Description

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Swim better and faster in all four strokes with 4-time Olympian and gold medalist Sheila Taormina.

In her bestselling book Swim Speed Secrets, Taormina revealed the freestyle swimming technique used by the world's fastest swimmers. Now in Swim Speed Strokes, she shows swimmers and triathletes how to swim their best in all four strokes: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. Using crystal-clear photographs and her engaging, straightforward style, Coach Taormina explains the science behind power and speed in the water, explores the elements common to every stroke, and examines the technique of each stroke.

Over the course of 4 Olympic Games and throughout her career as a world champion triathlete, Taormina refined her exceptional technique as a student of the sport, studying the world’s best swimmers using underwater photographs and video analysis. From Johnny Weissmuller to Michael Phelps, the world’s fastest swimmers share two common elements: high stroke rate and a high-elbow underwater pull. Swim Speed Strokes goes deep into the fastest swimming techniques and breaks down the pull, kick, core movement, and timing of 13 elite swimmers and Olympians including Peter Vanderkaay, Rebecca Soni, Aaron Peirsol, Rowdy Gaines, Ashley Whitney, Vlad Morozov, Ariana Kukors, Andrew Gemmell, Laura Sogar, Nicolas Fink, Elizabeth Beisel, Doug Reynolds, and Melanie Margalis.

From the catch through the curvilinear path and diagonal phase to the power-packed finish phase, Taormina explores the pull patterns to show how any swimmer can improve their own swimming. Whether you want to master every stroke or simply improve on your best one, Swim Speed Strokes will show you how to become the strongest swimmer you can be.

About the Author

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Sheila Taormina is a 4-time Olympian, gold medalist, triathlon world champion, and swimming coach. She is one of a handful of athletes who have competed in four Olympic games and the only woman in the world to have competed in three distinctly different sports--swimming, triathlon, and modern pentathlon. At the unswimmerlike height of just 5' 2", Taormina refined her exceptional freestyle swim technique to win a gold medal in the 1996 Olympics and the 2004 ITU triathlon world championship. For 15 years, Taormina has coached elite and age-group swimmers and triathletes to develop the strong underwater pull that propelled her to such athletic success in her racing career. Taormina conducts dozens of swim clinics around the world each year.

Praise For…

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"The best teachers in the world use various modalities to deliver information to their students. In this case, the prominent feature that makes Swim Speed Strokes special is the extraordinary still photos of today's world-class swimmers" ¦The photos are crystal clear, thorough, and presented from angles that reflect the superb knowledge-base of the author" ¦Swim Speed Strokes is the best current resource on the market. It will add to the coach's knowledge base, to the coach's internalized picture of what the strokes should look like, and it will add the exact same contribution to your athletes." 
— American Swim Coaches Association

"Swim Speed Workouts is the pool version of in-home workout videos. The cards can be used by beginning to experienced swimmers or triathletes training independently of a coach, or provide easy illustrations of drills and tubing exercises for coaches to share with their swimmers." 
— USA Swimming's SPLASH magazine

"Freestyle gone funky on you? Stuck in a rut where you can't seem to get faster? Swim Speed Secrets could be the cure for the freestyle blues. Master swimmers and coaches at every level can learn something from this book" ¦Both the book and [the Swim Speed Workouts] training program are outstanding." 
— USMS Swimmer magazine

"Four-time Olympian Sheila Taormina took the lessons she taught in her recent book Swim Speed Secrets and developed a 16-week workout plan in the new Swim Speed Workouts." 
— Triathlete magazine

"Our testers, ranging from beginner to advanced swimmers, enthusiastically agreed that Swim Speed Workouts is a great pool-side companion. The water proof, step-by-step workouts come in a collection of individual cards and fit seamlessly into any training program." 
— TriEdge.net

"Sheila T. is just 5' 2" but she swims like she is 6' 2". We still use her as a model for our swimmers today on how to swim the strokes." 
— Jack Bauerle, Team USA Olympic Swim Coach and Head Coach of the University of Georgia swim team

"With Sheila's help, you can stop swimming for survival and start swimming like a pro." 
— Laura Bennett, 2010 ITU #1-ranked swimmer, four-time ITU World Triathlon Championship medalist, Olympian, and two-time U.S. triathlon champion

"Sheila Taormina's ideas on swimming have influenced me and my swim coaching more than anyone else. Her knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm are unmatched." 
— Siri Lindley, ITU Triathlon World Champion and coach to triathlon world champions and Olympic medalists

"Sheila possesses a great depth of knowledge and passion about swimming that she has often shared with me and many other athletes." 
— Leanda Cave, ITU Triathlon World Champion and ITU Long-Distance Triathlon World Champion

"As a lifelong coach, the four-time Olympian shares what she's learned with clarity and authority, explaining all of the small details that go into mastering freestyle." 
— LAVA magazine