Lenny Krayzelburg can help you swim the backstroke faster and more comfortably. Follow his advice and you’ll never suck water up your nose or flail about helplessly again. Instead, you’ll stroke through the water smoothly and effortlessly. Although he’s only 23, Krayzelburg has been experimenting with backstroke - the only stroke in which he competes - for years. He’s done all the hard work. You just have to listen and look, then incorporate his tips into your next practice.

The 200-meter backstroke has long been Krayzelburg’s strength. He’s always enjoyed more success in long-course races and been far stronger in the 200 than in the 100. This is a good indication that his backstroke technique is something special, since backstrokers who excel at the underwater dolphin breakout can overcome shortcomings in pure swimming technique in shorter races and those swim in 25-yard pools.

Krayzelburg’s technique is what sets him apart from all those flailing in his wake. As you watch the finals of the 200-meter backstroke at the Sydney Olympics this summer, you may observe several things that Krayzelburg does better than anyone else.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: head position is crucial in all the strokes, and backstroke is no different. The better you get at keeping it in the neutral position, the higher your hips will ride in the water.

Krayzelburg’s head position in backstroke is the best of all current elite backstrokers. Krayzelburg keeps his head very low in the water, with only his face visible above the surface much of the time. "I was taught from a young age to keep my head parallel to the water line, not tuck my chin. It keeps me more relaxed and helps keep my hips higher, " he says.

Krayzelburg’s high hip position promotes fluid, effortless body roll, which makes him more slippery and more powerful at the same time.

"When I swim, I try to roll my hip completely out of the water with each body rotation," Krayzelburg explains. Although you won’t be able to see your hips as you swim backstroke, you can monitor your body roll by making sure that each shoulder completely clears the water during recovery on each stroke cycle.

Notice how Krayzelburg’s arms are always in perfect opposition. As his left arm is just making the catch, his right arm is just exiting the water. As his left arm passes the shoulder in the stroke, his right arm passes its shoulder in recovery. And as his left arm approaches the finish of the stroke, his right arm is preparing to enter the water.

"I just try to make sure my hand enters pinkie first, then I reach wider than most backstrokers for the catch. I feel as if I pull more water that way," he says. He does not try to guide the stroke once his hand has passed his shoulder. "The most important thing in the 200 is to stay comfortable," Krayzelburg says.

Krayzelburg’s next goal is to become an even better 100-meter backstroker. Toward that end, he is adding more speedwork to his training this summer.

"I’ll do short sets of 25s and sets like 10 x 50 with lots of easy swimming in between, but try to hold all 10 50s at 27.0 or better, " he explains.

If he can raise his dominance in the 100 to the same level he commands in the 200, Krayzelburg will have a shot at three gold medals in Sydney, since the best American 100-meter backstroker will also earn a slot on the favored 400-meter medley relay.

Not a bad future for a kid who could afford to swim only four hours a week in high school (his school didn’t have a swim team) and didn’t start training seriously until his freshman year at Santa Monica Junior College

In days of old, backstokers pushed off the blocks and surfaced almost immediately. Then along came David Berkoff, a backstroker at Harvard University, who pushed off the blocks and stayed underwater for a really long time. In a tightly streamlined position, doing rapid dolphin kicks, Berkoff broke the world record in the 100-meter backstroke. In 1988 alone, he broke the world record three times. He changed the face of backstroke. The rules have been amended to force an underwater breakout at least 15 meters after the start and each wall.

Fast forward to the late 1990s. Lenny Krayzelburg has honed the backstroke to a pure art form. Did you catch him during our Olympic Trials coverage in early August? The world record holder for the 100- and 200- meter backstroke told Swimmer how he turns the backstroke blast-off into a competitive advantage.