Who have actually acquired wide shoulders due to swimming?

I have naturally wide shoulders - and narrower hips, simply due to bone structure. I do notice when I swim, I carry more muscle in my upper body - lats, arms, and lots of smaller back muscles. The effect of having more muscle on my upper body makes me look even wider in the shoulders. I swam in college and needed a size 6 skirt and a size 14 jacket for an interview suit in the early 80's. Due to size inflation, I fit more easily into tops now, but sometimes can't find skirts, pants or shorts that are small enough. And I have tops that fit in the shoulders and are enormous around the waist. So, jackets are hard unless they are custom made. --mj

Here is a video that shows the thick necks: YouTube - Aaron Peirsol 200m Backstroke Watch at about 0:15 :) Watched it and sorry but I have no idea what you are talking about. These guys look 100x better than your average young/ middle aged man.

Watched it and sorry but I have no idea what you are talking about. These guys look 100x better than your average young/ middle aged man. I'm not saying they don't look good, but just wondering whether swimming has to do with the thick neck (doesn't his neck look almost wider than his head?). I remember seeing some other swimmers on TV during the Olympics that also had this peculiar feature.

I have naturally wide, broad shoulders... so wide as a matter of fact that a couple times people asked if I was a swimmer before I began swimming six months ago (despite being way overweight too). So I guess they're just going to get even wider. As for the thick necks... I read one person somewhere say it's from all those fast-twitch muscles built in during all those years of turning the head real quick to the side for a breath. I don't know how true that is.

I can tell you this: I began my 2nd swim career at 37 after letting myself go a bit for 15 years. After a year and 8 months (building up to pretty hard-core) the muscles that developed most dramatically are in this order: Triceps Shoulders Lats Core/(the V-thing my wife likes) waist shrunk too And chest - though differently than you might think...it shrunk - lost man-boobs and it got firm Legs dropped weight, but nothing too drastic. I do no training other than swimming. So this is 100% swim related, along with good dietary habits. Like someone said, my frame is no bigger, but the shoulder muscles at the tops of my arms are well defined as they taper down to my arm. Kind of roundish muscles. I do feel broader than I did a couple of years ago. At least in the right places. Hope that helps. Blue

I can't really say that I have tremendous shoulders. I'm not as tall as many male swimmers. I'm 5'9 1/2'' and a quite lean built. I only started swimming in my early Twenties. I have wider shoulders than I had without swimming but compared to some swimmers I look like a squirt:bitching: Am I doing something wrong or do those swimmers that look totally like swimmers just swim a lot more(I train about 3000-4000 yards 4-5 times a week). I used to train every day in the lane next to National swimmers. I hated standing next to them in the shower. I felt like cheetah next to Tarzan:D

This one is for Mr. Thornton, Jim, where DO your massively manly shoulders and other aspects of that impressive physique come from? I figured someone needed to ask.

Someone of the opposite sex who usually doesn't bother to acknowledge my existence told me I was broad last week. Based on this scientific research, it takes 13 months to become broad.

In high school, I ran cross country and I swam. There was definitely a noticable difference in my shoulders after swimming, they would shrink back to normal size when I started running again after swimming was over. My friends always made fun of me, but secretly I know they were jealous. :)

My shoulders/lats have definitely gotten wider, more muscular since I started swimming again as an adult. My husband says I scare him when I stretch and he sees all the muscles :D