As a math guy, this is something I've been pondering for a while. Is there a limit to how fast we can swim. For instance, I remember a discussion point a while back was that there was no physical way a human could run the 100m in less than 9 seconds, that the forces you would create within your body in order to run that fast would cause you muscles to tear and bones to shatter.
In swimming we're seeing a HUGE leap forward in technology as it pertains both to how we train and what we put on our bodies. For instance, how fast could Matt Biondi swum a 50 or 100 if he had access to the wealth of information we have now just 15 years later in regards to training, nutrition and suits.
Could he possibly 20 47 low in the 100 if he were in his 20's/early 30's right now?
And to my point, imagine the 50 free. How fast is "impossible"? We just say Bousquet take 1/4 second of the 50 free WR. What's the limit? You'd think at some point someone's going to set a WR that will never be broken.
It's hard to believe we are close to that limit in swimming. As much as I would like to believe that Michael Phelps and company represent something of a zenith in human swimming potential, the truth is that the world's greatest athletes, by and large, do not go into swimming. Ask yourself this: if you could be the best the world has ever known in a given sport, would you pick swimming?
Wouldn't you be at least tempted to pick basketball, football, track, tennis, or even golf--something where your greatness would A) be celebrated widely, and B) pay a fortune?
Imagine if Kevin Garnett, instead of growing up playing basketball, had spent his entire youth training to sprint freestyle. It's hard to imagine he wouldn't be able to make toast out of Frederick Bousquet--a dive, two strokes, a tremendous push off, three strokes, done.
It's hard to believe we are close to that limit in swimming. As much as I would like to believe that Michael Phelps and company represent something of a zenith in human swimming potential, the truth is that the world's greatest athletes, by and large, do not go into swimming. Ask yourself this: if you could be the best the world has ever known in a given sport, would you pick swimming?
Wouldn't you be at least tempted to pick basketball, football, track, tennis, or even golf--something where your greatness would A) be celebrated widely, and B) pay a fortune?
Imagine if Kevin Garnett, instead of growing up playing basketball, had spent his entire youth training to sprint freestyle. It's hard to imagine he wouldn't be able to make toast out of Frederick Bousquet--a dive, two strokes, a tremendous push off, three strokes, done.
