Ian Thorpe Freestyle Technique

[@fayemic]

he has the most aesthetic and artistic movement i think

[@adamding3873]

Elite swimmers often have non-classical techs. Ian's head position is very unique. He keeps the head high, while most other swimmers only raise their head soon enough for the breath and then submerge. Ian can do that because of his powerful kicking. Otherwise his legs would drop and significantly increase drag. It is amazing he could keep such strong kicking for so long distance.

[@almayer1]

something incredible! so smooth, simply beautuful. Ian is the best!

[@stevobannerman8319]

Poetry in motion. Could watch him swim all day.

[@jerrycannon1205]

has a beautiful stroke. one of kind. suit on suit off he the best

[@ViniBsb1973]

Thorpe has an amazing kick and a very high elbow at first time of catch. Thanks for the video.

[@tamsir3175]

When our eyes look forward, mouth is closer to water surface and easier to breathe in.

[@Chillerbill]

It´s very useful my friend. I appreciate this! I found the other vids too short too!

[@chaosbynature]

it's cool that there are so many views of this vid. as a failed swimmer from sydney, one thing to recommend for all free swimmers, reach forward as far as possible and dig the water behind you.

[@bobsmoot8454]

He was truly amazing

[@Varun73693]

The best ever front crawl technique!!

[@jerrycannon3068]

we all have our own style. different folk...different strokes. IAN has his. Phelps has his.

[@patchyd]

really useful thanks.

[@splitkostanjeuma]

I also thought that before but than i filmed myself swim and it apeared as if my head was even higher than his. It feels like that to slower swimmers cause you(and I) don't have the speed to make the body sit as high on the water as he does. when you watch him from above the water his head is perfect. It's just when he's filmed from below the water that his head appears weirdly positioned and this is just cause his body is so high on the water. That's at leist my opinion.

[@catnai2008]

@yuxc I have noticed he looks up and tried doing the same last year. It definitely felt as if I was going faster but then again, it could just be an illusion created by looking straight at the wall :) Thanks for the comment!

[@claudemartin9652]

Tres elegant un style parfait 👏👏❤️

[@mrknowmyself]

Okay, thanks! Now I can swim just like him!

[@MickChickenn]

Its all a balance. The hard part of swimming is balancing arms with legs, air with effort, force with drag, etc, not the actual physical effort (which comes from the balance). Thorpe is just naturally inclined to be sucessful with a bit of an off scale.

[@yuxc]

yeah because kicking takes a lot more energy than pulling. Kicking is really for two purposes, stability and sprint speed, it's not for main propulsion. For long distance swimmers, you don't want to have the strongest kick the whole time. It uses up your oxygen and takes away from your pull, which is where majority of the propulsion comes from. If you're a 50m, 100m, 200m guy of course, you should kick strong. But I'm talking about 400m, 800m, and 1500m. I also said, Thorpe is unusual...

[@marceloibba]

Siempre tiene una mano adelante

[@poolrattie]

no one's stroke is perfect, he does keep his head slightly forward and right hand angled in which will be hard on the shoulders. One can pick and choose....everyone has their own stroke- better to be more relaxed and he certainly is, very comfortable in the water. Sung Yang has a nice stroke....coached by Grant Hackett's coach.

[@MickChickenn]

You have the misconception that strength=speed in the water. Thorpe is strong enough to look up and swim. Phelps and Biedernann could look up in the water if they wanted to, but it is uncomfortable for them. It's just the way Thorpe learned to swim, and he has adjusted to it.

[@MickChickenn]

I don't need to be faster. Ian Thorpe is much faster than his coaches ever were, yet he pays them huge amounts of money to tell him what to do. A movie critic doesn't need to be the worlds best film director to be able to critique a movie. You don't have to be the wisest man in the world to give good advice. You get the point. I can poke holes in Thorpe's stroke if I want. So can anybody. As good as Thorpe is, he isn't perfect.

[@jabba969]

@yuxc Who says anyone with any physicue should be able to perform the best technique? I think having naturally strong leg kicks is something you need for a good technique...

