This has been something I've wondered the last few years. I used to be a college swimmer, fit and trim, but the 10 years since then I've drank my fair share of beer and ate plenty of cheeseburgers. Just curious what peoples' take is on how much the extra baggage really effects swim races.
I don't really fit the swimmer mold anymore. I'm 31, 6'2", and 270lbs with a huge beer gut. I got some strange looks since the meet i was in recently was a USAS meet and I outweighed my competition by 100lbs in many cases. My first race in about 5 years i went 23.4 in the 50y free. I didn't expect to be that fast at this weight but at the same time I almost wonder if the added intertia is helping me more on the start and turns. Followed it up with a low 52 in the 100y free but I had a horrible reaction on the start and incorrect pacing. I think if i raced again today that'd be deep in the 51 range. For reference, typical non-taper times for me in college were in the low-mid 22 range at just a tick over 200lbs but I was obviously a lot stronger, younger, and doing a TON more yards at the time, that's why it makes me wonder just how much the weight is actually holding me back.
How much time do you think I stand to drop if i were 50lbs lighter? Could it be a measurable difference or something just slight? I guess I ask that to see if it'd be worth my while to drop that much weight quickly by dieting in addition to the swimming i'm doing. I don't really like dieting, and i generally eat what I want, when i want. Not gorging myself at every meal doesn't really seem to fit into my lifestyle :blush: Anyone have a similar story? "I dropped XX lbs and went XX seconds faster because of it."
Maybe it's an immeasurable, but I thought I'd ask for opinion anyway. I'm hoping it doesn't turn into a "to diet or not to diet" discussion though.
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I am really sorry, and I am sure it's been mentioned already, but at 6'2 270 with a beer gut, swim performances are going to become the least of your concerns passed a certain age.
A bit like someone driving a car about too loose a wheel asking if the car could be faster by dropping little of weight.
I expect no "thanks for the feed back solar" here, and you can even be harsh on me if you want, since I went against what you were expecting as a feed back.
Sorry.
No doubt this discussion will bring forth the healthy people with their lifestyle suggestions for me. I've never argued that being fat as I am is healthy. In fact it was that thought that brought me back into the sport in the first place last year. I fully realize this isn't generally considered a healthy weight by any means, and I am taking small steps to change that. Too much change at one time = health plan failure. I've failed at diets and excercise regimens plenty of times in the past, including 3 comebacks to swimming where burnout was inevitable. So far I've gotten to regular swim workouts 3 times a week and there's no burnout this time around because I've started small. I also didn't drastically change diet to go with it. No argument I could be doing more for the weight, but at this point I know it will come down in time (and has a bunch so far) so that's not really why I was asking any of this. I am glad that you and others care about me enough to suggest I need to lose weight though ;) So thank you for that :) In that subject... I think I've found a formula for myself to actually do so, and do it long term... so little steps at a time.
This topic has just been something that has always vexed me so I asked the question here, in this analytical community, to get some real thought and discussion going on it. And to reiterate... my question has never been "should *I* lose weight to swim faster?"... it's "HOW MUCH does body weight effect swimming speed?" I left it open to discussion as far as what "body weight" means and what "speed" means because I think any discussion regarding either is important to the question. Body weight could be skinny with high muscle mass, big beer gut on a small frame, or a large frame with evenly dispersed weight. Speed could mean absolute top 10 yard sprint speed, or it could mean distance mile speed. I think any of the above are good questions for the discussion. In my particular case, speed means 50 and 100 sprints, and body weight is a big mid section. There's been lots of good thoughts here. I'm certainly trying to do my part as the OP and follow up with results for discussion when I have them.
If you need to though, imagine me at a slim 180lbs asking the same question wondering why some bigger guy beat me. Doing so might help you get past the natural instinct to help me lose weight and get you into the discussion. You've had a lot of opinion in the Gary Hall Sr technique-drag threads. Surely you have some thoughts or analysis on this topic? It's really not all that dissimilar a discussion, just naturally something that top notch atheletes in The Race Club never have to worry about so i doubt there's been much research done on heavy swimmers :D
I am really sorry, and I am sure it's been mentioned already, but at 6'2 270 with a beer gut, swim performances are going to become the least of your concerns passed a certain age.
A bit like someone driving a car about too loose a wheel asking if the car could be faster by dropping little of weight.
I expect no "thanks for the feed back solar" here, and you can even be harsh on me if you want, since I went against what you were expecting as a feed back.
Sorry.
No doubt this discussion will bring forth the healthy people with their lifestyle suggestions for me. I've never argued that being fat as I am is healthy. In fact it was that thought that brought me back into the sport in the first place last year. I fully realize this isn't generally considered a healthy weight by any means, and I am taking small steps to change that. Too much change at one time = health plan failure. I've failed at diets and excercise regimens plenty of times in the past, including 3 comebacks to swimming where burnout was inevitable. So far I've gotten to regular swim workouts 3 times a week and there's no burnout this time around because I've started small. I also didn't drastically change diet to go with it. No argument I could be doing more for the weight, but at this point I know it will come down in time (and has a bunch so far) so that's not really why I was asking any of this. I am glad that you and others care about me enough to suggest I need to lose weight though ;) So thank you for that :) In that subject... I think I've found a formula for myself to actually do so, and do it long term... so little steps at a time.
This topic has just been something that has always vexed me so I asked the question here, in this analytical community, to get some real thought and discussion going on it. And to reiterate... my question has never been "should *I* lose weight to swim faster?"... it's "HOW MUCH does body weight effect swimming speed?" I left it open to discussion as far as what "body weight" means and what "speed" means because I think any discussion regarding either is important to the question. Body weight could be skinny with high muscle mass, big beer gut on a small frame, or a large frame with evenly dispersed weight. Speed could mean absolute top 10 yard sprint speed, or it could mean distance mile speed. I think any of the above are good questions for the discussion. In my particular case, speed means 50 and 100 sprints, and body weight is a big mid section. There's been lots of good thoughts here. I'm certainly trying to do my part as the OP and follow up with results for discussion when I have them.
If you need to though, imagine me at a slim 180lbs asking the same question wondering why some bigger guy beat me. Doing so might help you get past the natural instinct to help me lose weight and get you into the discussion. You've had a lot of opinion in the Gary Hall Sr technique-drag threads. Surely you have some thoughts or analysis on this topic? It's really not all that dissimilar a discussion, just naturally something that top notch atheletes in The Race Club never have to worry about so i doubt there's been much research done on heavy swimmers :D
