Why are some people so much faster?

Take your pick..... or combination...... 1. History and years of training in the sport 2. Natural talent, ability and feel for the water..... i.e. good genes 3. Current training regime and consistency 4. Drugs and supplements 5. Desire and Motivation

Have you checked their feet and hands--the sizes? :rolleyes:

I swim with a few triathletes, and they could run/bike cirlces around me, but in the water I go about 20-30cm per stroke farther than them. I can see when I swim by them that it has lots to due with their tech, arms, hands, kicking, body position and their overall cormfort level in the water. most of them are stiff when then swim.

Hi Amy, you asked: Why so many people on my swim team are so much faster than me not sure, it's all about technique, each persons previous training and current training, their body characteristics and the equipment. Are some people just born fast vs. slow in swimming and there is nothing you can do to change your natural speed? There's plenty you can do to change your speed. Is speed something you can achieve with hard work? yes and SMART WORK Why is everyone so much faster than me? because they are doing things that you aren't because they have abilities and skills you haven't developed yet What can I do to become fast like them? there's many things I cover all of what I know in Swim Faster Faster Read it apply it in your training do the sets in Help My Flutter Kick is Horrible! and Help my Flutter Kick is Horrible Also get individual one on one speed swimming instruction video yourself and put it on youtube, give folks the link Ande I have a question about why so many people on my swim team are so much faster than me. I have been on a year round swim team for over a year, and have been swimming competitively for about 4 years. I am still always the slowest on my team, and I get lapped so many times during practice. It is so frustrating! I go to practice almost every day, and work just as hard as them. Are some people just born fast vs. slow in swimming and there is nothing you can do to change your natural speed? Is speed something you can achieve with hard work? Why is everyone so much faster than me? What can I do to become fast like them?

Thanks for the helpful articles Ande! I still have one question though: What do you think is more important in swimming sucess: talent or hard work? An example of my point is that if a person with the natural ability of a back-of-the-pack swimmer worked really hard and did everything right that they could, would it be possible for this said person to ever qualify for state? Does talent determine most of your sucess in swimming, or can hard work ever overcome lack of talent? We debated this once before. forums.usms.org/showthread.php

Both some people have better feel for the water, better technique, more mental toughness, better body shape, more years of conditioning, there's ability development (starting from scratch) and ability retrieval when former swimmers resume training. But sight unseen I can't make any accurate statements about you other than I know with out a doubt you can swim faster than you're swimming now. Hard work is important but the correct type of training is more critical it all depends on your goals what are you trying to accomplish in my late teens and early 20's I was a middle of the pack elite swimmer you have what ever talent you have your swimming success depends on the coaching you receive, the training you do, and your determination. how bad do you want to be good smart hard work can overcome a lot. ande Thanks for the helpful articles Ande! I still have one question though: What do you think is more important in swimming sucess: talent or hard work? An example of my point is that if a person with the natural ability of a back-of-the-pack swimmer worked really hard and did everything right that they could, would it be possible for this said person to ever qualify for state? Does talent determine most of your sucess in swimming, or can hard work ever overcome lack of talent?

I hope to be long gone by 85, but if I am alive Brundage, I'll will put some voodoo hex curse on your blue seventy that will either cause wardrobe failure exposing your not-so-aerodynamic, and by this time, shriveled unit to be exposed or cause you to stroke out from the pure energy it would require to put on the miserable costume.:afraid: Do you really think that, at 85, I'm going to care about being exposed? As long as I have my double-strength Rx goggles on so I can see, game on.

Thanks for the helpful articles Ande! I still have one question though: What do you think is more important in swimming sucess: talent or hard work? An example of my point is that if a person with the natural ability of a back-of-the-pack swimmer worked really hard and did everything right that they could, would it be possible for this said person to ever qualify for state? Does talent determine most of your sucess in swimming, or can hard work ever overcome lack of talent?

Do you really think that, at 85, I'm going to care about being exposed? As long as I have my double-strength Rx goggles on so I can see, game on. I feel confident that I'm going to take you both down ... despite the fact that I'm shorter than Janet Evans and thus apparently genetically defective for swimming. But, I'm not worried about Rx goggles, Patrick, I'm already half blind. What I'm looking for are some good goggles for far sightedness. I'm already getting concerned about my ability to see things close up ... like the walls on turns.

Most talent comes from hard work. Based on who beat her world records, Janet Evans was not genetically gifted with the height needed to be a world record distance swimmer. All her records fell to someone 5' 10" or taller, but that didn't prevent her from three world records that stood for 19-20 years. Now that you question has been answered, someone else can tell you how to focus your hard work into developing more talent.:bolt: I understand that at the Olympic Training Center that Janet tested more efficient in oxygen use than anyone tested.