Lionel Sanders Swim Technique | My Take On It

[@darthjohn0]

I knew this video would get made! I thought about Effortless Swimming while watching the race.

[@rustyheyman214]

What stood out to me was his turnover was a lot less than the other swimmers. Maybe related to the flat wide recovery. Great analysis as always.

[@masonv45]

I agree. I changed my recovery to more "higher elbow" and found my turnover rate could increase with less effort

[@emmanuelnocete135]

Hi, I'm not quite good with these swim terms, and I'd like to ask what does "turnover" mean?

[@Sparto91]

Stroke rate

[@emmanuelnocete135]

@@Sparto91 Ah I see, thank you!

[@dean5565]

on the plus side, shows how superior his strength and cardiovascular indurance is with some of those inefficiencies. Like, 2:30/200 is still pretty impressive! The "snaking through the water" was what was most apparent to me, directing the forces front to back instead of side to side. Great analysis as usual!

[@RunForPeace-hk1cu]

Not really. I could swim 2:20 at age 12 @95lbs. Let’s not kid ourselves, he’s a terrible swimmer with world class cardio.

[@bretzky9261]

Chase McQueen's swimming was poetry in motion.

[@utuber221]

That's the first thing i noticed. Effortless fluidity

[@geonwilliams]

Love your analysis Brenton, keep it up.

[@EffortlessSwimming]

thanks George, hope you're well

[@ryananna1256]

I’m a big Sanders fan. I watched this event live and had all the same thoughts you did. The first obvious thing is the back of his head never is submerged at any point in his stroke. All the other triathletes have their heads submerged briefly at some point during their stroke. Left recovery arm…agree. Great video. Great analysis. Come on LIONEL!

[@Ray-e7b]

Thank you very much. Been waiting for this review

[@unknowuserable]

I’d use his technique if I’d drop my 100m to 1:15😅

[@scottgibson474]

I’ll be very happy when I can do a 2:30 200m haha

[@EmGee49]

Thank you for another great review. As you said, lots of great tips and it's all easier said than done. If I get to a point with not enough air, I feel stressed and my head does the same thing and all other bad habits follow along.

[@MarrafaCycling]

Great analyse! Thanks! Honestly I think Lionel is not very flexible and it seems to me that it will be difficult to apply all the details you mentioned to improve his technique.

[@ironmantooltime]

Amazing with this technique he can still do a 1:15 😳

[@a.s.6616]

Yeees, it looks so brutal and unproductive, it's really impressive he's so fast

[@larrylem3582]

@@a.s.6616 His running form is the same way. It looks so awkward but he's so fast!!! I am inspired by the speed of his shuffle.

[@RunForPeace-hk1cu]

It’s nice when you have world class cardio. As the saying goes, you can’t sharpen a plastic knife. If you don’t have world class VO2Max, you’ll never be a world class endurance athlete. If only Lionel started swimming earlier in life and not be so stiff.

[@ReVoltaire]

Have you seen Nicola Spirig swim? She could maintain lead pack contact at the Super League sprint distances just by windmilling her arms at an incredibly, sustainable stroke rate. The "career swimmers" next to her are talking half as many strokes and look massively more efficient. But she's often right on their heals exiting the 💧

[@robertanderson1878]

Outstanding swim analysis. Thanks.

[@Rambleon444]

My 2 cents, he is way out of balance. His right arm is very high causing his left arm to go straight down, if he put more of a proper bend in his left arm to catch more water he would be crossing over his midline causing a wiggle. His high right side is also causing his left side to have a low elbow recovery. Fortunately, this is an easy fix. Lionel needs to practice swimming a lot on his weak side. Bilateral breathing during open-water training swims would help immensely. I agree with your analysis especially about the head being too high, I find this is so common with triathletes because in open water we are looking for the buoy. I had to train myself to look down and think like I am swimming downhill to finally level myself out. Thank you,

[@nikolaistepanov2827]

Great and insightful analysis as always! Thanks for sharing this video with us! I loved the way you mentioned that a swimmer needs a structure to improve! Spot on!

[@barracodamole1]

Great commentary Brenton! and Hi from Brazil!

[@chunyuenlau56]

For someone who didn't swim as a kid, 1:15s per 100m is very good. Plus his stroke rate is around 80 per minute. That's world class stroke rate. My goal is to be able to swim 1:15s in 100m, then I will move onto mastering backstroke and eventually butterfly

[@sjdj3000]

Shocking after the 1,000s of hours he swims he’s still struggling with some of this. He needs the 5 day stroke challenge 😊

[@Emiljon]

Clearly a collaboration video is in order. Talbot, are you out there?

[@larrylem3582]

Do you have an analysis of Lionel's endurance race-pace swimming from a year or two ago to today (since he's been working on swimming form lately)?

[@robohippy]

Well, he does swim gallop style, and I would think that contributes to him lifting his head for his breathing stroke, but he does look too far forward. The side swing with his left arm appears to cross over a bit, perhaps because he is swinging wide rather than keeping it more narrow. Wouldn't want to swim circles in the lap lanes with him....

