New e book breaks down the science behind swimming

World Drowning Prevention Day on July twenty fifth introduced consideration to the greater than 200,000 people who drown annually.

Hawaiʻi has the second-highest drowning charge within the nation, with about 800 people having drowned prior to now decade. Drowning can also be the top cause of child mortality beneath 15.

Teaching important swimming abilities is a trigger that creator Jan Prins has taken up in a brand new e book.

Prins is the previous head males’s swim coach for the University of Hawaiʻi and has coached for elite swimming groups internationally.

Courtesy Jan Prins

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Freestyle Biomechanics

HPR sat down with Prins to speak concerning the significance of swimming abilities and to study his latest e book, “Freestyle Biomechanics: The Science Behind the Strokes.” 

“This is a learned skill,” Prins mentioned. “You can be the most natural swimmer in the world, but somebody has to teach you.”

His new e book was revealed as a companion to his video sequence, which analyzes 35 years of footage of elite swimmers who had been filmed utilizing high-speed cameras.

“In swimming, even very subtle things you do that don’t work, we call them stroke defects, can make a huge difference,” Prins informed HPR.

“You can either run away or come and swim. But this is one of the most pleasurable things. It’s a life skill that you can use all the rest of your life.”

More details about Prins’ new publication, “Freestyle Biomechanics,” can be found here.

This story aired on The Conversation on July 29, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee tailored this story for the online.