medal by .01 seconds in another, Gary in 2004 and Anthony in 2016. One little mistake made by either swimmer in any of those three races and the gold would have turned to silver, bronze or perhaps no medal at all. In a sport that often results in differences between winning or not winning being measured in hundredths of seconds, we would be negligent to think that technique does not matter in the sport of swimming. The old philosophy of working your way to an Olympic gold medal just doesnt float any longer. It takes more. Much more.

Thus, in 2008, when my son, Gary Jr., retired from competition, we transitioned The Race Club from a training environment for elite swimmers into a learning environment for anyone who dared to get better. That year, The Race Club, as a teaching organization, was born.

Having spent 25 years of my life as a physician, and having always done a lot of clinical research, science and technology are at the front of my mind for The Race Club. I am particularly dedicated to teaching based on good data, research and intelligent analysis, not just tradition, history, observation or theory. I was determined to get and utilize more technology in swimming and focus our evidence-based teaching on technique, as opposed to training. That quest began in 2015 when we acquired our first technology, the Velocity Meter, and has continued with our subsequent purchase of the Pressure Meter and finally, the Propulsion/Drag Meter. I am particularly indebted to the developers of all three of these technologies, Nunzio Lanotte (APLab Italy) and Paolo Villanis (BioMovie), as they have helped me understand more about the sport of swimming than through any other methods. More great technology is entering the sport of swimming every year. It is an exciting time. However, having the technology is one thing. Knowing how to use it, interpret it and apply it is another. As far as I am concerned, all of the best technology in the world doesnt matter if it doesnt help swimmers get faster.