hi all, I'm writing from Italy. Hope not to be politically incorrect, you know, sometimes one uses wrong expressions which may be offensive without knowing it - English is not my language.
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My question: has someone understood why there are no black swimmers at the top of the world rankings? is there a physiologic reason? Thank you Antonio
I have been following this thread and here are my thoughts:
The basic question, as I see it, is this: is there a connection between race and certain physical abilities? The question arises naturally when you take into account the lack of black success in swimming, the total domination of people of western African descent in the sprints and the same dominance of east Africans in the long distance runs.
The truth is that we don't know because there is, to the best of my knowledge, no real scientific research on the matter. It is a very delicate subject that brings bad memories. Also, undoubtedly there are many social, economical and even psychological factors involved.
Having said all that, I have to honestly state that all these factors do not satisfy me. Since the lack of black success in swimming has been discussed greatly here, allow me to address running.
All top men 100m. sprinters and nearly all women are of west African descent. The 10 second barrier has been broken 82 times, only one sprinter was white. Lack of black success in swimming can perhaps be explained to a large degree (but not totally IMHO) by social and economic factors, but running is trickier. There are plenty of white sprinters, especially in eastern Europe. They have good coaching and excellent facilities. There is also a great running tradition. Why don't they make it to the top?
The same question can be asked about the distance races. The sport of distance running is totally dominated by east Africans. Why? There is a great distance running tradition in many western countries, yet very very few world or Olympic champions.
Therefore, I would have to say that this entire question is an open issue.
