Sind Schwimmer groß? | Die durchschnittliche Größe eines Schwimmers
8 Kommentare
“….Olympic medals are sometimes decided on thousandths of a second! "
I totally agree with Bob Dodds. The regulations show be changed to accommodate this fact."
With current swimming rules, height is an unfair advantage. Tall swimmers swim less distance than shorter swimmers. This is because the rules require you start with your feet on the blocks, but finish with your hand. Marilyn Vos Savant agreed with this assertion, but noted that the advantage is small. That’s true, but Olympic medals are sometimes decided on thousandths of a second! For the 50 M freestyle event at least, you should have to finish by touching with your feet to make the event fair.
I’m 5’8" and have been a swimmer my whole life. Form really makes a difference but I think that no other sport requires specific body shapes, except perhaps basketball, like swimming does. My masters swimming coach wore size 14 shoes. It was like he had flippers on! By contrast, I wear size 8 1/2 shoes and my hands are only slightly larger than my wife’s. I work on form all the time, but form only gets you so far.
I am tall and not successful. Does that count too? 😁 But seriously, a good read. Thanks for that! As mentioned in your article, it depends on the whole biomechanics. Size can be, but doesn’t have to be, an “added plus” out of many aspects.
I’ve always thought that tall swimmers have an advantage. At the starting line, at 5’8", Michael Phelps already has a 10" lead. LOL, but also, seriously!
Well, that last paragraph just literally shot one of my excuses for being slow right out of the water.
Thank you! Interesting!
Really interesting article!