PoolTalk

Forbes Carlile and lane ropes

Forbes Carlile -- athlete, coach, innovator. An excerpt from The Sydney Morning Herald:

"Carlile is best known as Shane Gould's coach. At 15, she won five medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics and held every freestyle world record. He coached other champions, including Karen Moras and Jenny Turrall, continuing the golden era started by Dawn Fraser.

Yet, his coaching career was just one triumph in a list of incredible achievements.

In becoming Australia's first Olympic pentathlete in 1952, Carlile worked closely with Australia's first sports scientist, Frank Cotton. They studied links between science and swimming and, over many years, Carlile introduced to the sport what are considered essential elements.

He founded interval work-outs, the pace clock, heart-rate tests, log books, ECGs and two-beat kicking. He pioneered work looking into physiological adaptation to stress and adapted goggles for swimming. He introduced to Australia lane ropes and circular swimming - using both lane sides so numerous swimmers could train simultaneously."

Building a faster pool

Can a pool be built to help swimmers swim fast? Read more about the pool planned for the world championships, in Melbourne. From The Age:

"The pool itself will be a record: the biggest temporary pool constructed. Having taken six weeks to be transported from Spain to Melbourne in 40 shipping containers, it will be erected from the first week of February.

Built by the AstralPool company, it will take three weeks to assemble the three-metre deep, 50 x 25 pool, and the company's marketing director, Pedro Arrebola, said everything possible had been done to appease those with a need for speed."