The triathlon I am signed up for has a 300 m pool swim, so I have been practicing my flip turns.
I was on a swim team in high school (20 some years ago). I always did a flip and a twist all in one motion. Well…I was watching TV (no idea what show) and they showed a girl doing a flip turn, using an underwater camera. She did the flip and was upside down when she pushed off the wall…then did a twist of her torso to get herself right again. It looked so much faster and more efficient. All my years of being on a swim team, and no-one ever taught me to do it that way. :redface:
Here’s a good description of proper way to do a flip turn…with photos. Look for the English version in blue text on that page…
http://www.svl.ch/flipturn.html