[@mikelinyue]

I tried to swim with eyes looking forward, the Thorpe way, somehow I felt that my strokes got more powerful.I kind of like it, maybe that's why Thorpe chose to swim this way.

[@blakerwalk]

When I look forward, my legs drain all my energy; I generally lose about 5 seconds on 100m (SC) from doing this. Always happens when the pool is packed and gotta keep sighting. Before I decompose into a rant about fast/slow lanes, let me just say that trying to copy pros has actually detracted from my stroke, because they have adapted a distinct style and mastered it, whereas intermediate amateurs may benefit more from improving a more conventional stroke. (+grain of salt, I'm not that good).

[@imaninjaeys]

good vid

[@jabba969]

Indeed, personally my kicks are the weak part of my swimming technique, so in the 50m and 100m I'm not all that fast, but from the 200m onwards I get faster in comparison to swimmers who are too kick-based :) but the thing is, with a natural strong kick you wouldn't have to put more energy into that kick, but still be faster.. man I wish I had a natural strong kick...

[@netfischer]

well aslong as you are able to mantain a perfect position keeping as much of your head out of the water is regarded as a particular good thing. which however isnt something the average swimmer should really care about before fixing other problems.

[@lunecoqui]

Gracias a la posición de la cabeza... el movimiento de los brazos es mas relajado y uno se agota menos...!!!

[@mh2blade]

his technique is way better than phelps

[@marceloibba]

Como siempre hay una mano adelante casi no hay movimiento vertical.

[@fahad77889]

agreat swimmer

[@rondee]

Still, if he kept his head down wouldn't he have less drag?

[@yuxc]

his stroke is often regarded as the best ever. but if you observe closely his eyes looks forward, not down. if any other swimmer swims his style looking forward, they would swim really slow due to hip sinking down. Thorpe is able to compensate for this because he has unusually strong kick. Having a strong kick is not something that everyone should have or could have. But otherwise, Thorpe's timing and rhythm is far superior than any other swimmer. Only thing is that his head sits too high.

[@amylov3lov3]

watch this vid for my p.e assignment

[@knockedhimover]

even a fish would envy him.

[@MickChickenn]

If your stoke is too kick based, you will get killed in mid distance races like the 200 and 400.

[@DrJorgeReynal]

Disagree. He was a powerhouse. He won because he was strong as an ox. Look at the catch on the breathing side. He cuts and gets the hand way too close to the core. Compare that to the other side.

[@netfischer]

But I have to agree, I havt seen many other elite swimmers look forward that much, but then again not anyone is a thorpedo :)

[@ibradoble]

maybe he's good but i dont like his tecnique. He enter in the water too early with arms. With the right one you can see what i mean

[@MH.Speedcrawler]

uh... "having a strong kick is not something everyone SHOULD have"? seriously?

[@JOHNNYWADTON]

Thats why nobody will remember your name

[@scottjones6403]

this guy's head position is not correct...we should keep our eyes down

[@Wombat_rides_again]

umm 5 olympic golds and 11 world championship golds say he is correct

[@freefall159]

With a lower head position his legs would rise up and he would lose balance in his stroke and the effectiveness of his brilliant kick. Head position is very personal, some swimmers may have a good bouyancy on lower body like Thorpe

[@OlympischbriesjeNadaAverage]

courtney regan this is a weekend relaxation session, indeed not correct. Just like I sometimes party in weekends, not representing the gold medals during the correct sessions. It's nice to be a fan of a champ, but don't blindly dive into his ***

[@Wombat_rides_again]

What a freaking relaxation session! are looking at the same video as me?? Im pretty sure it was filmed to demonstrate his style and power. If you want to try and pull apart a proven champions technique more power to ya brother. But personally I don't think you have 1 suggestion that would have improved this mans performance,especially trivial bullshit like is head is a nano meter too high. Give me a break bro.

[@scottjones6403]

chill out man,what's your problem?

[@Amitverma-vi3go]

btw he is gay