#mit2016

[firehose-chat]

[shirleymulyadi]

I serve HIM.. You? #MIT2016

[swim-to-w1n]

breaststroke update & head-down drill

I got back from a visit to Boston for my brother’s graduation (#MIT2016!!) and to meet college coaches last Sunday and had lifeguard training the whole rest of the week, so unfortunately I haven’t been to practice very much recently. Coach M said to me today, “You look like you’ve been in the sun a lot recently.” He paused then added, “You look like you’ve been in the sun a lot recently and you’ve been in the pool a little,” which is very true-- no offense taken, since my attendance has been pretty dismal over the last week and a half. Luckily, I just have an in-service training to attend and I’m done with training for the next two weeks (and I get paid for in-service-- $13.03/hr. highly recommend working for the City of Austin if you live nearby and choose to be a lifeguard), so I can actually go to afternoon practices this week.

That being said, Thursday night I swam a little with a younger group, because of scheduling conflicts, and then worked on some breaststroke technique on my own with help from their coach- 2012 Olympian Christian Schurr. Recently I’ve noticed I arch my back and turn my right hand so the palm faces slightly upwards during the pull recovery (both HUGE no-nos). The latter is a relatively easy fix, but requires constant focus, as does any stroke change. To maintain proper hand positioning, it is crucial to keep high elbows.

Back arching is a harder problem to fix. Because the human lumbar spine is naturally concave, when swimming, it is natural for people to sink their stomachs and hips, causing further arching/concavity. However, it is more streamline to have a straight or flat back by engaging your core. I made many attempts at remedying this over the past few weeks, but didn’t realize the underlying problem until Thursday night.

First I assumed the issue was active back arching, and attempted to keep a more flat, or even convex upper body position, but that mostly translated into hunched shoulders. There was a slight change, but not significant enough to be a practical solution. Then I partially correctly hypothesized the arching stemmed from the relationship between my pull and kick. I believed that because I focused so heavily on my pull, by neglecting my legs, I was arching my back to compensate for lost leg power and increase power from my pull. Thus I believed  I needed to kick harder and my legs and hips would float upwards (thus making it harder for the middle of the abdomen to sink) just as flutter kick in freestyle causes the lower body to stay elevated. I was right in predicting the solution would come from increasing focus on the legs, but it had more to do with timing than force.

I realized that by neglecting my legs, timing-wise, I was performing my kicks later than necessary. Then, when my upper body was up out of the water during the pull, my legs were still in an elevated horizontal position, pushing my hips forward to arch my lower back. By bringing my knees up slightly earlier, my back rounded more easily, and my entire stroke became more efficient because there was still a forward force from the pull to oppose and overcome the drag from drawing my knees forward through the water. Also the reduction in pressure on my lower back effectively eliminated pain in the area. A drill I semi-came up with and semi-adopted was head down, no breath breaststroke. Essentially, you swim breaststroke on the surface as usual but keep your face in water. (Technically this is still a legal breaststroke, as only part of your head is required to break the surface on each stroke, not your whole head. But it takes a lot of anaerobic training to get used to this and do it well in a race). This helped with the conscious picking my head up too high and arching my back and helped my control my timing a little better and while the issue hasn’t been completely remedied, practice makes better and at least know I know the underlying cause.

[skeletonstudy]

MATT GOT THE SHIRT!!!!! If any of you guys want a shirt, I made a bunch and still have 4. Message me!!

[skeletonstudy]

7:20AM // Fri June 1 // MIT COMMENCEMENT DAY!! Today is the day when the Class of 2016 graduates! Aaaaaand the speaker is my favorite person in the whole wide world, MATT DAMON!! I am completely, beyond stoked. I wonder who will be speaking when I graduate in two years. The leading speaker among my classmates is Robert Downey Jr. in the character of Tony Stark. Fingers crossed! I'm volunteering during the ceremony to show people to their seats and generally be helpful. Hopefully I'll get to snap a picture with him.

[robbieraul]

Coke and Football #CocaCola #Yerevan #MIT2016 #MITeuro2016 #CokeandFootball #Enjoy #CokePlant #Robb#RobertMarkosyan #Selfie #CokeSelfie #InstaSelfie #ExtremeSelfie #Ball #Bottle #Football #КокаКола #Армения #Ереван #Երևան #ԿոկաԿոլա #Հայաստան #Եվրո2016 (at Քանաքեռ-Զեյթուն)

[mit]

Actor and filmmaker Matt Damon will be MIT's 2016 Commencement speaker

Actor, filmmaker, social activist, and Cambridge native Matt Damon — who shot to prominence with his portrayal of a mathematically gifted MIT janitor in the 1997 film “Good Will Hunting” — will “return” to the Institute to deliver the address at MIT’s 2016 Commencement exercises on Friday, June 3. Read more at MIT News.