Swimming Body Roll and Symmetry!
How much body roll do elite swimmers really exhibit?

By David Warden

Swimming in an interesting topic to research. Compared to biking and running, I there is much more disparity between what swim coaches teach, and what swim studies support. I believe that this supports the theory that teaching swimming is more of an art than a science. One can become a successful self-coached cyclist and runner, but it is very, very difficult to become a great swimmer without outside feedback and coaching.

Most swim instruction can be categorized into one of two philosophies: be streamlined, or be powerful, with the best coaching and swimmers having both components. But there is a third component that think is often overlooked, and that is: be symmetrical.

Your first thought might be “duh”. If you have all 4 limbs in place, you can’t help but be symmetrical right? Left arm, right arm, left arm, right arm…It turns out that symmetry may be more elusive and important that you think for distance swimming.

Researchers at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil took 6 competitive swimmers, the average fastest swimmer could swim 50 meters in 23.5 seconds. That’s pretty darn fast. It takes me 23.5 seconds just to do a flip turn. They then measured their speed at the 1500 meter race pace and a 50 meter race pace, although those race paces were measured over 25-meter tests. They also measured body roll angle to the breathing side and the non-breathing side. Also, they measured velocity and body roll when not breathing at the 1500 and 50 meter paces. Now, the swimmers did not stop breathing for the 1500 meter and 50 meter tests, that would be remarkable. Rather, they swam 25 meters without breathing while swimming at either their tested 1500 or 50 meter effort.

The results are fascinating on two fronts. First, at both the 1500 and 50 meter efforts, the swimmers were much faster when not breathing. At the 1500 meter pace, the swimmers were 1/10 of a meter faster per second. That’s a meter every 10 seconds, 6 meters per minute, or well over 100 meters over a mile swim for a good swimmer all from not breathing. This may not be a huge surprise to you, no breathing means less potential interruption in your stroke. It was a surprise to me by the second observation. The researchers measured total body roll as the degree of rotation to one side plus the degree of rotation to the other. For example, rolling 70 degrees to one side and 80 degrees to the other would be a total body roll of 150 degrees. In the study, as speed increased, total body roll decreased. I’m going to say that again because it may sound contrary to how you have been taught to swim. As velocity increased, total body roll decreased. Total body roll using the faster non-breathing 1500 meter effort resulted in 118 degrees of rotation, compared to 133 degrees of rotation at the slower pace. This was consistent at the 50 meter pace. Less body roll occurred at the faster non-breathing velocities.

Even when you compare the breathing 1500 meter pace to the 50 meter breathing pace, a competitive swimmer sprinting at 50 meters only rolls 114 degrees compared to that 133 degrees for the 1500 meter pace.

Now, before I get a deluge of e-mails from swim coaches, does this mean that you should not roll when swimming? It does not. Rolling is a necessary part of swimming to breath, to place your hand into the correct position for the catch, and to utilize your lats for propulsion. The study does not suggest that you would get even faster from eliminating the roll. It does suggest that some swimmers might be rolling too much, and that “swimming on your side” may not be the most effective way to swim. There are many publications that teach a large roll and swimming on the side, and I truly respect the authors of these works. Remember, these were not new swimmers, these were elite swimmers with years of training, and it may be that new simmers benefit more from an exaggerated roll. I do feel, however, that based on these observations, it is possible to swim fast without rolling too far. In fact, the researchers themselves concluded that total body roll angle tends to decrease as the velocity increased for high level sprint swimmers.

Now I’m sure you’re thinking, “hey, you said that this was going to be about symmetry, and all you talked about is not breathing and body roll.” Stay with me, I’m going somewhere with this.

Recall that the researchers measured body roll by adding one side degree of rotation and the other side with a degree of rotation. They also did this by adding the roll on the breathing and non-breathing sides. For example, the roll to the breathing side at the 1500 meter pace was 72 degrees, and only 62 degrees to the non-breathing side. This gives me hope that even elite swimmers have to roll a little farther to breath.

OK, so how does all of this tie into symmetry? Regardless of how far the swimmers rolled, it is interesting to note this. When not breathing, the roll to both sides was more symmetrical, another possible reason for the increased velocities when not breathing. That difference between 72 degrees and 62 degrees of roll between the breathing and non-breathing sides was mitigated or almost eliminated, because the swimmers did not have to roll a bit further to their breathing side. Not only was their less roll, their was more symmetry in their stroke as they got faster.

So how can you introduce more symmetry into your stroke? I believe that one way is to develop bi-lateral breathing, and not use exclusive same-side breathing. This can be tough for many swimmers. Another way is through drills that specifically target symmetry.

Marc Evans has developed swim drills to develop symmetry using the Finis Tempo Trainer, which retails for $32. The Tempo Trainer is a small device that slips under your goggle strap which emits a beeping sound at a tempo the swimmer specifies. Just like a metronome when playing piano, it helps your movement and rhythm stay symmetrical. In fact, 3-time Ironman Champion Peter Reid uses the tempo trainer for any swim workout more than 400 meters. Check out Marc’s article on how to perform these drills.

The bad news is, all that extra roll you may have been taught could be slowing you down. The good news is you don’t have to stop breathing to stay symmetrical.