Calling Out Michael Phelps

I would say this is a fine example of how running threads can suck. I never would have seen this story there, and it is definitely worthy of its own discussion.

 

And some day you could be ...... The Vice President.

 

It's way more extreme in swimming. There is no creativity or imagination in the sport, and you can't get there simply by working hard. It's just a physics equation combining perfect form and maximum power. You'll never see a Spud Webb or a Dustin Pedroia or a Wes Welker in the pool.

I was at a meet a couple weeks ago and saw a girl with such extremely flexible elbows -- probably double-jointed but I don't even know how to describe them. Anyway, she was doing the freestyle but her arms looked like she was doing the backstroke. Very weird.

 

It's a special surgery that a lot of swimmers are having done. It has something to do with reversing the ligaments in their elbows.

 

Mark Spitz was 6 feet tall. I mean, granted he had an elite mustache, but I don't think there was anything freakish about his physique.

Does the fact that Phelps has paddles attached to his wrists and ankles help? Undoubtedly. But that article did nothing except observe that he has huge hands, feet and a big wingspan. That was trash with no science to back it up.

In fact, having covered an Olympic swimmer for the five years leading up to her first Games, she always said technique and training were more important to her success than anything else. And if you saw her out of the pool, you'd probably agree. The only thing about her that would make you think "she's a swimmer" is her broad shoulders, which are a byproduct of elite level swimming, not the cause of it.

 

I am sure that if we looked at Spitz, we'd see that within that height was an unusual distribution toward his upper body. Same as Phelps, who is 6-foot-6 but wears a 30-inch inseam. (I'm 6-0 and wear a 32-inch inseam.)

Of course once you get to that level, technique and training are going to make the difference. But you can train and master technique all you want, and if you don't have the body for it, it won't matter. You can't swim smarter or play different. Everyone is swimming the same way.

The swimmer you covered, there were probably a thousand swimmers who trained that hard but whose shoulders simply could never get that strong. So they didn't make it.

 

I never liked the fact he and other swimmers all shattered world records with super suits.
Never felt he measured up to Spitz.

And I just find him loathesome.

 

But that's really not any different than an elite baseball player, football player or basketball player. Without the body, natural ability and genetics, hard work will only carry you so far. Without the hard work, your body, natural ability and genetics will only carry you so far. You have to really have all of them if you're going to become an elite athlete. We all know that.

After reading the sentence, "as the author of a book that led me deep into the pursuit's science and secrets, I can report that what you see on TV is a world removed from what you can do at home," I fully expected to read some scientific basis of why an Olympic swimmer is so much vastly greater at it than the average swimmer.

What I got was the author saying, "Have you seen the size of Michael Phelps hands?" Well, duh.

 

I don't hate Phelps or find him loathsome in any way, but I really don't understand why the swimming federation allows suits. There's no need for a wetsuit in a pool swimming race except to enhance your performance. Put em all in speedos and watch the ratings among 15- to 55-year-old women skyrocket. The suits really are a farce.

 

I don't find him loathsome, I just find him completely uninteresting outside of the minute or so he is actually in the pool. He has nothing to say, nothing to offer the world, no insight -- the very embodiment of a mimbo. At least Tiger Woods, as boring as he made himself publicly, he had a cold and calculating side and you knew he was actually participating in planning his own life. Phelps is just a dumb kid who does one thing better than anyone else in the world.

(I hope I don't insult YF by intimating that I am smarter than Michael Phelps, who has accomplished so much.)

 

He's coming after your dad next!

 

Disagree. As I noted previously, look at Wes Welker. Or Danny Woodhead or Wayne Chrebet or Spud Webb or Dustin Pedroia or Tim Lincecum (prior to 2012) or Drew Brees or Jamie Moyer, or long ago Sam Mills or Michael Chang, or ... I think you get my point. You can be undersized or a bit slow or not quite as strong and still find your way to the top level in many sports by being a little smarter, a little more dedicated, a little unique.

The author's point as I took it was that this is simply not possible in swimming. I agree with that point.