What kind of body proportion is good for swimming? When one stands upright, a short torso and long legs are better proportion. Is the opposite true for swimming? Long torso is good for swimming, but seems long legs, too?
From what I seen, it really doesn't matter what body type women are. I trained with a bulky backstroker and a very skinny backstroke, both made Senior National Cuts. I trained with a short breatstrokers and tall breaststroker, both of whom made at least Junior National cuts. The tall one made the NCAA Div I champs. I am sure that the little breaststroker wasn't too happy about that one. Look at Janet Evans, she was this little thing in 1988 beating the crap out of those East German Women.
It's good to be taller in general, however best to be very effective in the water.
--mj
I think this is the right viewpoint and I think the other comments around length being more of an advantage in long axis strokes also holds true. I'm tall (6'4") and am always reminded of how much height CAN be an advantage when I show up to a Nationals meet and see guys my size or bigger. In my day-to-day life outside of the pool, I rarely look people in the eye ... in the last heats of my freestyle events, I'm almost always looking people in the eye (or up to guys like Tall Paul).
Some ballpark stats from the current roster of 35 guys on the Texas men's swim team (I excluded the divers):
Only 3 under 6 feet ... and they're each listed as 5'10
Average height of 6'2"
Max height of 6'7"
Upper quartile is 6'4"
I bet if you pulled down stats from most of the Top 10 Division I teams, you'd see relatively similar numbers.
With that said, I have been constantly beaten throughout my swimming life by guys who are shorter to much shorter than me. For some reason, that bugs me more than getting beaten by someone taller than me.
There are so many more factors at play ...
In my day-to-day life outside of the pool, I rarely look people in the eye ...
Does being too tall give one a kind of loneliness that other people don't experience?
Never thought of it that way, but that might explain a lot:)
When you look around trying to find someone to talk to, you don't see anyone. Shorties are never lonely :D
Correction: Shorties can only talk to people's pants :D
