Columnist disses Phelps, slams swimming

It's possibly correct to say Bolt is a better all around athlete than Phelps - depending on how you measure better athlete. The only fair way to measure athleticism would be to have both athletes compete in some sort of all around competition involving multiple athletic disciplines. Phelps obviously had a huge edge in the water, Bolt on the land. Bolt is most likely physically stronger (i.e could bench press more, squat more, and so on). Bolt would most likely have an edge in pretty much every land based competition - as in, Bolt would most likely take Phelps in a game of one-on-one basketball. The only other way to measure who is the best all around is dominance in their respective sports. The simple answer is that Phelps did more events, won more gold, and thus was more dominant than Bolt. Getting into the technical details of which sport requires more skill or talent, or who had better competition is at best a toss up and in the end a matter of opinion. I am curious how you make the assumption that just because Phelps is a swimmer that Bolt would "most likely have an edge in pretty much every land based competition"? Being a swimmer and still being able to run 5 to 5 1/2 minute miles myself when I was younger I don't see how you can make that assumption..... Can you please explain how you came up with that?

It's possibly correct to say Bolt is a better all around athlete than Phelps - depending on how you measure better athlete. The only fair way to measure athleticism would be to have both athletes compete in some sort of all around competition involving multiple athletic disciplines. Phelps obviously had a huge edge in the water, Bolt on the land. Bolt is most likely physically stronger (i.e could bench press more, squat more, and so on). Bolt would most likely have an edge in pretty much every land based competition - as in, Bolt would most likely take Phelps in a game of one-on-one basketball. The only other way to measure who is the best all around is dominance in their respective sports. The simple answer is that Phelps did more events, won more gold, and thus was more dominant than Bolt. Getting into the technical details of which sport requires more skill or talent, or who had better competition is at best a toss up and in the end a matter of opinion. I am curious how you make the assumption that just because Phelps is a swimmer that Bolt would "most likely have an edge in pretty much every land based competition"? Being a swimmer and still being able to run 5 to 5 1/2 minute miles myself when I was younger I don't see how you can make that assumption..... Can you please explain how you came up with that?