[@inz_uzi]

I wish I could swim as "bad" as Lionel. 😀

[@rogger55]

me too

[@MegaMarkoni]

Me too

[@jameseaves71]

Me too 😂

[@Rambleon444]

Noy if you were making a living from it. : D

[@rogger55]

@@Rambleon444 thats why we all want it, because we're not... swimming as "bad" as him would mean a lot to us

[@Jumenet]

totally out of topic question here... what tool do you use to drow on video?

[@annabrisley479]

Hi from South Africa 🇿🇦 it's Ironman in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) this weekend. Fantastic atmosphere!! Are you maybe going to cover it please

[@Fernando-dt8je]

Lionel is a beast. I know it's "effortless swimming" here hahaha But check him on the bike. I wonder what his results would have been in his career if he had been able to develop proper swimming technique earlier. (He's currently working on this, by the way)

[@ironmantooltime]

He's been working on his swim technique for the past 5 years 🤣

[@rogger55]

@@ironmantooltime probably not easy for him as he's clearly struggling to get the swim right... he's a beast though

[@RunForPeace-hk1cu]

@@rogger55beast triathlete but a terrible swimmer. Even children can swim 2:30 200m

[@dean5565]

@@RunForPeace-hk1cu a 12 year old who swims a 2:30 would be world class. Relax a little bit. 2:30 is still a respectable time.

[@RunForPeace-hk1cu]

@@dean5565 2:30 doesn’t even net you a AA standard time for 11-12 Boys Just facts bruh

[@jmod6039]

Superb analysis - thanks!!

[@frankeeeej]

I know he's not a 'pool' swimmer, but flip turns also have a lot of room for improvement and that's, like, free speed if he learns to streamline better and turn a bit snappier

[@Fernando-dt8je]

Lionel, actually, knows he's not a "good" swimmer. Regardless if open water or swimming pool.

[@frankeeeej]

@@Fernando-dt8je Haha, I know he knows, I'm a subscriber of his as well ;) I'm just saying flipturns are a kind of swimmer-skill that you might not find important if you're a long distance/openwater triathlete, but they become pretty important if you're swimming a 200. Even in a 50m pool.

[@RunForPeace-hk1cu]

@@RickMartinKZbinhe’s got way more problems when flip turns 😂

[@pedroresende4216]

It's simply amazing how fast Lionel swims with a relatively bad technique. Congrats to him!! 👏 👏 👏

[@SandyWhisker]

Great video and obviously made with honest goodwill. It would be great to understand more what specifically can be done to modify the head position, low hips and high feet issue you describe at first. The arm action description and solution were quite clear.

[@leeroyjeankins7781]

He might need to focus on looking more downward and pushing his head down a bit.

[@ironmantooltime]

Drills. The specific training plan including drills is the part he doesn't give out for free 😉

[@SandyWhisker]

@@ironmantooltime That makes sense, cheers

[@ironmantooltime]

@@SandyWhisker it would be great if lionel picked this up and tried those drills over the next 6 months 😎 I'm a terrible swimmer and I always figured drills from a coach would be the only way to improve buy I've never been that bothered. Solid all day 2 minute 100s 🤣

[@kumite1984]

It would be a great swim coaches talk session here on the channel if you had a quick videocall talk with Lionel's coach (who had btw made his swim a lot better - which I know you know :) ).

[@yakie46]

Wonder if Chuck Norris has some swim coaching openings? That would set Lionel proper!

[@33Jenesis]

His hips stayed put, not rotating with torso. I think if he’d rotate his torso and hips, he may shave some time. It is interesting to see the difference between open water and pool swimming.

[@stuartlichty4250]

Agreed. If he can free up his hip rotation, it would allow him to get a longer reach/stroke, longer glide. Also, if he can increase his hip/overall rotation, he would likely keep his feet kicking water and not air, as pointed out, he is kicking air in the downbeat, cavitating the water and losing propulsive force.

[@33Jenesis]

@@stuartlichty4250 swimming is technical i believe. Not being technical causes slower time, fatigue, and some cases injury. I think triathlon should be quartathlon by adding (driving range) golfing, another technical pursuit LOL

[@stuartlichty4250]

@@33Jenesis I get the humor ….. but, since this video is about technical analysis of Lionel Sanders’ freestyle stroke, just trying to provide some useful commentary. Obviously he has a big engine but it appears that he isn’t making the best use of it. He could gain a lot of efficiency, go faster and save energy by being aware of the things he needs to improve. This way, he would be able to self-diagnose any deficiencies and fix these on the fly.

[@lord1999ful]

I agree with Lionel in his interview! You can do exactly movement be in the same form and posture and you still not going to move as the same speed as someone with background in swimming!!!!

[@stuartlichty4250]

I hear this a lot…. I think it has more to do with competitive swimmers putting in the time, yardage, drills, exposure to coaching etc so that these athletes are just more relaxed in the water, not fighting it but flowing with it.

[@RunForPeace-hk1cu]

@@stuartlichty4250 catching the water is what all coaching drill into swimmers Find slow moving water and pull it. Not catch fast moving water

[@BrandonTmusic]

Could also be a little bit of left shoulder mobility issues. Maybe it's too tight for him to bring more over the top. So many factors, great video.

