This two-minute long video was made from edited clips of underwater footage of Grant Hackett doing the front crawl. The Australian is a great distance swimmer.
Check out his pull technique: he bends his elbow but his arm goes back to the outside each time, instead of to his chest. Many beginner swimmers try to pull to their chests, and that makes it much more work and means their hip rotation isn’t sufficient.
Even though there is a lot to learn from watching Olympic swimmers on video, remember that they swim in a pool and aren’t competing in a three-event race. Some of them even have added a sense of individuality to their strokes that you shouldn’t copy – these men and women have their techniques perfected so they can afford to have these little quirks.
All in all, it’s fun to watch these videos, but don’t feel like you have to study Hackett or Phelps or Thorpe in order to be successful in your triathlon swim.