I think that Johnny Weissmuller was better for his time than Mark Spitz because he was a natural. He workout not that much compared to Spitz who workout several times more yardage. Granted, Spitz did have the ideal olympics that porbably no other swimmer will do again. There is too much competition today compared to 1972 and there are few freestylers who can also won butterfly at the international level these days. This is for fun.
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Former Member
These hypothetical comparisons are interesting. Boxing enthusiasts have been comparing great fighters for years wondering who would have been the best boxer. Heck, they will always wonder if Joe Lewis was tougher the Ali...or Mike Tyson tougher the Ali..and so on and so on.
The same holds true in swimming. Johnny Weismuller swam very fast in a wool suit, no flip turns and without modern training methods, fast pools, lane lines etc. How fast could he have been? That questions will never be answered....but, it is fun to wonder.
I believe each was great....and we will always wonder who would have been the fastest. Having said that.... winning seven (7) gold medals in one Olympic Games is pretty tough to beat!
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Former Member
These hypothetical comparisons are interesting. Boxing enthusiasts have been comparing great fighters for years wondering who would have been the best boxer. Heck, they will always wonder if Joe Lewis was tougher the Ali...or Mike Tyson tougher the Ali..and so on and so on.
The same holds true in swimming. Johnny Weismuller swam very fast in a wool suit, no flip turns and without modern training methods, fast pools, lane lines etc. How fast could he have been? That questions will never be answered....but, it is fun to wonder.
I believe each was great....and we will always wonder who would have been the fastest. Having said that.... winning seven (7) gold medals in one Olympic Games is pretty tough to beat!
