Have you ever wondered how fast you could swim if your feet were just a little bigger?  It makes sense that a bigger foot would allow you to grab more water.  But how much of an effect does it really have?  Fortunately, there is a product out there which approximates what it would be like to have bigger feet – Zoomers.  These are small fins, or flippers.  They make your foot approximately 20% longer and 70% wider at the toes.  Compare this to scuba fins, which can be 2 times longer and two times wider than the foot.  The difference between Zoomers and feet is enough to be significant, but not so much that you have to kick in a fundamentally different way.  Therefore, a comparison of Zoomer versus no-Zoomer times is a great way to see if bigger feet always make everyone faster.

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Q: How do I keep my wetsuit from filling with water?

A: Having a little water flow through the suit is to be expected. It is a wetsuit after all, and not a dry-suit. But, it gets to be a bit much when you feel the suit spread away from you like a balloon at the torso because of all the water coming in. I have personally had this happen in a race, and it is always a bad moment. This excessive water fill occurs because the fit isn’t quite right and there is a gap somewhere.

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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.

Ever find yourself stuck on the road in a never-ending business trip with nowhere to swim but those miniscule 12 yard hotel/motel pools?  You could try and swim up and down that pool and drive yourself crazy with flip turns.  Or, you could set yourself up to swim in one place.  Just bring along a bungee cord and tie it to a belt around your waist.  A wader belt works just fine. 

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