Working with our old friend Jerry Frentsos, Masters World Record Holder and alternate for the 1988 US Olympic Team in the 400 IM. Jerry has since set 18 World Records over the span of 5 age groups, 25 years.

Jerry has a goal for his 100 IM past the age of 50, so we spent some time together getting him on his path toward sprinting.

The initial videos in this course were all taken at the [**Machine Performance Center**](https://www.machineperformancecenter.com/) in Vienna, VA, and if you're anywhere near that area, you owe it to yourself to go check it out, and polish up on your own swimming.

The ideas we cover in this course are how to change an instinctual elite swimmer, into someone specifically gearing for a sprint event like the 100 IM. We'll try somethings that are standard, and we'll try some things that are just fun.

There are no answers in this, just ideas. We hope you enjoy them.


All- Strokes - Jerry Frentsos

Working with Jerry and some of our history.

Intro - Jerry Frentsos

Jerry's first length of butterfly.  Instinctual stroke.

Butterfly  - Original Length

Jerry's first length of backstroke using his instinctual stroke.

Backstroke - Original Length

Jerry's first length of breaststroke with his instinctual stroke.

Breaststroke - Original Length

Jerry's first length of freestyle using his instinctual stroke.

Freestyle - Original Length

Updates for Jerry's butterfly dealing with his head position.

Working on keeping his head up a bit more to limit the depth of the stroke.

Butterfly Update - Eyes Up

Working with Jerry on letting go of the water sooner on the push back on his butterfly.

By allowing the hands to swipe OUT on the exit, the path of the hand flies into the recovery quicker and easier.

Butterfly Update - Early Release

Jerry does upside-down fingertip drag drill to practice a quicker catch, and a shallower path to the catch.

The goal is to build a stroke that can have a faster turnover.

Backstroke Update - Quicker Catch

Working on a wider catch.

While just a small detail, the faster someone swims, the more water they try to catch, which instinctively can cause the swimmer to search for more water... or crossover.

We want Jerry to catch wider, so he can increase his turnover.

Backstroke Update - Arm Entry

A quick look at the first length, and a length a few minutes later.

This shows that Jerry is thinking, but still has to make the subtle changes become more instinctual.

Backstroke Update - Before vs. After

In this video we'll look at the standard teaching sequence for the breaststroke underwater pull, and how we used it to enhance Jerry's underwater pull.

Breaststroke - Underwater Pull Sequence

If you're having a hard time working out the timing of the underwater pull, to the point you can't stop stopping... well...

It may sound crazy, but sometimes skipping the underwater pull can be a benefit.  There are many factors that will go into your decision, but here are some thoughts.

Breaststroke - NO Underwater Pull

So taking this forward and trying to learn a four or a six-beat kick as well, with this same integration, there's a couple of ways to do it. A four-beat kick is four kicks per arm cycle. So two strokes, or two hand hits. So I listened to it, I like to hear it as music. So it's 121212121212. So another way to do that is with tempo trainers. And I like to use two tempo trainers in order to set this up. And it may drive you crazy. But for some people, this really helps. So set one Tempo Trainer at what the stroke rate would be. And I think and try to get a stroke rate of 120. So one second and 2100s of a second per hand hit. For a four-beat kick, I need to set the second Tempo Trainer at half of what the stroke rate is. So I'm going to set the other Tempo Trainer at 60. Now, if you do this, it's important to set them and then start them both at the same time. So that there is as closely synced up as possible. So here's the stroke rate and the kick rate. So I'm gonna put the stroke rate behind one year. I put the kick right behind the other year. One to One kick, to kick, one kick to kick so I can hear him both. Start the water speed. And I'm just going to say this to myself for Listen, stroke, kick, kick, stroke. So it's all about rhythm. Now.

I will admit that the four-beat kick is the most awkward for me to beat kick is very, very smooth. I like that where I am in my level of swimming. The TV kick is fine. It's comfortable. It's the all-day kick. So that's all I need right now.