[@swilliams8251]

5:52 is my own take away from this. I aways enjoy your analysis videos 👌👍

[@darringrey4329]

Breathing late looks like he's exhaling and taking in a breath , he's using his left arm to push down to get his head out to breath, kicking from the knees will drop the hips,fast though at 1.15 wait a sec is it yards or meters?????

[@a.s.6616]

I think he lost some seconds on flip turns - he wasn't doing any dolphin kicks after and come out of the water to quickly to stroke. You don't need it in traditional triathlon in open water but it saves time in pool.

[@Rambleon444]

Dolphin kicks kill your energy, works great for sprinting endurance races not as much.

[@johnfisher2468]

I’m curious to know what his own coach is doing to rectify these issues.

[@darthjohn0]

For most of his career and currently, Lionel is his own coach.

[@keithtse6834]

@@darthjohn0 he has been swimming with the Aqua Bears in Arizona for the past 2-3 seasons and he is currently doing a bigger swim focus with the coach there. You'd think the coach would have pointed out the technique flaws and he's actively trying to make changes. But as Brendan said, sometimes it's hard to change long standing habits.

[@andrewmetcalfe9898]

Aqua bears in Arizona. I think the focus is on ‘feel’ for the water, not so much the pure technical issues identifed here. Let’s face it: there are a heck of a lot of world clkass swimmers with what looks to be terrible technique (Janet Evans springs to mind), but from hand entry to exit they just have a good feel for the water: keeping ‘just enough’ pressure on the hand, forearm and elbow as the arm accelerates from catch through to push/exit to actually be deceptively efficient where it counts: that seems to be Lionel’s coach’s philosophy - going off Lionel’s KZbin videos anyways.

[@leslie7922]

Yeah I reckon he should dump the aqua bears and get a proper swim form coach

[@andrewmetcalfe9898]

@@leslie7922 I don’t agree: I actually think ‘feel for the water’ is the most important thing, especially for Lionel. The high head position and straight arm recovery issue isnt actually that important for open water swimming, especially if a wetsuit swim and/or salt water is involved. However, I reckon a few months training with a surf swim group (so Tower 26 in LA springs to mind) would be beneficial: there is something like a 20% gain to be had just by being able to read the water conditions and being able to find the fast feet in open water swimming: I’ve seen a heap of blokes who swim slower than Lionel being able to stick like glue to the feet of swimmers who are near olympic standard in the surf. In the meantime, I like the Aquabear school. I think he’s already showing really good improvement in the past 18 months & I think he’ll effectively ‘get there’ over the course of this year. Edited to add: four years ago - aged 49 and only swimming 7km a week (with my pool 1km swim around 15.15 - so pretty slow) I was able to swim 28 minutes for 2km with the lead group in local long course triathlons in australia that involved an ocean swim. So Lionel being able to swim 24 minutes for a 70.3 or 48 in Kona is possible IMO just by honing his surf swimming race craft.

[@triBenjamin]

been waiting for this 😀

[@samn8309]

Not sure how far a 'late in life' swimmer can progress but his head position, wide recovery, and loping style (not always bad) could be improved.

[@leslie7922]

I suck at swimming but the first thing my wife said was "why is his arms going out so wide?" to which I replied idk but he does do shoulder mobility on his KZbin

[@cristiansan]

thanks for the review. I thought 1.15 was still a good race speed :o

[@emild560]

I wish, i could do 1:15 with his all bad body position 😀

[@julienarrijs]

It'd be great if you guys were getting together for a few sessions in the water. That would be some very interesting content!

[@Gardener7]

Lionel needs to see this video and perhaps get an elite swimming coach. Also a running technique coach might help.

[@rene78]

4:19 That almost hit the camera...

[@aidanoc19]

What I don't get is he's one of the world's best paid triathletes, yet he doesn't seem to have a swim coach as good as you on speed dial. Compare him to Richard Murray, you can see how over the years with Joel Filliol he became technically more proficient and keep the dolphins within striking distance for the bike/run. Maybe Lionel reckons with he's got enough road after the swims in his preferred events, he doesn't need to worry.

[@waynemacdougall8667]

Send it to lionel

[@juanjosebotta3637]

Hello. He does not feel water and rotate from core. He pull from arms and hand with no conection with all the body. He splash in water with extend arms. Should enter hand near his face and extend arm in the water going forward. And breath will rotating no like a neck movement. Very asimétrico move y and rigid. Work feel and flow. Slow swing technique and then compete from there . Relax cordinatated movement with technique. Ni force movements of technique in water. Flow

[@jbean8493]

hes so stiff. his shoulder mobility is complete mess

[@Fernando-dt8je]

That's what happens when you're a runner....go cyclist...and later starts swimming. Especially if you're already an adult. I had the same issue. He knows that and is working to improve his swimming.

[@myPPPLab]

Train the lungs to need less oxygen - not breath every stroke - more efficient with less breathing/body rotations/...long phase of body streamlining

[@larsborghardt]

Please please please go offer to work with @Lionel.Sanders !!! If you can get him in the top 25% he becomes a contender. He needs you :-)