| In This Issue |
| Coaching Sessions |
| Schedule your coaching session |
Quick Links
|
| Race Calculator |
| Report Card |
| Bio and Background |
| What is Dobkanize? |
| Testimonials |
| Past Articles |
Advertisement |
I began shaving down for big meets at age 14 because everyone did, no matter if you were follically deficient or Chewbacca. It wouldn’t be just the legs and arms. Chest, back and even armpits were fair game. We even shaved the palms of our hands and the bottoms of our feet! The timing of shaving was critical too. Swimmers would not shave all season long (even the women), just so that come race morning you would feel unexpectedly fast. Most shaved the night before, but others would wait until race morning.
Things have changed in the swimming world in the past 10 years. A 180 pound man fitting into a size 4 g-string isn’t a symbol of manliness anymore. Suits are now meant to cover more of the body, not less. So an enduring question remains. How important is shaving with these new full bodied swim suits? To answer this question, I put together a simple experiment. Wearing a fast-skin, I swam a bunch of sprints one day, shaved down, and re-did the same sprint set the next. If shaving helps, it should register as faster times.
Q: Do you have any advice for open water/ocean swim with only speed suits allowed? My previous IM’s have all been wetsuit legal but I am doing IM Hawaii this fall.
A: In ocean swimming, you do float a little better and so you can expect to maintain more buoyancy compared to swimming in a pool with a regular swimsuit. However, without a wetsuit, you lose a lot more buoyancy that you gained with the salt water. The key to remember with non-wetsuit swimming is that your body position is lower in the water column. This causes the following to occur.
|
Advertisement |
Coach Dobko will pick one of your questions each week and give you some insight into swimming. E-mail your questions to duanesworlddobko@worldnet.att.net.
Tired of your goggle strap loosening over time and wearing out due to exposure to chlorine or sun? One way to stop this is to wear your swim cap over your goggles. This way, most of your goggle strap is covered by the swim cap. In addition, the cap relieves pressure from the elastic of the strap which makes the goggles last longer.