Interesting article that partially debunks the "longer is faster" notion. Although even according to this article, this principle does hold true at sprinting speeds.
Still, the "length of your vessel" issue is different in swimming from boat design in one important way: short of some macabre surgical procedures, none of us gets to choose our length. We're born with it. So our only choice is what to do with the length we've got. My guess is that for any individual's given length, they're faster (compared to themselves) when they are stretched out and keeping themselves long in the water. I can't back this up with any scientific studies, but it just seems that the only way to be less stretched out is to be somewhat floppier in the water, which seems like it would negatively impact resistance, hence speed.
Interesting article that partially debunks the "longer is faster" notion. Although even according to this article, this principle does hold true at sprinting speeds.
Still, the "length of your vessel" issue is different in swimming from boat design in one important way: short of some macabre surgical procedures, none of us gets to choose our length. We're born with it. So our only choice is what to do with the length we've got. My guess is that for any individual's given length, they're faster (compared to themselves) when they are stretched out and keeping themselves long in the water. I can't back this up with any scientific studies, but it just seems that the only way to be less stretched out is to be somewhat floppier in the water, which seems like it would negatively impact resistance, hence speed.
