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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here's a few height weight proportions of world class swimmers I googled
michael phelps
6'4" 195
size 14 feet
arm span is 6' 7"
I'm pretty close to this in every proportion except mass. Somehow I know that kind of speed isn't in these bones though even at 195 lbs :) I will say he's got small feet tho ;)
It's easy to use the best as examples of ideal weight for speed. I'd hypothesize that these people wouldn't show any real decrease in speed if they immediately gained 20 lbs tomorrow. It's hard to say that they're that light just to be faster. They're light and lean as a direct product of the training they do. I'd even speculate they couldn't gain any meaningful weight if they wanted to (if they keep the training levels constant).
As I said before though, this is kindof my own experiment to see if I can keep the training levels and ability somewhat constant while losing weight just to test if the weight is really as much a factor as logic would make it seem. I still don't know the answer. I've had some problems with weight fluctuation and consistency in my races. Hopefully this SCY season will yield some more consistent results to measure against.
On a side note, i'm definitely happy with the results i'm getting on 7000 yards a week :)
here's a few height weight proportions of world class swimmers I googled
michael phelps
6'4" 195
size 14 feet
arm span is 6' 7"
I'm pretty close to this in every proportion except mass. Somehow I know that kind of speed isn't in these bones though even at 195 lbs :) I will say he's got small feet tho ;)
It's easy to use the best as examples of ideal weight for speed. I'd hypothesize that these people wouldn't show any real decrease in speed if they immediately gained 20 lbs tomorrow. It's hard to say that they're that light just to be faster. They're light and lean as a direct product of the training they do. I'd even speculate they couldn't gain any meaningful weight if they wanted to (if they keep the training levels constant).
As I said before though, this is kindof my own experiment to see if I can keep the training levels and ability somewhat constant while losing weight just to test if the weight is really as much a factor as logic would make it seem. I still don't know the answer. I've had some problems with weight fluctuation and consistency in my races. Hopefully this SCY season will yield some more consistent results to measure against.
On a side note, i'm definitely happy with the results i'm getting on 7000 yards a week :)
