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So I read this and the study did not take into account physiology, or more specifically height when measuring underwater kicking performance.
I would be curious if shorter swimmers can underwater kick as fast or faster than taller swimmers and if they should work to exploit this more than the typical effort given to underwater kicking.
At a much, much lower level of performance than the Thomans and Phelps out there, I can anecdotally attest to the ease of shorter swimmers at SDK. I'm 5'9" and usually have some of the best underwaters at meets, and have the best at practice. At the bigger meets, I'm usually one of the shortest in my heat, if not the shortest. Relatively speaking, I've got a long torso and shorter legs. One of my teammates is 6'1" with a shorter torso and longer legs. We swam the 100 back next to each other a few weeks ago and I crushed him underwater. He made up ground on the surface, but I definitely had an advantage underwater, even with both of us taking about the same number of kicks off each wall.
At a much, much lower level of performance than the Thomans and Phelps out there, I can anecdotally attest to the ease of shorter swimmers at SDK. I'm 5'9" and usually have some of the best underwaters at meets, and have the best at practice. At the bigger meets, I'm usually one of the shortest in my heat, if not the shortest. Relatively speaking, I've got a long torso and shorter legs. One of my teammates is 6'1" with a shorter torso and longer legs. We swam the 100 back next to each other a few weeks ago and I crushed him underwater. He made up ground on the surface, but I definitely had an advantage underwater, even with both of us taking about the same number of kicks off each wall.
