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Schwimm-Ratgeber

Das perfekte Rennen - Misty Hyman

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Hav you ever wondered how great swims happen? Is it the stroke rate? The time off the blocks? The turns? We`ll analyze a new perfect race in swimming history, pointing out all the important factors that were critical in producing these great swims. Let`s have a look at Misty Hyman’s stellar upset swim in the 200m fly at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia en route to a gold medal and American record.

Exclusive Video of American Record Swim
It is a rare opportunity to see top-level swimming on video unless you attend the event. Here's the best way to analyze the race:
1. Read the article to learn about the different parts of the swim
2. Watch the video, paying attention to the key parts of Misty’s stroke, such as her stroke rate, efficiency and consistency, and other factors outlined in this article.

Wednesday, September 20, 2000. Olympic Games, Sydney Australia.

Setting the Stage

 Misty Hyman completed the perfect race at the perfect time. Her look of disbelief upon realizing her time and place, her jubilant celebration with teammate Kaitlin Sandeno, and her emotional reaction to our national anthem during the medal ceremony became some of the most defining images of the Sydney Olympic Games. The incredible race left a crowd of 17,500 fans in shock and left coaches and swimmers around the world shaking their heads with an appreciative smile. Misty claimed the longest standing American Record in the books from Mary T. Meagher. She defeated Susie O’Neill – the defending Olympic champion, world record holder, and one of the world’s most dominant female swimmers – in her home pool. She won the Olympic Gold medal in an event that had provided her so many demons and frustrations.

It is probably the first performance that comes up when debating what the true "perfect race” is. Much has been written about this performance around the world, but let’s take a minute to determine how the perfect race distinguished itself from Misty’s other races. What did she do differently to drop almost three seconds off of her lifetime best when it meant the most?

Misty was considered one of America’s brightest stars from an early age. She was an exceptional performer in many events during high school and worked with her great athletic ability and coaches to develop a revolutionary approach to sport using speed underwater as a lethal weapon. She utilized a unique “fish kick” to maintain her underwater velocity greater than her swimming speed.

Misty was considered a very good 100 flyer and showed great potential in the 200 fly, but could not seem to break through with a performance that would distinguish her as a medal contender. She performed consistently well throughout the two years leading up to the Olympic Trials, but had developed a consistent and predictable pattern in the 200 fly. Misty would use her underwater prowess and smooth powerful stroke to establish substantial leads early in the race and often be on record pace at the 150 meter mark. Unfortunately, she could not hold on to the pace and her stroke would fall apart in a painful effort to make it to the wall.

It had become an occurrence so common that the swimming world felt that the gold was O’Neill’s even as Misty held a 3-meter lead with 40 meters to swim. The performance that had secured her a place on the Olympic team was the 10th time in 14 months that Misty had swam between 2:09 and 2:11, and in each of those swims, she struggled in the last 50 to hold off the competition. At Olympic Trials, she limped back in 35.95 for the last 50.

A “Small” Improvement

 At U.S. Olympic Trials in August, Misty swam a 2:09.27, very nearly her lifetime best (she swam a 2:09.08 in 1997). At the Olympic Games, just a little more than one month later, Misty dropped more than three seconds from her lifetime best! Every one in the swimming world knows how difficult it is to drop time over a season, let alone three seconds in one month on the world’s biggest stage! How did she do it? What kinds of changes were made? Using USA Swimming’s Race Analysis program, we are able to break down Misty’s race into much more than splits (see full Race Analysis data below for all of the information available on the race). Going through Misty’s race at the Olympic Games, we will see how her race at Olympic Trials differed.

And they're off…

 In the championship heat, Misty was in lane six, between Australian Petria Thomas and teammate Kaitlin Sandeno. The gold medal and crowd favorite, Susie O’Neill, had the fastest qualifying time and was two lanes away in lane four. Upon entry into the water, Misty gets right to work using her trademark underwater dolphin kick to give her the early lead. She is the last one to break the surface and takes her first stroke at 14.25 meters. Each one of her competitors has already taken at least one stroke – Susie O’Neill took three strokes before Misty came up.

Misty has taken advantage of her superior underwater kicking abilities for years, winning her first National title in 1994 using her unique style. Despite having to adapt to a 1998 FINA rule change limiting the distance that she is allowed to remain underwater each length to 15 meters, Misty’s underwater kick remains an incredible force. She performs her underwater kicks on her side, mimicking the way a fish propels itself through the water. With a tight streamline, Misty keeps her arms and head fairly still and originates her kick from her core (chest, abdomen). She creates tremendous power during both the upbeat and downbeat of her kick with great range of motion in both directions. The smooth undulating motion of Misty kicking underwater is one of the most elegant things to watch in swimming.

The Race Unfolds As Anticipated
 Off the start, she kicks underwater almost two meters further at the Olympic Games than she did at Trials in nearly the same amount of time (Olympic Games: 14.25 meters in 5.30 seconds vs. Trials: 12.5 meters in 5.12 seconds). Because of that, she is able to finish the first 50 in nearly the same time as she did at Trials using one less stroke and a slower stroke rate (number of strokes per minute). A slower stroke rate could possibly mean that she also expended less energy. In both of her races, her stroke rate gradually decreases after the start, which is typically seen in races. She also maintained a breathing pattern of 2 up / 1 down, just like at Olympic Trials. So for the first 50, Misty’s Olympic Games race is very similar to her race a month before.

As expected, Misty jumps out to the early lead at the 50. Her split of 28.38 gives her a slight edge over Susie O’Neill (28.75) and is just behind her own Olympic Trials split (28.36).

