Can a woman beat a man in swimming?

Hi all - Back in the 1970's I had the opportunity to swim in the California HS State Championships at Belmont where one Shirley Babashof blew away all kinds of male swimmers in her age group. (Calif HS Assoc allowed this as she had no competition on the girls side.) As an anchor on my schools' relay, standing next to her as an anchor on her schools relay, it was quite a treat. Of course she blew my doors off! :bow: In the early 80's, in college, I watched as collegiate program after collegiate program fell to Title 9, but not because women couldn't compete, or practice with the men. I think alot of the Division 3 schools have it figured out, where their teams essentially practice together (with alot of the women leading the lanes in workouts), while still maintaining the separate events and record books. In short, I think it is possible that we may see a woman eclipse the record books in our lifetimes.

Hi all - Back in the 1970's I had the opportunity to swim in the California HS State Championships at Belmont where one Shirley Babashof blew away all kinds of male swimmers in her age group. (Calif HS Assoc allowed this as she had no competition on the girls side.) As an anchor on my schools' relay, standing next to her as an anchor on her schools relay, it was quite a treat. Of course she blew my doors off! :bow: In the early 80's, in college, I watched as collegiate program after collegiate program fell to Title 9, but not because women couldn't compete, or practice with the men. I think alot of the Division 3 schools have it figured out, where their teams essentially practice together (with alot of the women leading the lanes in workouts), while still maintaining the separate events and record books. In short, I think it is possible that we may see a woman eclipse the record books in our lifetimes.