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.
Former Member
Very interesting subject and one that has been close to my heart. I trained at a competitive level until I was 17 and have just recently returned to masters swimming now I'm 40. I did my first comp in December last year, got the bug and have done a few more since. While I was away from swimming I got up to a whopping 273lbs at 6'1".
Last December I weighed around 196lbs and managed the following times in a notoriously fast pool:
50scm free - 26.4
100scm free - 58.0
A few weeks ago I weighed around 182lbs and did:
50scm free - 25.7
100scm free - 56.8
We have our UK masters champs in 3 weeks and I reckon I'll weigh about 177lbs, with a significantly smaller belly than December. This I'll be shaved and tapered for so it will be interesting to compare the times from December as its the same fast pool.
How much these improvements can be attributed to weight/fat loss I'm not sure. I think I would have improved regardless due to increased training, so it's hard to tell.
This article seems to suggest that bodyfat around the midriff has a fairly significant impact on elite athletes. Makes an interesting read:
www.pponline.co.uk/.../0346.htm
Definitely interesting....except by their calculations if I lose 10lbs, and maintain my fitness I'll drop 2 sec on my 50 yd free.....didn't happen last time. I guess I'll just wait & see this time around.
You're getting me all nostaligic for Ponds Forge now - I'm still not used to this 25yd business!
That being said - I also wanted to say I'm down 70 pounds officially as of this morning since I started swimming in February. I have noticed a significant speed increase, this is double edged though. I basically started swimming competitively for the first time IN February (as many of you are quite aware). So it makes it very difficult to see the difference between "I'm much skinnier" and just "I've gained a LOT of strength and experience".
Congrats, Michael!
Agreed. I don't know if I'm ready to say that it effects speed/time as much as they claim in the article but it's the first I'd heard of someone actually researching this. I'd love to think it was THAT promising to my times to lose weight lol. Definitely an interesting read.
To test the theory of what the optimal fat percentage is, i'll let you guys know when I start getting slower while losing weight haha.
Definitely interesting....except by their calculations if I lose 10lbs, and maintain my fitness I'll drop 2 sec on my 50 yd free.....didn't happen last time. I guess I'll just wait & see this time around.
You're getting me all nostaligic for Ponds Forge now - I'm still not used to this 25yd business!
Ha yes it was ponds forge.
For reference I swam at 176lb and dropped some more time.
24.9 50scm free
55.7 100scm free
Update:
Ok so the weight is down a bit under 260 now, but I don't have the greatest results to report. The meet I was at yesterday was considerably slower. In my eyes, its a disappointment. I do have an excuse however (as usual). My celebratory procedures for NFL divisional winners the night before a meet should probably be amended. About a second slow per 50 from my target time (probably about 0.07 seconds per 50 per beer if you're into actual stats :chug:).
50y free 23.9
100y free 53.0
Also did my first butterfly race since 1999
50 fly 26.3 - My main mistake was the surprise I received when there was someone next to me doing SDK's. Usually no one is near when it comes to that. I ended up staying under too long and swimming his race rather than my own. Had I stuck to the plan I'd have been under 26 easily.
On the bright side, I changed over to a track start and it seems that the reaction times will no longer be a problem. Very positive results on that.
The other intangible would be that I wore an older stretched out speedo jammer rather than my aquablade. Perhaps that could be a backup excuse :) Unsure as to how much I should weight either cause.
I'll have more results to report in about two weeks... and that's only pro-bowl weekend so theres no reason to be "weighted down" that weekend ;)
good job
I bet you would be faster if you were leaner
I wrote about this SFF tip in Lug Less Lard
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"
Ryan Lochte
6'2" 185 to 190
Jason Lezak's
6' 4" 205 lbs
Grant Hackett
6 ft 6 in 210 lb
Natalie Coughlin
5' 8" Weight: 137 pound
Dara Torres
5 feet 11 1/2 149 pounds
Dana Vollmer
6 ft 0 150 pounds
Each swimmer has weight range that will allow them their ideal performance.
Most masters fall on the too heavy side a few are too thin and could benefit from more muscle.
Update:
Ok so the weight is down a bit under 260 now, but I don't have the greatest results to report. The meet I was at yesterday was considerably slower. In my eyes, its a disappointment. I do have an excuse however (as usual). My celebratory procedures for NFL divisional winners the night before a meet should probably be amended. About a second slow per 50 from my target time (probably about 0.07 seconds per 50 per beer if you're into actual stats :chug:).
50y free 23.9
100y free 53.0
Also did my first butterfly race since 1999
50 fly 26.3 - My main mistake was the surprise I received when there was someone next to me doing SDK's. Usually no one is near when it comes to that. I ended up staying under too long and swimming his race rather than my own. Had I stuck to the plan I'd have been under 26 easily.
On the bright side, I changed over to a track start and it seems that the reaction times will no longer be a problem. Very positive results on that.
The other intangible would be that I wore an older stretched out speedo jammer rather than my aquablade. Perhaps that could be a backup excuse :) Unsure as to how much I should weight either cause.
I'll have more results to report in about two weeks... and that's only pro-bowl weekend so theres no reason to be "weighted down" that weekend ;)
