How much does body weight effect swimming speed?

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 ;) I would say that is pretty damn good!:applaud: I'm a "big guy" as well. I used to be 165 lb and a distance guy in college, now I'm just a 39-year old (40 in June) thats about 220-225ish. I would say that while weight is a big factor for me, its only part of the equation. Like you, I would say that for a guy my size I can get up and go pretty good. I'm more a mid-dist guy these days. I can do the sprints, but I'm not a "sprinter". 200-500 is where its at for me. My "hope" is to be down in the 200-210 range by summer.

Update: Ok so the weight is down a bit under 260 now, ;)I would say that's 217 lbs of pure propulsion

I will probably be able to give some data point for some of you as well however I was primarily a breaststroker in college, but also did sprint distance freestyle. So 25 years ago was my last race, I was 5'9" tall and weighed 155 lbs. I did the 100 SCY *** in 59.8, 100 SCY free in 51.1, 50 SCY free in 21.0. In January of 2011 I am still 5'9" but weighed 207 lbs., down from 221 lbs. in August of 2010. I just started swimming again in August 2010 and really cranked up the yard in November and December. I swam a Masters meet on January 9, 2011 with the following times: 100 yard *** 1:17.03 (ouch), 100 yard free 1:01.85 (double ouch), 50 yard free 26.84 (actually about where I expected to be). I am actually stronger than I was in college but I'm 45 years old and haven't worked my fast twitch muscles in years so is the extra 52 pounds the cause of the slow times or is it a combination of age, lack of workout, weight, etc...

I would say that's 217 lbs of pure propulsion And the beer makes up the other 40 :)

I would say that is pretty damn good!:applaud: I'm a "big guy" as well. I used to be 165 lb and a distance guy in college, now I'm just a 39-year old (40 in June) thats about 220-225ish. I would say that while weight is a big factor for me, its only part of the equation. Like you, I would say that for a guy my size I can get up and go pretty good. I'm more a mid-dist guy these days. I can do the sprints, but I'm not a "sprinter". 200-500 is where its at for me. My "hope" is to be down in the 200-210 range by summer. I'm kinda the opposite. The drag racer of the swimming world. Only I have a heavy big block and a large frame chassis :) My 3 events would be the 12.5, 25,and 50 free if they were all available :angel: I try not to set weight goals anymore because I've failed so many times at them. The current approach is working for me, slowly but surely at about a pound a week or so if I dont lose cheeseburger battles. I'm gonna dabble in the 200 free at my next meet. I seeded 2:00 flat with the expectation I'll be under that. Its a good starting point for a race i grew to hate years ago :)

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 :)

Update: 256lbs 50y free 23.3 200y free 1:59.x These were both without the night of hard drinking I had before the last meet :chug: Pretty happy with this 50 swim overall considering it was so fast despite a couple mistakes made. Easily fixable and probably a few tenths faster. The new track start: so far so good and seems to have eliminated my reaction time/weight shift problem that I had with the grab start. The 200 was just kinda for kicks because I didn't like the order of the events for the 100 free. Took it out pretty close to my goal split time (56) but then I kinda backed off the 3rd 50 thinking I better save some juice for the last 50. Turned out I had extra at the end and went a little slower than I'd hoped. If I swam it again tomorrow I think I could put up a 1:57 or better just knowing the pace better. I haven't swam this event since 1998 so I blame that. I didn't have anyone to run a camera for me today so sorry, no video. Two more weeks and I'll have more results from my "home" pool. Hoping I can show you guys video of some fat guy going 22.9 :)

Perhaps interest has dwindled or maybe its my stagnant results. Still for purpose of capturing times vs. weight i'm posting results as i get them... This weekend: weight ~258lbs 50y free 23.3 100y free 51.5 (24.2 split) The 50 felt like it should've been faster than the last one, but I dont really have any excuses this week for the lack of time drop ;) The 100 felt pretty good. I think I probably could've taken it out under 24 and still kept the same back end. Can you present your times in table form so we can see the effect of weight on speed in different events? It seems to me that your weight has been fairly steady of late. A couple meets ago, you described yourself as being under 260. The previous meet ~ 256, then this current meet ~258. Unless I am reading this wrong, your weight hasn't changed appreciably for these last three meets, thus any change in your speed is probably a training effect, or different pool conditions, or perhaps even a reflection of your overall health at the time of the swim (hangover or not, cold virus or not, stress levels, etc.) Basically, until we see significant changes in weight, either up or down, I am not sure how this answers the question in the thread's title. And even if your times did go down significantly if, say, you got down to 220 lb., I am not sure you are proving anything but a correlation. Perhaps times faster at 220 then 260 have nothing directly to do with weight per se, but rather the fact that you have worked out so much that you got into great swimming shape, an accidental and unrelated consequence of which is shedding pounds.

Perhaps interest has dwindled or maybe its my stagnant results. Still for purpose of capturing times vs. weight i'm posting results as i get them... This weekend: weight ~258lbs 50y free 23.3 100y free 51.5 (24.2 split) The 50 felt like it should've been faster than the last one, but I dont really have any excuses this week for the lack of time drop ;) The 100 felt pretty good. I think I probably could've taken it out under 24 and still kept the same back end.

No, no! Keep posting your times. In a way, having a range of times at your current weight is very helpful because it will show the range of fluctuation that's due to variables other than weight. In other words, if your 50 time remains around 23.3, give or take a few tenths here and there, while your weight remains at 258, give or take a few lbs. here and there, then it will make for a much more convincing case in the future, when you are swimming 20 lbs. lighter and (we all hope!) a half second faster. A couple additional notes: Personally, I would recommend not getting too hung up on your weight. This is extremely difficult to change, and those who do manage it, have an even more difficult time keeping at the new, lower weight for the duration. The fact that you are training in the pool, and your times have already dropped, is 90 percent of the victory already. If you can shed more lbs. over time, so much the better, but don't lose sight of the fact that you have already achieved great things. Two things that might help in the weight lost department. If you drink, consider quitting. My weight went from a pretty steady 184 to a pretty steady 179 just by giving up my three nightly India pale ales. I also stopped waking up every day with a headache. Don't know if you do drink, but this is one relatively straightforward way to shed a bit, especially if your drinking is habitual. Also, you might want to get checked for an occult contributor to male weight gain--sleep apnea. The stereotype here is red-faced fat guys who snore like grampus whales--the Pickwickian Syndrome types--but I am proof you can be relative lean and in relatively good shape and still have the condition. I didn't even snore all that much. The thing about apnea is that it shifts your ratio of leptin and ghrelin, two hormones heavily involved in fat storage and burning. If you do have apnea, and you get it treated, not only will you feel better during the day, but your hormonal milieu will stabilize, and this can make it a lot easier to shed some pounds. If you send me an email, I can send you a .pdf of an article I wrote about my own sleep apnea in Men's Health. My email address is Jamesthornton1@comcast.net I can also send you a piece I did on the various components of metabolism that you might find interesting. Again, best of luck, keep posting, but do not lose sight of the considerable victories you have already achieved just by returning to the pool!