Towing swimmers

@polarbear wrote:

Interesting article on towing swimmers to get them used to swimming faster.

http://www.bowdoin.edu/news/archives/1academicnews/003904.shtml

It said in the article it’s new…. i don’t think it’s very new at all. He is doing it in a way that is more complex than most but i think something similar has been done for several years now…

Yeah I think that Mike Bottom and others have been using the power reel (SP) for years.

Dennis Pankratov used these in 100M swim pools more than 10 years ago (Don’t ask me where there are 100M swim pools).

We used power reel in high school. I graduated in 2001, I know we had them as early as my sophomore year, maybe earlier. Of course, I rarely used it.

Interesting article, though.

Read a little about this on Collegeswimming.com, interesting stuff! We own two power reels but both are broken (have been for awhile). Sam is the fellas name (peak performance??) and he was selling these for a long time, same as the power racks. (believe he and Jim Steen were cooperating together, still are?) They stopped due to some of the problems I have had and other issues that I am not privy to. I loved these machines, my swimmers loved them, and I hate that I have not been able to fix them. These babies are heavy and I am no wizkid in the mechanic sense. This study referenced above is going beyond what the power reels could do and I frankly cannot wait to see some final results. I was one of the guys on the deck in Houston yankin (with all my mite) his swimmer cross-pool in the far end. Still have a kink in my lower back….ugh! There is no doubt in my mind that speed assisted swimming works, but I do dislike the whimsical method of pulling someone with the tubing. One could purchase varying thickness of the tubing, hire one person that does all the pulling (always eats the same food, same sleep pattern, maintains precise pulling strength), and establish some set criteria as for distance pulled and time. Then I’d be a little happier with tubing….as is, I am going to go soak my back and get ready for next season!

@DonCheadle wrote:

Dennis Pankratov used these in 100M swim pools more than 10 years ago (Don’t ask me where there are 100M swim pools).

Oak Ridge, Tennessee