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By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Want to win Olympic gold? Here's how tall you should be for archery, swimming, and more. Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. Culture Britney Spears is finally free. Whereas the Bulldogs might look up to Park, the Korean himself looked to Ian Thorpe for techniques to overcome his physical disadvantages.
The Elis carefully consider which events they should compete in given their statures, and analyze body movements to maximize their power.
Besides having a clear understanding of their physical limitations, the Elis looked to swimmers like Park and developed their own tricks to compensate for these drawbacks. Heymann ensures he is able to maintain a faster stroke throughout his race by practicing solid technique when fatigued. Swimmers overcome height challenges Eugena Jung am, Sep 11, Keep swimming!
Thank you again Coach Rick! The example of Janet Evans swimming with a high stroke rate and odd stroke did pretty well! As you mentioned, you can have the ideal attributes but neglect the passion and fail to reach your goals.
The high level achievers have an intense curiosity coupled with the passion to tinker and hone their respective activities to do better because ultimately they please themselves by pursuing inner driven goals no matter what.
Btw, I was a junior Olympian and just came back after 50 years off. Now, I appreciate it even more and know it can never be mastered but I try…. Sorry about that Clint. If it helps, just look at the results of the first race here.
Or do you suggest the same workouts for a taller swimmer and a shorter swimmer just more intense. Hi Kevin. There are no specific workouts or routines that help short swimmers more than others.
Even more, your coach will have a carefully prepared training program that pays attention to energy systems, periodization, technique, etc. Just follow your existing training program, and give it your all. Hi Matt. Since our pull is out major way of moving forward, your long arms should really help you out. The main thing you need to do is nail down your technique to get the most out of those long arms. Make sure you good extension and finish your stroke.
But mainly just listen to your coach! So what does that mean to me? But in sprinting, will there be any advantages to me being smaller than the rest of the sprinting world? Thankfully was was blessed with strong shoulders, and legs and arms. Hi Ian, longer races changes the nature of the training, and increases the need for incredible aerobic conditioning.
That would make the height of the swimmer less important than races that have a substantial anaerobic component. In other words, out train them! Hi Kevin, there is no doubt that the truly elite athletes are, generally speaking, several standard deviations above the mean in terms of genetics, trainability, proprioception, height, etc. Height is just one of those factors, and nobody is superlative in all.
But then its extremely unlikely that any individual swimmer will make Rio finals. All we can do is aim to be the best version of us possible. Hi, Rick! Thanks for amazing article and blog. Your version of nature vs nurture nuanced debate is mesmerizing. Here is an interesting nuance: his m medley on short course Is there a point here? Ya thats not true at all, because a taller swimmer can be further away from the wall and start their turn. Again, taken the same skill level the person with the height advantage will be the faster swimmer….
Josh, the distance gained in a turn by a taller swimmer is a function of their height. The speed of a turn is a function of the mass to be moved, and the distance in which the mass must be moved. Since a shorter swimmer has a shorter distance to move their mass, and since mass is based on volume which is a function of height cubed, a shorter swimmer will flip more quickly and has a slight advantage based on the physics of the turn skill.
As I said earlier, its a minor difference, but it is a difference. Its pretty simple- The longer a person is they have a natural advantage because of their reach. The only decided difference is that a short swimmer will be able to flip through the turn more quickly due to shorter torso and legs. However, that is a very minor difference. It all comes down to streamline and underwater kicking abilities as those dominate the SC vs LC differentiators.
To be brutally honest, swimming is still immature in terms of underwater practice, and so somehow who excels at these skills would be expected to be relatively faster at SC, independent of height. We clearly come from different eras!
Everything else is never the same. And yes, it also depends on height. A short swimmer is certainly capable of swimming short course fast. Just look at the World SC Championships. Height is just one factor. However, what I lacked in both experience and height, I made up in technique. The real advantage to maximizing technique is immediate results in the breaststroke, IM and IM. Shorter children can stay dominant longer if they focus on mastering the IM because it requires excellent technique in all 4 strokes.
Most kids take the path of least resistance relying on natural physical talent and go for the easy long axis win: freestyle sprints. Not surprisingly, the Olympic data shows that the shortest Olympic swimmers excelled in the breaststroke and IM. Thanks for your comments, OC Dad.
Events that require technique in multiple strokes, require endurance and aggression, require discipline can make up for non-ideal physical dimensions. But I should also point out that in the earlier, non-specialized years, all swimmers should do as many different events as possible. Not only will this ultimately help an IMer, but swimmers do change their preferences over the years. As far as height, I was definitely much shorter than the average elite height, but my eventual focus on IM ended up being my path forward.
The harder the event, the more effort and focus it takes to do well. Thanks so much! I am defo short too and I found that the older I became, the better I maintained focus on technique in all strokes as I found they compliment different muscles from my preferred stroke of freestyle. Since I am a masters swimmer- all my mates are short. I happen to be the sprinter in short course and yes, funneling my adhd along with adrenaline and focus on technical drills helps me win my events.
The endurance events are much harder for me for some reason. I never let my short stature hold me me back from sprinting- I adapt my stroke to the race and length and use my powerful kick to drive it in. Swimming challenges yourself in many ways. Thank you, Coach, for a thoughtful write-up on height in swimming. Presently, we have age-group swimmers at our house.
My middle son, 12, is not too tall but not too short either, for his age. Up to this point, his technique has really propelled him to some fantastic swimming results. However, as of now, in the age group, the height differences are immense. For example, he and his peers will all step up on the block last heats and it is them towering over him.
It surprises me, in fact, to see such differences in maturity, at this age. So, I do observe height and sometimes, tend to focus on it too much. Cheers and wishes for a great swim season!
Hi Anya, thanks for your thoughts! At young ages I basically stress that they learn to love the sport, and not worry about beating others. By focusing early on a love of the sport, on improving, and on mastering various elements, future success becomes so much easier. I was a short swimmer my whole career.
Early on I loved sprints, but as I got older I realized my success would come from longer races; from being tougher and more technical than other swimmers. And so I left the sprints behind and by university I was focusing on races where I could have a better chance of success.
That in itself becomes fun! And it might be interesting to analyze where they come from and which events they have been racing in. A post shared by Swimming Stats by SwimSwam swimmingstats. Australian Brad Cooper is the shortest one, being 1. He won a gold medal in the freestyle at the Olympics.
In that race he originally finished second, but was later awarded the gold medal after the winner, American Rick DeMont , an asthmatic, was disqualified after his post-race urinalysis tested positive for traces of the banned substance ephedrine contained in his prescription asthma medication, Marax.
Brazilian Ricardo Prado , a former world record holder in the IM, was a silver medal winner in being 1. In the modern era of swimming, Japanese swimmers dominate the list. Tomomi Morita , a bronze medalist in the backstroke in , is the only male swimmer shorter than 1.
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