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What is the best way to pull for sprint freestyle? A 90° bend at elbow or straight arm? 

Take your mark. Yep. Yep. You got a one. I got a dog, yeah. Ten one. One team, one--

I have a dog and we are on the same team.

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What are some “predictor” or race simulation sets for the 50 & 100 free?

Jake, I got a really good set that I did with Tyler McGill in the build up to the 2012 Olympics, Olympic trials, where he qualified for the US team in the 100 butterfly, finishing second, almost beating Michael Phelps in the trials actually, swimming a best time. And what we did is we did a predictor set in the lead up to that, and I'll walk you through it. So it was basically a progression of 100s at a certain percentage. So we had a goal time of, let's say, 51 flat, which he was right on that goal time at the end of the season. And this was a very good predictor of this. So we did six 100s at 80% on three minutes. So we took that goal time. We calculated what 80% would be based on the actual number and the percentage of your goal time. And we did six 100s on three minutes. OK? And he would hit that. Then the next week would come back and go five 100s at 85% on four minutes. All right? The week after that, four 100s, 90% on five minutes. The following week, three 100s at 93% on six minutes. Then the last couple of weeks, right during taper, we would actually put a suit on and go two 100s at 95% on 10 minutes. And then about a week out, we would do 100 at 98%, suited, and he would be right on his goal time. And that's when we knew without a doubt he was going to hit this goal time because the progression of that set, going from the six 100s at 80% down to a full suited swim at 98% of his goal time, he was spot on for that whole progression. So that's a really interesting one. I think you can play with that. I think it works for certain athletes who are really locked in and believe in it. Give it a shot, and see what happens.

Tyler McGill swam a progression of 100s at 80%, 85%, 90%, 93%, 95% and 98% of his goal time in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics, Olympic trials. He was spot on for the whole progression and ended up finishing second in the event, almost beating Michael Phelps. This predictor set is good for athletes who are really locked in and believe in it.

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When pulling in freestyle, what path should the hand take?

OK, we look at the pull pattern here in freestyle. This is Eamon Sullivan breaking the world record in 2008. You can see he stretched out keeping those elbows tight to the body all the way back, straight down. He's not using that s-type pattern. It's basically railroads straight up straight down, beautiful.

Eamon Sullivan broke the world record in 2008 with a pull pattern that was straight up and straight down, not using an s-type pattern.

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How do you build sprinting endurance for a 100m freestyle?

All right. Any time I'm looking for a solution, I try to figure out what the problem is. And the problem here is really in the question. It says, building sprint endurance, how do you do that? So I'll break it up into three sections. I want to build, I want to sprint, and I want to have endurance. So those three things are going to be part of my solution. OK? So over the course of a season, I want to get better and build and be stronger at sprinting and finishing races and having endurance to close. OK? So I'm going to build that over a period of time, and I'm going to build it into my weekly routine. So what I would say is, start off with a volume of speed and then reduce that volume and then, also, do that volume at a certain intensity. And then as you're coming down in volume, increase the intensity. So you have large volume, lower intensity, lower volume, higher intensity. And you build that in throughout the season. Now, I would say, as you go through the season, as you get stronger, as you get faster, that endurance is going to build, and that's how you solve that problem.

To build sprint endurance, reduce the volume and increase the intensity of your workouts over the course of a season. This will help to build strength and speed, which leads to greater endurance in races.

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What is the best mindset for the 100m freestyle?

See, I really like this question because I think this is a big part of whether you have success or failure in the hundred free. It's actually got to do with your mindset. And if you take a really close look at the men's and women's 100 freestyles from around the world, the best ones, whether they be in high school or college or professionally swimming on the international stage, the best athletes have an attack mindset. So you've got to come to terms with the fact-- before the race happens, you've got to have a plan, and you've also got to have an idea in your head of how you're going to attack it. Some people do like to hold back slightly on that first 50 and close it up like a David Popovich, for example, young guy might be a good example of that on the men's side. But most of the best athletes these days are attacking the front end. And so you've got to commit to that. It's a mental commitment to say, I'm going to go at full speed here, which is kind of like your front end speed with your breathing. You've got to go with an attack mindset, and then close it up the best way you can. Now, all of this takes training. You've got to have this training. You've got to have this mindset in your training, which then you apply to your racing. But I agree, swimming a fast 100 comes down to mindset and a decision that you make to stick to a plan.

To swim a fast 100 you need to have an attack mindset and a plan. You need to commit to this attitude in your training and bring it into your race.

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How do you develop speed endurance in freestyle and butterfly? Any particular sets you use?

Henry, this is a question I was asking myself when I was coaching Cody Simpson who went from being a musician to a one of the best butterfly swimmers in the world, qualified for the Olympic trials. And one of the workouts that I did with him is something like this where it was 425s, 3 rounds descend, descend the rounds 1 to 3. First grouping here is on 30 seconds. And then we did 3 rounds descend 1 to 3 on 25 seconds, and then we did 3 rounds descend 1 to 3 on 20 seconds, and then the last 3 rounds were all out fast on 20 seconds down there. In between we did some easy swing between each fall, but that would be an example of speed endurance fly set that, like I said, we did with pop star, Cody Simpson.

I coached Cody Simpson to do a speed endurance butterfly set, where he did 3 rounds of 425s on 30 seconds, 3 rounds on 25 seconds, 3 rounds on 20 seconds, and 3 all out fast rounds on 20 seconds. In between the rounds, we had him take some easy swings.

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Brett Hawke is a former competitive swimmer and coach. He represented Australia at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics and won 7 international medals. As an Auburn Tigers swimmer, he earned 17 All-American honors and 9 NCAA titles. After his pro swimming career, he became an Assistant Coach at Auburn University. At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, he guided Cesar Cielo to victory in the Men's 50 Freestyle. Cesar's gold medal swim was the first in Brazil's history.  At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Brett helped guide Bruno Fratus to a Bronze medal in the Men's 50 Free. Today, Brett hosts the #1 swimming podcast in the world, “Inside with Brett Hawke” where he interviews some of the world’s highest performing swimmers (and humans). He is also the Head of Creator Acquisition at AnyQuestion!