It’s All About the Underwater

 The race really begins to change at the start of the second 50. Misty adjusts her strategy and stays underwater for less time and therefore a shorter distance than she has in the past. This is a big change coming at the most crucial of times…how will it affect her swimming over the course of the race? Looking at Misty’s Race Analysis data from 1999 through the 2000 Olympic Trials, covering 6 different meets and ten 200 fly swims (trials, semi-finals, finals), Misty has always stayed underwater between 6-8 seconds off the turns for at least 10 meters each time, sometimes as much as 15 meters. At the Olympics, off of the first turn, Misty kicks 4.9 seconds for 9.5 meters! This is different compared to 6.16 seconds for 12 meters at Olympic Trials. Her average stroke rate at the Olympics is less (51.7 cycles per minute vs. 52.1 at Trials) and her distance per stroke is greater (1.84 meters per cycle vs. 1.81 at Trials). She takes one more stroke at the Olympic Games than she did at Trials, but remember, because she kicked less at the Olympics, she had to swim 2.5 more meters. And once again, just like at Trials, she maintains her breathing pattern of 2 up / 1 down.

By the end of the first half of the race, Misty has extended her lead over Susie O’Neill to 0.77 seconds. Misty splits 31.53 and touches at 59.91. Susie touches at 1:00.68. At Olympic Trials, Misty split 31.72 for a 1:00.08 half-way time.

She uses the same strategy for the third length of the 200. Misty stays underwater for less time (4.4 seconds vs. 6.4 seconds) and for shorter distance (9.25 meters vs. 11.75 meters – 2.5 meters again) than she did at Olympic Trials. For the most part, her breathing pattern remains at 2 up / 1down. Her average stroke rate is 51.1 cycles per minute in both races, but she is able to maintain a greater distance per stroke 1.77 meters per cycle than she did at the Trials (1.74 m/c). Again, this enables her to only take one more stroke at the Olympics than at Trials. Although the difference between her distance per cycle is only 0.03 meters/cycle, or 3 centimeters/cycle, it adds up over the course of a 50. In other words, she swims 3 centimeters further per stroke. Since she takes more than 20 strokes, that adds up to more than 60 centimeters or 2 feet! Basically, if you were able to see Misty at Olympic Trials swimming next to Misty at the Olympic Games at the same time, the timing of their strokes would be exactly the same, but after 20 strokes, the Olympic Games Misty would be 2 feet ahead of Olympic Trials Misty. Hopefully this helps show you the importance of increasing a swimmer’s distance per stroke (but not letting a swimmer’s stroke rate slow down at the same time).

With 50 meters remaining to gold, Misty’s lead shrinks slightly to 0.60 seconds. The swimming world has seen Misty drop off pace during her last 50 before…would it happen again this time with a gold medal at stake? Bringing it home in a 35.95 split like she did at Olympic Trials is not going to hold up against the veteran O’Neill with the home crowd behind her. How will Misty’s new strategy play out?

The Pay-off

 Like her previous two 50’s, Misty shortens her breakouts compared to Olympic Trials (4.49 seconds vs. 6.23 seconds, 9 meters vs. 11.75 meters). She had to change a lot more than that to stay in front of O’Neill…and she did. The biggest differences can be seen in her stroke rate and distance per stroke. At Olympic Trials, Misty’s stroke rate decreases drastically over the course of the last 50 – a sign of fatigue. The last length at Trials starts at 52.6 strokes per minute, then in mid-length goes down to 50.6 strokes per minute, and by the end of the length, she is down to 48.5 strokes per minute. However, at the Olympics, she remains strong at more than 51 strokes per minute the entire length. Not only was she able to keep a consistent stroke rate, but her distance per cycle improvement was tremendous! At Olympic Trials, her average DPC for the final 50 was 1.59 meters/cycle; at the Olympic Games, 1.71 meters/cycle. For her breathing pattern, Misty sticks with 2 up / 1 down for the first 20 meters, and over the final 30 meters to the wall, she breathes 1 up / 1 down.

Misty swam into Olympic history and shocked the world – and based on her reaction, herself – when she touched the wall at 2:05.88 for the gold medal, just 0.07 seconds away from the world record. She came back in 33.44 instead of 35.95. Susie O’Neill took the silver, 0.70 seconds behind Misty.

The Perfect Race

 Did Misty’s different strategy of staying underwater less pay off? Based purely on the numbers, it does look like it was a contributing factor to her stunning victory and time. Over the final three lengths, Misty stayed underwater considerably less and she was able to maintain a higher distance per cycle, especially on the last length. Over the course of the 200, she spent almost 5 fewer seconds and 6 fewer meters underwater at the Games than at Trials. The number of kicks she took off of the three turns at the Olympic Games was 8-7-7; at Olympic Trials, she kicked 10-9-9. Even though underwater kicking was Misty’s strength and she is faster underwater than swimming, the trade-off to be able to maintain swimming speed paid off. (This is not an endorsement to all swimmers to kick underwater less. How Misty traditionally finished her races and how she was swimming prior to the Olympics helped stimulate this change in strategy.)

Another factor not to be overlooked is the great training and preparation by Misty in the month between Olympic Trials and the Olympic Games that had the Olympic coaches excited as a sign of things to come. Could the race have been even better? Maybe. Coach Richard Quick later commented that she was a little slow off the blocks and that could have been the 0.07 seconds for the world record. Nonetheless, this race is an excellent example of how race strategy, years of hard work, perseverance, and heart culminated into the perfect race at the perfect time.


 Race Analysis Summary

 Misty’s perfect race is broken down into many parameters. There is a lot more to a perfect race than just the time. Take a look at how Misty did it at the Olympics compared to at Olympic Trials. Take notice of the differences in breakouts, stroke rates, and distance per cycle as mentioned in the article. Click here to find out more about USA Swimming National Team Technical Support’s Race Analysis program.

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