Recently I read an on-line article called LONGER BOATS ARE FASTER, by Terry Laughlin, a swimming coach. Laughlin talked about a naval architect who tested various vessel shapes to find out the one that would go the fastest. The architect discovered the fastest boat was longer aat the waterline.
Laughlin went on to discuss how this applied to swimmers. Swimmers should not try to increase muscle size. That does not produce speed. swimmers need to keep their bodies as long as possible in the water.
I am planning to use his suggestions for improving my own swimming strokes.
Compettive swimmers spend much of their time doing drills specific to freestyle, backstroke, etc. Fitness swimmers can do the same.
And I am extending my reach into my writing by thinking outside the box. This means writing for children, writing magazine articles for adults, and providing good content for this blog.
Very interesting concepts. Can you give a little more detail about how one keeps one's body "long" when swimming? I like your connections drawn between swimming and writing. Will you write nonfiction for middle school kids that has to do with the challenges and excitement of both spring swimming and long distances?
ReplyDeleteHi Teri,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. I fixed the link to the original article so you can see Laughlin's
suggestions for lengthening the stroke.
My current middle grade project is about water (the streams of Trinidad) but not about swimming. I hope to do a variety of projects.
This is a very interesting piece. I guess there is hope for me in becoming a good swimmer. Thanks.
ReplyDelete