Calling Out Michael Phelps

Drew Brees is listed as 6-0, same as Brendan Hansen, former breaststroke world record holder and current Olympian.

 

Janet Evans broke world records forever - she was 5-5.

 

Spudd Webb, to pick one of your examples, could jump freakishly high and was freakishly quick. That wasn't the result of training any more than Michael Phelps' big hands are. But if he couldn't hit a jump shot or execute a precise pass, skills that took him thousands of hours of practice, he would have never made it to the NBA. Just like Phelps would never have become an eight-time gold medalist without training and perfecting his technique, no matter how long his wingspan is.

The writer didn't do anything to prove to me that you can't become an elite swimmer unless you have big hands and a long wingspan. All she did was provide a few examples of elite swimmers who do have that. And after boasting about her book and the way she dove into the science of swimming, I was expecting to read some reasons as to why that may be true. She didn't deliver on that in any way.

 

David Berkoff revolutionized the sport in the late 80's by swimming a large part of the race underwater.

 

Put 100 million men in an NFL backfield to drop back to pass, and they wouldn't be able to process the information and throw like Drew Brees. To imply that Brees is an "everyman" is laughable.

 

You aren't even trying to grasp the point, which is that body type doesn't rule all in football the way it does in swimming.

 

And like I said, Brees is the same height as Brendan Hansen.

 

My wife can't stand him. I don't know why, maybe it was the pot party after 2008, but for whatever that's worth, she can't stand his ass.

And she does not give a shit about almost everything sports.

 

I think as he pointed out with Janet Evans, and as I pointed out with Mark Spitz, body type doesn't necessarily rule the pool either.

If it does, the author did a lousy job of showing it.

 

This dude won gold in the last two olympics and he's 5-10.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosuke_Kitajima

 

This dude was 5-2 and won a silver in the IM in the 80's

http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/pr/ricardo-prado-1.html

 

Phelps is not gritty gutty and hardworking.