As a petite female in her upper 30's is there anything I can do to overcome my height limitation when it comes to competitive swimming?
I stand at 5ft. 2 1/2 inches and know that I'm at a disadvantage purely based on my height alone. Are there certain events that would be better geared towards the petite swimmer than other events?
As a petite female in her upper 30's is there anything I can do to overcome my height limitation when it comes to competitive swimming?
I stand at 5ft. 2 1/2 inches and know that I'm at a disadvantage purely based on my height alone. Are there certain events that would be better geared towards the petite swimmer than other events?
Height will always be an advantage, but I've known quite a few very fast petite female swimmers. If you are a good endurance athlete, distance freestyle or even open water swimming might be a good fit. My recollection is that most petite swimmers I know tend to do better in the short axis strokes: breaststroke and butterfly. If you have a strong core and dolphin kick, go with butterfly; if you are pretty strong for your weight and have a good frog kick, give breaststoke a try.
But if you are in love with (say) sprint freestyle, don't worry too much about the fact that your head only reaches the shoulders of some of your competitors! There have been plenty of good swimmers who have beat those odds. Small-stature sprinters can often overcome a lack of height with excellent kicking and a fast turnover (and plenty of fast-twitch muscles).
Also: coachrickswimming.com/.../
Good luck!
As a petite female in her upper 30's is there anything I can do to overcome my height limitation when it comes to competitive swimming?
I stand at 5ft. 2 1/2 inches and know that I'm at a disadvantage purely based on my height alone. Are there certain events that would be better geared towards the petite swimmer than other events?
Height will always be an advantage, but I've known quite a few very fast petite female swimmers. If you are a good endurance athlete, distance freestyle or even open water swimming might be a good fit. My recollection is that most petite swimmers I know tend to do better in the short axis strokes: breaststroke and butterfly. If you have a strong core and dolphin kick, go with butterfly; if you are pretty strong for your weight and have a good frog kick, give breaststoke a try.
But if you are in love with (say) sprint freestyle, don't worry too much about the fact that your head only reaches the shoulders of some of your competitors! There have been plenty of good swimmers who have beat those odds. Small-stature sprinters can often overcome a lack of height with excellent kicking and a fast turnover (and plenty of fast-twitch muscles).
Also: coachrickswimming.com/.../
Good luck!
