Why don't we see any big Asian swimmers? Are their body composition just not suitable for swimming. I'm of direct Asian descent and I want to know if I can become good in the sport.
Former Member
Ethinicty has nothing to do with becoming a good swimmer. Lots of hard work and good technique will make you a good swimmer :)
Originally posted by spintwo
Why don't we see any big Asian swimmers? Are their body composition just not suitable for swimming. I'm of direct Asian descent and I want to know if I can become good in the sport.
Ang Peng Siong
"Fastest Swimmer In The World" 1982
www.apsswim.com/angPS.htm
Wow flashback to the dolphin kick posts for Kosuke Kitajima --bad memories man, bad memories...
Some of the best swimmers have been on the smaller side, Janet Evens for example, most of her record breaking swims were done before she actually hit her major growth spirt.
Asian countries have not really hit it too big in swimming in the past few years --lets say 10 years, unless it was for controversy for steroid use in the women's sector.
Is "competitive” swimming a cultural thing and therefore HUGE in some countries like Australia or US and not such the rage like in Africa or the Middle East? Granted the last Olympics (2004) we saw some really awesome races from countries that no one thought would be competitive.
Do athletes train in one country and represent in their homeland have better results (yea I kinda think so after seeing some of the Olympic athletes who train in the US or swim in US colleges and place awesome in the Olympics for their homelands!)
However, I tend to think that the US is a very wealthy country and swimming is a sport that requires families, the individual to foot a big bill for the enjoyment of the sport (club fees, USA swimming membership, travel, meets, suits goggles, caps, training tools, etc) and it is not until a swimmer hits a certain time zone/cut that the national team will pick them up for sponsorship/scholarship. Maybe some other countries don't subscribe to this type of athletic system and therefore the athlete has to pick up the financial burden in other ways in addition to training.
But after all this rambling, does it matter what ethnicity some one is in regards to how they will perform as a swimmer? No way! Genetics plays a part in one's physical attributes and talents, but the environment can play a bigger role and compensate for genetics. Most important is the desire and enjoyment of the swimming.
Go back a little further the Japanese swimmers were the ones to beat, in the 1932 Olympics. Their mens team won many more golds than even the USA team. I was not born then but my coach always told us your body size was not important and always referred to the way the Japanese swam in 1932.
George
Both the Kirk sisters are half-asian. Their mother is chinese. But I agree that having to be over 6 foot for men and 5'8" for women makes it hard for asians and hispanics to succeed at the higher levels of swimming and that also goes for us short white people as well.
is listed on various NBA sites as being either 7' 5" OR 7' 6" (not a huge difference when you're THAT tall).
One of my sports med docs (also Chinese) has a picture taken of the two of them---the doctor is only about 5' 7"---comes to just above his elbow!
I believe Yao Ming (Houston Rockets) is over 6 feet.
Many people don't realize that the genetic differences between races are less than the differences between any two (unrelated) individuals. The concept of race is not grounded in science (unlike the classification of species, etc.).
Originally posted by Alicat
Is "competitive” swimming a cultural thing and therefore HUGE in some countries like Australia or US and not such the rage like in Africa or the Middle East? Granted the last Olympics (2004) we saw some really awesome races from countries that no one thought would be competitive.
Something pretty impressive about the Olympics this year was swimmers from five continents won medals. I doubt that has ever happened before!
