Just as no two swimmers’ strokes are the same, the way in which athletes launch themselves off the blocks is almost as unique as their fingerprints. Watching the world’s best forward block starters is to take in a clinic on power, explosiveness, as well as basic physics, with each swimmer’s mechanics customized to his/her own strengths and weaknesses.
Below, we specifically examine the arm motions of several world-class swimmers who are known to destroy the competition immediately off the blocks. Take a look at what we can point out from the likes of Caeleb Dressel, Ben Proud and Ranomi Kromowidjojo, 3 of the best starters in the world, and see which star swimmer your particular start technique assimilates.
Caeleb Dressel – ‘The Batman’
The world saw the downright frightening explosiveness that is American Caeleb Dressel when he took an astonishing 7 gold medals at the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest. The 22-year-old’s athleticism coupled with his start technique allows him to crush the competition off of the block, giving the former Gator a big edge before the swimming part of a race even begins.
Breaking down his start could comprise an entire physics class alone, but we can get the highlights by watching the video and viewing the photos below. Unique to Dressel is the way his arms drive out upon his reaction to the start, kick-starting his entire body’s subsequent acceleration. Dressel’s arms are jettisoned off to the side almost taking on the appearance bat wings. But, this allows Dressel to surge his body’s energy forward with way more power than just what’s in his legs.
Caeleb Dressel (photo: Mike Lewis)
Caeleb Dressel (photo: Mike Lewis)
Brad Tandy – ‘ The Superman’
South African sprinter Brad Tandy‘s start isn’t too far off Dressel’s in terms of form, but the former Arizona Wildcat takes the arm motion to yet another level.
Combined with his back-loaded stance on the block, Tandy’s arms essentially act as a wind-up, completing a full circle of extending out to the sides then all the way back around in front into streamline. With his eye-popping flexibility and arm speed, Tandy’s upper body generates power and builds momentum each nanosecond until his detonation. The result is a monster jump ahead of the competition from the get-go.
Brad Tandy and Andrii Govorov off the blocks in the 50 free at the FINA Short Course Worlds Windsor, Canada (photo: Mike Lewis)
Kelsi Dahlia – ‘The Ouija Master’
As opposed to swinging her arms out to the side, American Kelsi Dahlia ‘grips it and rips it’ when firing off the starting block. As seen in the photos below, the 24-year-old pulls back on the block with her hands and extends her arms directly back. In mid-air, the former Louisville Cardinal takes on a ‘stiff as a board’ position.
With her body aimed at the other end of the pool, Dahlia then moves her arms beneath herself and into the front stream-lined position. The bottom photo is her 100m fly Olympic Trials race frozen and highlighted, showing how her arms align almost perpendicular to her body as they make the migration from full rear extension to the front.
Kelsi Worrell-Dahlia (photo: Mike Lewis)
Kelsi Worrell 2017 USA Swimming World Team Trials (photo: Mike Lewis)
Women’s 100 Fly 2016 Olympic Trials Race Video
Ranomi Kromowidjojo – ‘The Traditionalist’
2012 Olympic double gold medalist Ranomi Kromowidjojo of Netherlands doesn’t do anything entirely revolutionary with her start mechanics, yet she is one of the most consistently fierce athletes to rocket off the starting blocks.
Kromo follows a more traditional trajectory in terms of her arm motion, immediately extending out front, reaching for streamline once the gun fires at the start.
She still grips the block and maximizes leverage from the apparatus, but does it more stealthily, without anything other than a straight path to streamline.
Ranomi_ Kromo 2018 European Championship – Glasgow – photo by Giusy Cisale swimswam.com
Ben Proud – ‘The Last-Minute Man’
Comparing Great Britain’s textile world record holder Ben Proud to the aforementioned Dahlia, their off-the-block position looks very similar, with arms furiously thrown back at the start. What sets Proud apart, however, is more what he does leading up to the starting sound.
Take a look at the still-shot below from The Swim Channel‘s video of Proud’s 21.16 monumental swim from June of this year. As is the same with every race in which he competes, Proud remains standing while his competitors get into their crouched starting position.
Proud waits until the absolute final moment to get his hands around the edge of the block and hips nice and high before blasting off into the pool. This tactic may not be for everyone, but Proud’s head-turning improvements in both sprint free and fly show it’s the right movement for him.
Will you do a future analysis of backstroke starts?
with the new starting “wedges” or with out?
Is it just me or do I feel like it is justifiable to be a little suspicious that Ben Proud’s performances might be ‘aided’???
Just as suspicious of anyone else that they are aided. What would make him any more probable than others?