ok. so most of us are not 100% happy with our bodies but then, i was wondering how much does this affest our speed exactly.For my age(16) im pretty short and, i was wondering just how big a disadvantage this is to me and, in what strokes?
p.s. can anyone explain the scientific reason for taking salt when you have cramps& is there nething else you can take?exactly
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Former Member
I will give an example that I gave on another thread here.....Apparently one of the fastest young butterfliers in the world is only around 5'4'' (or maybe 5'5'') according to a friend of mine who lifeguards at my pool. The guy's name is Gil Stovall and he is a freshman at Georgia this year....He came in second at the SEC championships this year in the 200 fly with a 1:43.24.....Last year he set the High School state record in TN in the 100 fly with a 47.93......My friend (who is still in High School) grew up swimming as an agegrouper in TN from Memphis....the same place Gil swam for many years as an agegrouper....and so he has had the pleasure of watching Gil swim for many years growing up in the Memphis area.....He says that Gil has always been short and not really all that big (as in muscular) either....He attributes most of Gil's success to perfect stroke mechanics.....He says Gil has one of the smoothest (and prettiest) butterfly strokes he has ever seen.....Hearing about Gil reminded me of a guy that swam at SMU in the early 80's (who is a couple of years older than me)....named Ricardo Prado....another guy who was very short and not very big...(I think Ricardo was actually only about 5'3'' if I remember correctly??)....SMU had a great team back then....Steve Lundquist was a team mate of Ricardo's....anyway Ricardo won the 200 fly at NCAA his junior (and possible senior year I believe?) with a 1:43 low....once again Ricardo had an excellent stroke to make up for his lack of size......Gil Stovall also broke the 100 freestyle state record in TN last year with something like a 44.7 .....this shows that he has blazing speed in sprints as well!....something that we normally only attribute to taller swimmers like Gary Hall Jr. for example.
Newmastersswimmer
I will give an example that I gave on another thread here.....Apparently one of the fastest young butterfliers in the world is only around 5'4'' (or maybe 5'5'') according to a friend of mine who lifeguards at my pool. The guy's name is Gil Stovall and he is a freshman at Georgia this year....He came in second at the SEC championships this year in the 200 fly with a 1:43.24.....Last year he set the High School state record in TN in the 100 fly with a 47.93......My friend (who is still in High School) grew up swimming as an agegrouper in TN from Memphis....the same place Gil swam for many years as an agegrouper....and so he has had the pleasure of watching Gil swim for many years growing up in the Memphis area.....He says that Gil has always been short and not really all that big (as in muscular) either....He attributes most of Gil's success to perfect stroke mechanics.....He says Gil has one of the smoothest (and prettiest) butterfly strokes he has ever seen.....Hearing about Gil reminded me of a guy that swam at SMU in the early 80's (who is a couple of years older than me)....named Ricardo Prado....another guy who was very short and not very big...(I think Ricardo was actually only about 5'3'' if I remember correctly??)....SMU had a great team back then....Steve Lundquist was a team mate of Ricardo's....anyway Ricardo won the 200 fly at NCAA his junior (and possible senior year I believe?) with a 1:43 low....once again Ricardo had an excellent stroke to make up for his lack of size......Gil Stovall also broke the 100 freestyle state record in TN last year with something like a 44.7 .....this shows that he has blazing speed in sprints as well!....something that we normally only attribute to taller swimmers like Gary Hall Jr. for example.
Newmastersswimmer
