Swimmer body shape question

gombeen99

A couple of questions about swimmer body shape out of curiousity ... how come male swimmers generally don't look very muscly (toned of course, but no real muscle bulk a la rugby players), but female swimmers tend to look very strong - big shoulders, back, leg muscles? I would have thought that most male swimmers should also look very bulky, almost rugby player-like?

Is it anything to do with fat V muscle body composition, with fat being more "floaty", but muscle denser and therefore more likely to drag you down?

I'm very curious after seeing some of the world championship swimming.

Nonmonotonic

Compare muscles used in swimming Freestyle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TJHgfTubzI

(Note under the arm area.)

With muscles used in American Football ( nearest I could find to Rugby)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrPkGrLZ78c

Swimming is about speed not power.

Not sure about the male / female thing. We are just more used to seeing men with big shoulders rather than women.

kris71

I've seen a few that you would easier jump over then walk around them but very skinny at same time

I was reading something about swimmers body shape but that was long time ago and I'm not sure how much of that was scientifically proved but they made a theory that swimmers bodies adapt more slim composition for better efficiency and streamlining in the water

deepriver

kris71 wrote: »

I've seen a few that you would easier jump over then walk around them but very skinny at same time

I was reading something about swimmers body shape but that was long time ago and I'm not sure how much of that was scientifically proved but they made a theory that swimmers bodies adapt more slim composition for better efficiency and streamlining in the water

Except for the overdeveloped shoulder and pec muscles, that seems true.

Do all the top swimmers have large feet?

http://www.topendsports.com/sport/swimming/profiles/thorpe-ian.htm