Phelps Photos

Do you think they're built a little heavier or more muscular than the other swimmers? I think Thorpe is that way but I never considered Phelps to be in that category. He's still young and hasn't developed completely physically.

Here's another -- diving in..... :)

....one more...during the post-race interview.... :)

I had no idea Phelps was built like me! Ha. HA.:p

Thorpe looks heavier and more substantial than most of the other swimmers, particularly in the lower body and hind quarters. We saw him swimming one preliminary race in a brief cut suit. He is very fit, but somehow more rounded than all of the other competitors. Phelps is more cut than most of the other swimmers, but his build is what's really unusual. Phelps has an elongated torso, very thin waist, and his legs are relatively short compared to other swimmers the same height. When he was walking out on deck with the other swimmers, his hips appeared significantly lower than other swimmers of the same height. He has very long arms and big hands, broad shoulders, a broad but relatively flat chest, and he is very thin when viewed from the side. His upper torso is shaped like a manta ray, his arms are reminiscent of a pterodactl. His hands are like canoe paddles. He also has tremendous thigh muscles. When he was wearing a brief cut suit in one of his preliminary races, he shook out his legs, and his thighs looked like those of a young Arnold Schwartzenegger. We saw all of the swimmers very close up, and there was nobody like Phelps. He is a very unusual swimmer.

I thought as a group, the male backstrokers had less chest development compared to the sprint freestylers and breaststrokers. We used to talk about how Spitz was double jointed so he could get longer propulsion from his strokes, now looking at Ian and Phelps, they both seemed so long in the torso. I thought Phelps towered above his competitors, but Ian was even taller! Of course now that Swimmer Bill is in great shape, he kind of looks like a combination of Ian, Phelps and Thorpedo. Now I could see Jody looking real close at the swimmers bodies, but shame on you Bill. I guess it was in the interest of science. With your seats, what women stood out to you?

Hey Bill, Thanks for singling out our local heroine, Rachel Komisarz. Interesting that she seems MORE fit to you than in 2000. I watched her swim all four years at the University of Kentucky as I officiated their meets, and I never saw any other female swimmers who looked as strong as she did. So now she's even stronger! Wow! She's worked very hard since 2000, and we're all so happy for her that it's paid off! Meg

Yes, Inky is not one I like to stand next to in the mornings. She's so fit and yet only 2 years younger than me. And boy has she been working on her tan lately.

Rachel Komisarz did not start competitive swimming until she was 15 years old after she had two broken vertebrae that ended her gymnastics career. She swam for Warren Mott HS in Michigan and in her senior year won two State High School titles in her 3rd year of swimming.

Komisarz was very strong and fit looking! After the preliminaries and semifinals, I believed she could make it. I was really cheering for her because she has been a registered Masters swimmer in the past, and she was one of SWIM Magazine's Masters Swimmers of the Year a couple years back. I also had a feeling about Kristin Caverly in the 200 back, but it was more because the field was wide open due to the absence of Natalie Coughlin and Diana MacManus. I was sad for Staciana Stitts because she was more fit and swam faster than she had in 2000. However, her best swim was not in the finals, so she missed the trip to Athens. Interestingly, in terms of being "built for swimming" I didn't see any female swimmers who are as genetically unique as Phelps is. There were several very tall women, but that was about the most unique characteristic I observed. Phelps is definitely very unusual!