The start is the only moment of a race where you are not swimming and are still travelling faster than you ever will in the water. Most swimmers treat it as the bit before the real work: step up, fall in, begin. Then they spend the length chasing a speed they threw away in the first second.
I swam the 200 individual medley at two Olympic Games for Brazil and won it at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto in 1:57.06. A medley gives you one start, so that dive is the only free speed in the race, and the shape you leave the block in is the shape you carry into the first 15 metres.
How do you do a racing dive start from the block?
Front foot at the edge, back foot on the wedge, pull with your hands to get moving forward, then drive off the front leg and land in a streamline out over the water. The US Masters Swimming starts guide places it: "The forward start is used in freestyle, butterfly, and breaststroke races."
The intent matters more than the pose. The forward starts guide opens with it: "One of the most important goals for a great start is to project yourself as far over the water as possible."
Where do your feet go on the block?
Split, with the front foot gripping the front edge and the back foot against the wedge. The forward starts guide says that "Since the introduction of the wedge, most swimmers choose to do a track start with their back foot on the wedge", front foot "at the edge of the block", and explains why the wedge is there: "The hardest part of the start is getting your body moving, and the wedge makes doing so a lot easier."
A 2010 comparison of elite swimmers on the OSB11 platform, summarised on coachsci, tested that against a conventional block. "The mean time on block was 0.77 s for the kick start, which was significantly less than the track start (0.80 s)", and the advantage held down the pool: "The kick start was also significantly faster at 5 and 7.5 m than the track start (~.04 s differences)." Read the rest before expecting miracles: "The average velocity between 5 and 7.5 m was not significantly different between the two techniques", so across the fourteen swimmers tested the wedge bought a head start and not a better swimmer.
Why does the start feel like it goes up instead of out?
Because you jump before your body has begun moving forward. The forward starts guide names it flatly: "If you jump as hard as you can before your body moves forward, you'll go straight up rather than out over the water."
The reason is geometry. "When you're in the starting position, your front shin is relatively vertical, which is why you need to wait to fully jump." Both failure modes sit in one line: "If you push too early, you'll drive yourself up. If you push too late, you'll drive yourself down."
So the hands go first: the arms drag your mass off the block, and "The key idea is to get them overhead as quickly as possible". One warning before you practise reacting faster: "Flinching is grounds for disqualification."
How much does the start actually decide the race?
Hugely in a 50, barely in a 1500. A review of the swim start in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, Biomechanical Analysis of the Swim-Start, gives the range as "the start time to 15-m can account for anywhere between 0.8% and 26.1% of the total race time."
What separates the good ones is direction, not only force. The review reports "lower take-off angles (27.45 ± 5.99° versus 39.62 ± 13.19°) for elite swimmers", together with higher horizontal impulse. Flatter and more forward. The deck version is shorter: "The start is free speed, so take advantage of as much of it as you can."
What should your body do in the air and at the entry?
Hold tension and rotate just enough to go in through one hole. The forward starts guide is specific: "When you're in the air, maintaining tension throughout your body, especially your legs, is critical." The review describes the same job from the air, where swimmers "need sufficient time to rotate while in flight in order to enter the water through a small hole".
The splash gives the entry away: "Many swimmers struggle to enter the water with minimal splash; their legs often smack against the water, creating resistance." The fix is the position you should own from the wall: "The better your streamline, the better your entry." If yours leaks, start with streamline and push-off from the wall, where there is no flight phase to hide behind.
When should you start kicking and swimming after the entry?
Later than you think. The review states that "swimmers generally begin stroking too early", and that one study "concluded that glide time is more important to the start phase than either block time or flight time". For the kick it passes on a figure: "Houel et al. (2012) stated that swimmers should ideally start dolphin kicks after approximately 6-m of glide", the logic being "in order to start full swimming as late as possible".
That is one study's distance, not a law, and it only pays if your underwater is worth staying in. Build the kick that earns the delay in underwater dolphin kick.
How does SwimRead read this part of your swimming?
It does not read starts, and you should know that before you film one. The SwimRead home page states that "The current beta supports freestyle filmed from the side of the pool", and that "Backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, underwater footage, starts, and turns are not supported analysis modes in this beta."
What it reads is your swimming. The page asks you to "Aim for 10 seconds of continuous freestyle", filmed "in landscape from the side, with the whole body visible, a stable camera, standard lens, and normal playback speed", and from there "On-device pose detection estimates body landmarks". It stops short of a verdict, since "These estimates are not validated technique grades."
On the start you are your own analyst, and a phone is enough. Film from the side with the block in frame, then scrub to two frames: your feet leaving the block, and your hands touching the water. Your hips should be above your hands in the first and your legs still tight in the second.
What should you drill this week?
- Wall pull and roll. The US Masters Swimming start drills page says it "helps you learn how to use your arms to pull yourself down and forward", the part that comes before the jump.
- One-legged wall standing start. It "helps you learn to drive and push off using your front leg", with nowhere to cheat.
- Bottom jumps. Streamlined jumps in deep water where "The goal is to land in the exact same spot each time."
- Hole-in-one entries. Built on the premise that "The cleaner your entry during a start, the less resistance you create."
Do dive work early in a session, in the deep end, with a coach watching. Then time 25s from a dive in my free swim pace calculator against 25s from a push, because the gap between the two is your start.
SwimRead is free while in beta, and paid plans will come later with beta testers told before anything changes. For a reading of your freestyle, join the beta and leave your email for an invitation as beta spots open.