Category: Swimmer Resources

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How Katie Ledecky’s dominance helps with broken TV’s

My TV broke the week before the Olympics.  

I am currently waiting for an EEPROM chip (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) for a VIZIO XVT55SV television.  In case you’re curious an EEPROM goes on the main board of the TV.  I know, I know . . . you’re not curious.EEPROM

Because of this dilemma, my wife and I have watched a total of 5 races of Olympic swimming.  5! That is pathetic.  Those 5 races have been viewed over wifi with all of the herky-jerky “connection problems” that goes with it.

Considering that I am trying to create a business around the sport of swimming I am a little embarrassed.

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What it takes to be in the 1% of the 1% and make the Summer Olympics


You will never compete in the summer Olympic games. Neither will I.

Out of the 7,021,836,029 people on planet earth this summer only about 10,500 athletes will compete for their countries in Rio (Down from the 10,950 in 2012 – but that’s a different story). That is 0.00015608 % of the earth’s popula1 percent pie graphtion, taking sig figs into account. 🙂

If you live in the United States our ratio of Olympic athletes to population is a bit higher.  We are sending 554 athletes to Rio, and with a population of 322,762,018 those 554 athletes represent 0.000172 % of our country.  47 of those 554 athletes are swimmers. 25 male, 22 Female.  The point? It is pretty darn tough to make the Olympic team.

If you and I won’t make the team who will?  Who decides who the 0.000172% will be?  The athletes do . . . that’s what makes the Olympics so special.

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How you can get Olympian Brad Tandy’s Tempo (Hint: It’s ALL in the hips)

Brad Tandy pulled a 200 pound bucket of water up in the air like it was inflated with helium.  He did this not once, not twice, but 6 times during his main resistance set.  What was equally amazing was that his tempo never faded.  His stroke rate never slowed from breakout to final stroke 15 Meters down the pool.

For the few who do not know, Brad Tandy is going to compete in the 2016 Olympic games for the country of South Africa.  He swam at the University of Arizona for the latter part of his collegiate career where he broke the school record in the 50 yard freestyle with a 18.8 (Race Link Here). The man is quick!

The apparatus that Tandy was using at practice is known as a “power tower” (Shown Below).  It is a belt that’s attached to a bucket via a pulley system. The bucket can be filled or emptied with water to achieve a desired resistance for thpower-towere swimmer (who is wearing the belt around their waist).  Tandy’s bucket was overflowing with water.

The display that he put on during this “taper” set was astounding.  I had to ask how he did it.  Specifically I wanted to know how his tempo did not falter when hundreds of pounds was pulling him backwards. What was he thinking about in order to get his tempo that high while applying so much power to the water?

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