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?
Taller swimmers have an advantage on the surface due to less wave drag. They have no such advantage underwater. Leslie Livingston is a little taller than you. She has worked so that her underwater dolphin kicks are amazing and she set several Masters World Records.
I'm not quite as certain as you that tall swimmers don't have an advantage underwater. Tall swimmers also tend to have big feet, I've often wished that I had fins attached to my ankles like Phelps does with his size 14 feet, instead of my dainty little size 9 1/2 feet.
But I'll agree that height is less of an advantage for underwater kicking than surface swimming.
Taller swimmers have an advantage on the surface due to less wave drag. They have no such advantage underwater. Leslie Livingston is a little taller than you. She has worked so that her underwater dolphin kicks are amazing and she set several Masters World Records.
I'm not quite as certain as you that tall swimmers don't have an advantage underwater. Tall swimmers also tend to have big feet, I've often wished that I had fins attached to my ankles like Phelps does with his size 14 feet, instead of my dainty little size 9 1/2 feet.
But I'll agree that height is less of an advantage for underwater kicking than surface swimming.
