CNN compares swimming body types of Olympic sprinters!

CNN sizes up swimmers and concludes size does matter but not so much weight. From CNN:

"... In the data, researchers noted, for example, that Duke Kahanamoku, who had world records for the 100-meter freestyle in 1912 and 1918, weighed 185 pounds and stood 6 feet, 2 inches. In 2008, Alain Bernard broke a record for the same race, weighing 190 pounds and standing about 6 feet, 5 inches.

But not everyone conforms to the pattern of increased height and weight -- at about 172 pounds, swimmer Eamon Sullivan weighed less than both Kahanamoku and Bernard, and also broke records for the same contest in 2008...."

[Link]

I like this kind of stuff. The last paragraph about a sprinter in the Roman Empire who weighed only 70% of what we weigh today was only a second slower in a 100 meter run.

In other words, size begins to hamper. Consider the size of a gymnast as compared to Alain Bernard? In a pound-for-pound ratio of strength, the gymnast may be stronger.

With that info in mind, also consider that a "heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler" 2,000-years ago only weighed 140 pounds. That is hardly MMA or WWE material. To think that an average "Costco shopper" today would be considered a "bad-ass" both cracks me up and puts me in awe as to how far we have come.

Matt Greevers would indeed be a GOD! Oh well, instead he will just have to settle for being an Olympian!

Also note, the study did not take into account our speedsuits, caps, goggles, lane lines, and chlorine as compared to swimmers from 100-years ago.

How to beat Phelps: "One thing I learned from his book is, you can't say anything that will stir him up..."

From the Sydney Morning Herald: Andrew Lauterstein placed third behind Phelps in the 100-meter fly by .14-of-a-second. Andrew Swanton has written an article about how Lauterstein in regards to what he will or will not do to beat Phelps in Rome.

From The Sydney Morning Herald:

"...The 21-year-old Sydneysider has two distinct memories of rubbing shoulders with Phelps - and going within 0.14 seconds of gold. The first is of shaking his hand and realising, lo and behold, The Baltimore Bullet is made of flesh and bone. The second is of going weak at the knees - or the back of one knee - when he heard Phelps's traditional psych-up from lane three.

"I'm not scared of racing him now," Lauterstein says. "But at the Olympics, you know that slapping he does with his arms on the blocks? That can rattle you. ..."

[Link]

Keep in mind that I am really lousy at swimming predictions but I am going to make one about Phelps anyway. Phelps will do well at the World Championships in Rome but his results will be mixed. These are my reasons:

• Phelps has taken 5-months off; something he has NEVER done before
• Phelps has gained and will have to lose 15 pounds; that's like 2-gallons of milk worth of weight. (I weighed them on the scale for this post)
  
• Phelps is a multimillionaire now, the swimmers he is swimming against are not
• Swimmers like Ryan Lochte, Matt Grevers havn't stopped training and they are hungry. Oh, and they are not millionaires either.

Jason Lezak - "Most valuable player" on the United States Olympic Swim Team!

From the New York Times: “...I think it had a lot to do with why we did so good,” Walters said Tuesday night after the Americans broke an Olympic record in the relay preliminaries, delivering Lane 4 to Phelps and Company for Wednesday’s final. “That really was the race of the century.”

It was as if the American men’s upset victory over France — and Lezak’s blistering anchor leg of the freestyle relay that made sure it happened — started an outbreak of endorphins on the United States team.

“We gained a lot of momentum,” Natalie Coughlin said after winning her second consecutive gold medal in the women’s 100 backstroke. “It was probably the most amazing swim I’ve ever seen. It got a lot of us pumped up for the rest of the meet.”

Matt Grevers, who placed second behind his teammate Aaron Peirsol in the 100 backstroke, said, “The way Lezak finished that race, it really moved me. ...” [Link]