Strength of top swimmers

I used to train with top-level swimmers around a decade ago. I don’t know any of the elite swimmers these days, but I do have some old school perspective. I could definitely bench 300 while in college and swimming (I did it fairly easily at a weight of 185 my senior year). My strength also greatly declined when the swimming yardage went up, so when I was broken down, my lifting numbers also decreased. Hitting good numbers in the weight room for a lift like the bench press is fairly irrelevant for most swimmers. Swimmer aren’t football players. Some of the fastest guys I knew would rep around 185 to 200. When I quit swimming, there was a period when I focused on lifting and all of my numbers dramatically increased. I was stronger for those lifts, but that doesn’t mean that I was a faster swimmer, it just means I could bench/squat/deadlift more. It’s funny because most swimmers (sprinters) have physiques more closely resembling basketball players (who rely on quickness), and yet no one is that concerned about Michael Jordan’s bench press. For the sprints, it’s about quickness and power, but not the kind of power that you need for a deadlift. In the end, swimmers are fairly weak compared to other athletes that utilize movements that more closely mimic their sport. I absolutely believe that lifting is critical to going fast in swimming; however, I don’t believe a swimmer will ever push big weights relative to other power sports. Look at Ben Wildman-Tobriner. He tore things while bench pressing, probably with an amount of weight suitable for a girl, and yet he made the team in the 50 free. As for guys like Tiger Woods, benching 300 is very believable to me (and really not that impressive), especially since his sport doesn’t involve tearing down his body. As a matter of fact, I would be very surprised if he couldn’t do it. It’s funny to me that he suffered a knee injury though. Maybe golf is a contact sport after all. In the end, I don't know much but it's my two cents.

I used to train with top-level swimmers around a decade ago. I don’t know any of the elite swimmers these days, but I do have some old school perspective. I could definitely bench 300 while in college and swimming (I did it fairly easily at a weight of 185 my senior year). My strength also greatly declined when the swimming yardage went up, so when I was broken down, my lifting numbers also decreased. Hitting good numbers in the weight room for a lift like the bench press is fairly irrelevant for most swimmers. Swimmer aren’t football players. Some of the fastest guys I knew would rep around 185 to 200. When I quit swimming, there was a period when I focused on lifting and all of my numbers dramatically increased. I was stronger for those lifts, but that doesn’t mean that I was a faster swimmer, it just means I could bench/squat/deadlift more. It’s funny because most swimmers (sprinters) have physiques more closely resembling basketball players (who rely on quickness), and yet no one is that concerned about Michael Jordan’s bench press. For the sprints, it’s about quickness and power, but not the kind of power that you need for a deadlift. In the end, swimmers are fairly weak compared to other athletes that utilize movements that more closely mimic their sport. I absolutely believe that lifting is critical to going fast in swimming; however, I don’t believe a swimmer will ever push big weights relative to other power sports. Look at Ben Wildman-Tobriner. He tore things while bench pressing, probably with an amount of weight suitable for a girl, and yet he made the team in the 50 free. As for guys like Tiger Woods, benching 300 is very believable to me (and really not that impressive), especially since his sport doesn’t involve tearing down his body. As a matter of fact, I would be very surprised if he couldn’t do it. It’s funny to me that he suffered a knee injury though. Maybe golf is a contact sport after all. In the end, I don't know much but it's my two cents.