Can a woman beat a man in swimming?

Newsmasters swimmer..... better to have a good vibrant subject to throw around. Keeps the forum interesting.... :-) originally posted by the goodsmith Yes the subjects have been very vibrant.......I never get offended by a good debate either. .....I just felt like poking a little fun at you while I had the opportunity.....It's the ex-longhorn thing I guess. Newmastersswimmer

Newsmasters swimmer: Why don't you start a new controversial thread.... say something like........... Title 9 and the demise of mens' collegiate swimming. That'll get the blood flowing on the forum..... :-) John Smith

Newsmasters swimmer: Then again..... maybe not. John Smith

Yaeh......that thread may be a little too touchy.....even by your standards ....LOL! Newmastersswimmer p.s. Thing is I have basically agreed with your viewpoints on most of those semi-controversial threads you started....especially the one about foreign swimmers taking away scholarship opportunities from Americans......Not to bring that whole argument up again .....(just an example where we both saw it eye to eye).....that argument was brutal enough over in the other thread.

Originally posted by SwiminONandON In ultra marathons and other ridiculously long races the women beat the me ... it's the extra fat stores ... I'm serious! You sure about that? I just looked at the results for some of the famous ultramarathons (Hardrock, Western States, Wasatch) and the fastest man was always faster than the fastest woman--usually by a couple hours.

I went looking for this forum because while I wa in DC this past weekend, I "ran" into a woman who used to always say that some day a woman, very soon, a woman would run a marathon faster than a man. She used to say this in the mid 1980s. It hasn't happened. Now I'm even more sure that it won't. I don't think that a woman will ever beat a man at the same distance inthe same age group ( except maybe in really young age group swimmign).

In ultra marathons and other ridiculously long races the women beat the me ... it's the extra fat stores ... I'm serious!

Interesting..... are you saying that women are catching men and will pass them eventually, or do you believe there is an eventual ceiling for women before they hit the best man's time? John Smith

When Paula Radcliffe set her world record at the London Marathon 2003, she was the fastest British runner, male or female. Admittedly a few men of other nationalities did beat her but she came 15th overall. Her time of 2hr15min was the male male world record in about 1960.

To JS: I think I'd agree with the theme of what Hawaiiwoman is saying in the sense that, all other things being equal, men will beat women in athletic events. However, the differences are becoming smaller (see graph on the following link for marathon times) www.marathonguide.com/.../index.cfm With the narrow difference, when you have a situation like that with Paula Radcliffe, of an exceptionally talented woman against less talented men (and this could happen on an international scale) then the woman could win.