What makes the perfect swimmer’s body?

Although swimmers with a wide range of body types succeed in the sport, most are similar at the international level, with large, muscular bodies – typically with long torsos, long arms and short legs. This begs the question: If you could hypothetically construct the perfect swimmer’s body in the lab, what would it look like?

Although it is not possible to create a body that is perfect for all competitions due to the many different distances and styles of swimming, research has shown that there are certain physical characteristics that produce the best swimmers.

Height

One of the most obvious physical factors that gives swimmers a significant advantage in the pool is height. This is clearly evident in many elite male swimmers at the international level. Nathan Adrian is 1.98 m tall and Kliment Kolesnikov And Michael Andrew Both are 1.96 m (6 feet 5 inches) tall.

Many of the top women in the world are also tall, as world record holders Sarah Sjostrom And Katie Ledecky are both 1.83 m tall, while the gold medalists in the 100 m freestyle Simone Manuel And Penny Oleksiak are 1.80 m and 1.95 m tall respectively. In fact, the average height of the 2016 Olympic finalists in Rio was Height is 1.884 m (6 feet and 2 inches) for men and 1.755 m (5 feet and 9 inches) for women. Both heights are significantly taller than the average human.

Anthropometry

Anthropometry can be simply defined as the study of human body measurements and physical differences between people. In swimming, some athletes have certain physical differences in addition to their height that give them an advantage in the pool. Swimmers with a large wingspan, for example, have a clear advantage because they can reach further and pull more water with each stroke.

In fact, an investigation was conducted by the former world record holder in the 100-meter freestyle and former coach of the US national team. Jonty Skinner found that “limb length and size play a large role in competitive potential, and the relationship between arm length and height gives a better picture of the athlete’s potential. Swimmers with a high anthropometry score – that is, their arms are relatively long in relation to their height – tend to perform best in the long-axis strokes of freestyle and backstroke.”

Shorter legs have also proven to be advantageous for swimmers, as they allow them to generate more power without creating much resistance. Other anthropometric characteristics that favor fast swimming include large hands, feet, and lungs. Large hands and feet act as natural paddles and fins, while large lungs increase natural buoyancy and endurance.

Focus

Every swimmer has a point of balance in the water – the so-called center of gravity. The closer this is to the center of buoyancy (the lungs), the easier it is for the body to float horizontally with little or no effort on the part of the athlete. The location of the body’s center of gravity near the lungs is one of the main reasons why many elite swimmers have a very long torso, often shaped like a triangle.

flexibility

Flexibility, especially in the shoulders and ankles, is a huge advantage for swimmers and a huge advantage when looking for the perfect swimming body. Flexible shoulders allow swimmers to rotate their bodies while maintaining their grip in the water during the long axle strokes. During the short entry strokes, swimmers with flexible shoulders can push their chest down more, making their strokes longer and more efficient.

Good ankle flexibility is crucial for a powerful kick. Flexible ankles increase the surface area of ​​the foot, essentially making the foot act more like a fin and allowing you to push more water backwards, increasing propulsion. Flexible ankles also allow the gluteus maximus and quadriceps, two of the largest muscles in the body, to exert more power.

Although natural flexibility of joints is generally a genetically inherited trait, it is possible to become more flexible through stretching.

Overstretching

Hyperextension of a joint means that it can extend beyond a straight line. This is also known as double jointing. When an elbow or knee is double jointed, the arm or leg can bend further back. This physical characteristic is beneficial to swimmers because they can capture more water with each stroke and expel a greater volume of water with each kick.

Fast-twitch vs. slow-twitch muscle fibers

There are There are two general types of skeletal muscle fibers: slow-twitch and fast-twitch. Slow-twitch muscles are less explosive but are better suited to endurance sports such as long-distance swimming, whereas fast-twitch muscles are much stronger and are used in powerful bursts of movement such as sprinting, but they fatigue much more quickly.

In fact, there are two types of fast-twitch fibers: A and B. Fast-twitch A fibers can be used for either aerobic or anaerobic training, while fast-twitch B fibers are geared towards anaerobic conditions.

The composition of a swimmer’s muscle fibers – particularly the balance between slow-twitch (ST) and fast-twitch (FT) fibers – is a critical factor in a swimmer’s potential. The athletes with the greatest number of FT-A fibers are thought to have the greatest potential in the sport of swimming. They have the potential to swim a wide range of disciplines. Skinner believes that both Mark Spitz And Tracy Caulkins probably had an unusually large number of FT-A fibers, which would explain their versatility.

The perfect swimmer

As already mentioned, due to the wide variety of different disciplines and swimming styles, it is impossible to have the perfect swimming body. Michael Phelps‘ Body is closer to perfection than the body of any other swimmer in history.

Phelps has many anthropometric advantages. He is very tall, 6’4″, with a 6′ wingspan, and short, powerful legs as large as a 6’1″ man. He also has huge hands and feet, and his upper body is as large as you would expect from a 6’1″ man, giving him both high natural buoyancy and high lung capacity. Phelps also has exemplary shoulder and ankle flexibility and has hyperextensions in his joints. His unparalleled versatility indicates that he had an unusually high number of FT-A muscle fibers, as no swimmer in history has been able to win eight gold medals in a single Olympics.

Although there are currently some other swimmers who have exceptional natural talent – ​​such as Caeleb Dressel with his unmatched sprint speed and Ledecky with her inhuman endurance – no other swimmer in history had a body as specialized for swimming as Phelps.

Mental strength

While the previous qualities all cover the physical advantages of the ideal swimmer, the most important quality to becoming a fast swimmer is mental toughness. Discipline, focus, confidence and a good work ethic are arguably just as important as physical talent. There is a lot of truth in this Pattie JohnsonQuote from: “If you are physically capable of winning a gold medal, the rest is 90 percent mental.”

The best swimmers in the world had to work hard totranslate their natural abilities into results. Without a growth mindset where you’re constantly looking for ways to improve, you won’t reach your full potential, no matter how talented you are.

So what do you do if you don’t have the perfect swimmer’s body? Ultimately, you can’t control your body and your natural talent. However, with hard work and dedication, you can make the most of your natural talent and still achieve greatness in the sport.

All comments are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine or its staff.