From another thread:
> I have no interest in short distances since I have no fast-twitch fibers to speak of.
It's been decades since I was a physiology student, but I have to wonder if fast twitch fibers would be really all that useful to swimming, even to the short sprints. Maybe for 25s. I would think that larger cross sectional area of the swimming musculature (more available power) and the ability to recruit more muscle fibers simultaneously (using a larger fraction of the power on tap) would be more important for sprinting. Are there published studies which demonstrate that drop dead sprinters have a significantly different distribution of fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers than the rest of the swimming population?
because dara (worlds best in the 50m free at the time) had the LEAST fast twitch muscle of all of us. according to her thigh muscle composition, she should have been a distance racer not the worlds best sprinter. if i remember correctly she was 75% red and 25% white. myself was 55% red (the slow) and 45% white (the fast).I can't explain Dara except that maybe she missed her true calling, but this does explain why you're able to blast from the 50 to the 1650.
because dara (worlds best in the 50m free at the time) had the LEAST fast twitch muscle of all of us. according to her thigh muscle composition, she should have been a distance racer not the worlds best sprinter. if i remember correctly she was 75% red and 25% white. myself was 55% red (the slow) and 45% white (the fast).I can't explain Dara except that maybe she missed her true calling, but this does explain why you're able to blast from the 50 to the 1650.
