Then and Now: John Naber, Aaron Peirsol

Feature by Jesse Stipek

MADISON, Wisconsin, March 5. IT has long been debated what makes a swimmer so much better now than the swimmers of the 1970's and before. There has always been the question if the champions of that era, such as Mark Spitz or John Naber, would be able to compete with the Michael Phelps and Aaron Peirsols of today?

Though this question may be somewhat impossible to answer, there are always factors and reasons swimmers now have been able to always push the threshold of times and continue to break records. There are many components that factor into swimmers becoming better and better over the years. Some of these are; the continual improvement of technique, scientifically established insights into stroke patterns, technology with suits and equipment, dryland training, and even recovery drinks and food supplements.

One of the more critical elements to effective training that has recently been stressed for swimmers is the idea of recovery. This would have made a huge difference in training and competition during Naber's career. The ability to recover between practices and after races is a distinct advantage to athletes now. Besides the constant discoveries in nutrition and eating habits, recovery is a simple yet vital performance enhancer that anyone can obtain. In the 70's though there was not as much research on why it helped so much, because people were not aware of its advantages in performance.

In addition there are many additional things swimmers currently do from targeted stretching after workout, to drinking chocolate milk, as a means to replenish what is lost during workout. Who would have thought people would have been sleeping in tents to make their bodies feel like they were at a high altitude? Today for some of the top swimmers that is the norm. One more thing is the idea of recovery pants and tops. In the past couple years this has become very popular and helped compress swimmers muscles while they are away from the pool. This is something Naber would never have been able to take advantage of.

Another important change during the past 40 years is technique. Backstroke is a stroke that is always evolving and changing. It is mainly now swum on a side-to-side rotation involving the hips. Also, Peirsol swam with more of an outward pull with his arm. There is also the famous fifth stroke to keep in mind. There has been an absolute change in swimmers staying underwater to achieve their potential race speed. Maximizing the underwater breakout is now known to be just as important as the stroke on top of the water. In the 70's there was nowhere near as much of an emphasis on staying underwater and using it to help you swim. Even though staying underwater is most advantageous for yards events, it still is important for meter events also.

One more striking difference from Naber's time period and now is the technology that goes into the swimsuits. Set aside for the moment the controversies that have beset “full body” suits and records and focus on the space age materials. Suits have gone a long way from cotton suits, to nylon briefs, paper suits, to sharkskin fastskins, to tech suits, and back to jammers. In 1976, when Naber was in his prime he was breaking world records in a brief. In contrast, Peirsol, who broke his first world record in the spring of 2001, was normally seen wearing just a jammer. Yes, the current world record was set in a tech suit, but when that was set in the summer of 2009 it was a legsuit, not a full body suit. This is when we ask ourselves the question; Does the suit really make that much of a difference?

For a contrast between Naber and Peirsol we will never know. For most people it seems that it is more of a mental and psychological help more than anything else. Traditionally the tech suits did help larger people to float on top of the water better. With Naber being 6'6 it could have helped him tremendously. Naber also swam with no goggles to cover his eyes and no cap on his head. This is something that is hard to imagine because you could hardly see where you were going and a full head of hair would certainly create drag while you were swimming. One more thing Naber did in the 1970's was wear a traditional mustache. Something swimmers now wouldn't consider.

Between the years of 1976 and 2012 the world record in the 100 backstroke was broken 21 different times by a total of 8 people. The 200 backstroke record was topped 18 times by 8 different people. Naber broke the 100 twice, while Peirsol broke it 6 times. Naber broke the 200 twice as well, while Peirsol broke it 7 times. During the time when Naber was swimming, he dominated the backstroke events at the 1976 Olympics, as did Peirsol in 2004. Both of these men were incredible swimmers and at the top of the world when they swam. It is very interesting to note the differences between the two eras and understand how much things have evolved and will continue to evolve.

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