Swimming Stereotypes

According to stats from USMS, 61 percent of USMS members from 20-29 now are female. In running races, a 10-12 percent time gap between men and women has stabilized in pretty much every distance. At both elite and amateur running competitions, two to four times more men than women turn in relatively fast times as evidenced by how close they come to sex-specific world-class standards. The same fellow who did this statistical analysis and published two papers in the journal Evolutionary Psychology is now collecting data on swimming. Somewhat to his surprise, he has found that this gap in competitiveness does NOT exist in swimming. If anything, the opposite is true--with more women coming closer to sex-specific world class standards than men. It's really fascinating to me to see this rise in the Super Girls of the world. Kristina and Dara and Leslie all seem to embody it. The evolutionary biology theory has long held that men are competitive because victory endears them to the distaff gender. (One researcher told me that during medieval jousting bouts, the fair ladies would actually lift their skirts to show the knights what was at stake.) I am not sure if Super Girl swimmers reap the same psychosexual rewards as the Super Boy swimmers, and I find it impossible to imagine that many (or any) of you would be motivated by even the most attractive male swimmer "lifting his Speedo" as you step up on the blocks as a way of showing you what's at stake. Allegedly, women in the Olympic village were throwing themselves at Michael Phelps. I don't think the reciprocal was true for Natalie C, though she is arguably a much more physically appealing specimen as a female as MP is as a male. It fact, it seems that I read somewhere that guys in the Olympic village were hitting on females based on f their standard attractiveness measures, not their medal status. If anything,women who won Gold were kind of a turnoff. My question to you super girls of swimming--and I am not joking--is what motivates your training and zeal to be the best? I do think that for a lot of guys, there is at least a subtle subtext involved of attracting the chicks. It almost seems that super girls get more satisfaction from crushing guys than attracting them. Is it as simple a matter as this: guys swim for lust; girls swim for revenge? I would honestly love to hear the philosophy of female competitiveness. An interesting topic. My friends and I were discussing this and believe that in many ways women are more competitive than men. It simply depends on what arena you are talking about. Unfortunately, society and cultural norms have often dictated where it is permissible for women to be competitive. For example, in the small-town South, the competition between females can be vicious if you are talking about beauty contests, homecoming queen, PTA elections, room mother selection, and selection of one's home for the tour of homes or decorators' showhouse. Interestingly enough, females from the small-town South that are enouraged to go into athletics by their families, are extremely competitive. Once they have the green light to be competitive in this arena, the natural competitiveness really comes out. For example, the first female to score points in an NCAA Division I football game played for Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, ALABAMA. She was from a small town in Georgia and the homecoming queen for her high school. Jim, the bottom line is that women are more competitive than men in general, and in the sports arena, they are simply going to want to beat whomever they chose to compete with. Does it give me a little confidence boost for my next triathlon when I can beat a good male athlete riding my bike up a mountain in practice or swimming a tough freestyle set in practice? YOU BET! Does it give me a little ego boost if the same guy I'm beating could probably kill me with his bare hands? YOU BET! I think there are some personalities that are more competitive than others. It is a matter of temperament though not gender.

According to stats from USMS, 61 percent of USMS members from 20-29 now are female. In running races, a 10-12 percent time gap between men and women has stabilized in pretty much every distance. At both elite and amateur running competitions, two to four times more men than women turn in relatively fast times as evidenced by how close they come to sex-specific world-class standards. The same fellow who did this statistical analysis and published two papers in the journal Evolutionary Psychology is now collecting data on swimming. Somewhat to his surprise, he has found that this gap in competitiveness does NOT exist in swimming. If anything, the opposite is true--with more women coming closer to sex-specific world class standards than men. It's really fascinating to me to see this rise in the Super Girls of the world. Kristina and Dara and Leslie all seem to embody it. The evolutionary biology theory has long held that men are competitive because victory endears them to the distaff gender. (One researcher told me that during medieval jousting bouts, the fair ladies would actually lift their skirts to show the knights what was at stake.) I am not sure if Super Girl swimmers reap the same psychosexual rewards as the Super Boy swimmers, and I find it impossible to imagine that many (or any) of you would be motivated by even the most attractive male swimmer "lifting his Speedo" as you step up on the blocks as a way of showing you what's at stake. Allegedly, women in the Olympic village were throwing themselves at Michael Phelps. I don't think the reciprocal was true for Natalie C, though she is arguably a much more physically appealing specimen as a female as MP is as a male. It fact, it seems that I read somewhere that guys in the Olympic village were hitting on females based on f their standard attractiveness measures, not their medal status. If anything,women who won Gold were kind of a turnoff. My question to you super girls of swimming--and I am not joking--is what motivates your training and zeal to be the best? I do think that for a lot of guys, there is at least a subtle subtext involved of attracting the chicks. It almost seems that super girls get more satisfaction from crushing guys than attracting them. Is it as simple a matter as this: guys swim for lust; girls swim for revenge? I would honestly love to hear the philosophy of female competitiveness. An interesting topic. My friends and I were discussing this and believe that in many ways women are more competitive than men. It simply depends on what arena you are talking about. Unfortunately, society and cultural norms have often dictated where it is permissible for women to be competitive. For example, in the small-town South, the competition between females can be vicious if you are talking about beauty contests, homecoming queen, PTA elections, room mother selection, and selection of one's home for the tour of homes or decorators' showhouse. Interestingly enough, females from the small-town South that are enouraged to go into athletics by their families, are extremely competitive. Once they have the green light to be competitive in this arena, the natural competitiveness really comes out. For example, the first female to score points in an NCAA Division I football game played for Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, ALABAMA. She was from a small town in Georgia and the homecoming queen for her high school. Jim, the bottom line is that women are more competitive than men in general, and in the sports arena, they are simply going to want to beat whomever they chose to compete with. Does it give me a little confidence boost for my next triathlon when I can beat a good male athlete riding my bike up a mountain in practice or swimming a tough freestyle set in practice? YOU BET! Does it give me a little ego boost if the same guy I'm beating could probably kill me with his bare hands? YOU BET! I think there are some personalities that are more competitive than others. It is a matter of temperament though not gender.