Best (Underwater) Swimmers

What's the fastest way to move through the water? Under the surface of course. Away from those pesky waves, a meter deep, where you can cut through that clean still water like a great white shark overcome with blood lust. It takes a special breed of human to take advantage of the depths (super-sized lungs and impossible flexibility tend to help...), yet these days, the so-called "5th Stroke" tends to be under-appreciated. Due to the 15-meter restriction off every wall, the extreme advantages of underwater kicking might have been reeled in but they're not to be overlooked. Especially when some of the true masters of the craft are in action today... Here are eight of the all-time greats beneath the surface:

8. Neil Walker
Perhaps the only swimmer ever to display dominant underwaters in three strokes, Walker was world class in the 100 fly, back, and free, and he used his time before the strokes to devastating effect. I still have grim memories of a long ago 100 butterfly in Austin, Texas, one lane over from Walker. I took about 20 strokes as I watched from the corner of a goggled eye as he shot away seemingly right beneath me. A multi-stroke Olympian in 2000 after the 15-meter rule was passed, Walker didn't need his underwaters to win, but had he been allowed to stay under he may have been on top of the podium in Sydney.

7. Denis Pankratov
If Alex Popov was the Russian Rocket, then his countryman Pankratov was the Russian Nuclear Submarine. Pankratov helped revolutionize the butterfly by taking it underwater. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, he swept both butterflies, swimming on the surface as little as possible. He would be ranked higher on this list, if not for one hard-to-ignore detail: Pankratov was doing more than kicking down there. Watch the old tapes - he wasn't streamlining; he was skulling with both hands as he kicked. But as they say, no harm, no foul!

6. Natalie Coughlin
Coughlin claims that in every workout since she was a kid, she takes at least eight dolphins off every wall. Its that discipline, along with her insane flexibility that have made her the greatest underwater female kicker of her generation. Has anyone ever watched a Coughlin race - in any event - when she didn't surface in the lead? Her backstroke has always been something to behold, but its those underwaters that propelled her to become the first woman in history to claim 100 back gold at back to back Olympics.

5. Ryan Lochte
Those in the know say this guy could be the best kicker alive today. David Berkoff, who knows just a bit about this matter, thinks that if the 15-meter rule wasn't on the books, Lochte would be going 51 in the 100 back.
(http://www.swimnetwork.com/blogs/blog/20080123/exclusive_interview_with_underwater_kick_king_david_berkoff-199.html) I've also heard stories of Lochte going 19+ in the 50 in workout, ONLY kicking, no strokes whatsoever.

4. Misty Hyman
There was nothing like watching her swim the 200 fly. Especially for 200 flyers who knew the obscene oxygen debt she was going through on that last lap, when she still forced herself to stay under. There were more than a few who wrote off her chances after the 15-meter rule was extended to the fly, but Misty more than made do. At the 2000 Games in Sydney, staying under the full 15 off every wall, she delivered one of the all-time upsets in Olympic history. Speaking to her recently, she says she's baffled by the lack of swimmers taking full advantage of this obvious edge today...

3. David Berkoff
The man who brought us the "Berkoff Blastoff" and transformed his stroke. For many of my generation, he's still the first name to come to mind when we think of underwater kicking. In 1988, Berkoff revolutionized his event, as he disappeared off the start in the 100 back and stayed under for another 35 meters. He used the Blastoff to break the world record at the U.S. Olympic Trials, and then again in the prelims of the Seoul Olympics. He's not ranked a notch higher on this list thanks to the guy who beat him at his own game.

2. Daichi Suzuki
Japan's Daichi Suzuki was a disciple of the underwater blast for as long as his American rival, Berkoff. He wasn't an imitator but a fellow innovator, developing his own art on the other side of the Pacific. In the finals in Seoul, the spotlight was firmly on Berkoff, yet it was Suzuki who had the last word, blasting to gold while remaining beneath the surface for over half the race. Thanks to Suzuki and Berkoff, the technique was instantly imitated - and then, after it was banned in backstroke, the flyers soon followed suit.

1. Michael Phelps
Let's be honest, when making any all-time list, the instinct is to award any ties to somone else. Not because Phelps doesn't deserve it, but because he's on top of so many lists that sometimes one just wants to share the wealth. Still, where underwater kicking is concerned, how can anyone surpass him? We've all seen him stay under on that last wall of the 400 IM on his way to so many world record swims, yet it still defies belief. Yes, we all know it's freakish talent, but it's also something more - something that defines every great underwater master: Supreme self-discipline.