![]() ![]() So we’ve been hearing how Phelps has a long torso with shorter-than-expected legs and how that gives him a powerful push when he turns off the wall. What about bodily ratios, as in the length of one’s legs compared to torso size, and so forth - any advantage there? So height in and of itself does not intrinsically confer success. ![]() And has done well, but not as well as Phelps. When he does backstroke and you’re standing on deck, it looks like a tree is coming out of the water. I stood next to him and his arms are, heaven knows, more proportional to a guy who is seven feet tall. swimmer from Northwestern University, is six foot, eight. But then again, the person who won breaststroke is a five-foot, eight- tall Japanese man. A lot of the thrust in swimming comes from arm propulsion and not the kick. What do you think about the “wingspan” argument - that Phelps’s long arms give him an edge?Īll things being equal, a taller person will swim faster. But most things that you measure in human beings fall within predictable ranges. When someone does something statistically impressive, like winning eight gold medals in an Olympics like Phelps, we try to come up with some far-fetched reason for it, like he or she has to have some bizarre physiological adaptation or freaky anatomy. What do you think about the notions about Phelps’s built-in, anatomical advantages? ![]() Richard Weiner, an internist and former team physician who has practiced sports medicine at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee - and who also happens to be a former acclaimed All-American swimmer. This flexibility also extends to his knees and elbows, possibly allowing him to get more out of each stroke.ĭo any of these alleged anatomical advantages matter? Here is an analysis in the form of an interview from H. His size-14 feet reportedly bend 15 degrees farther at the ankle than most other swimmers, turning his feet into virtual flippers. Phelps is also said to be double-jointed, according to a Detroit News blog. (Recall Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, that famous sketch of a naked male showing his arm-leg-torso ratios.) Maybe this extra reach gave Phelps that narrowest of victories against Serbia’s Milo Cavic in the 100-meter butterfly final on Saturday, Augwhen the American won by just one one-hundredth of a second. Most of the time, a person’s height normally corresponds closely to the distance between his outstretched hands. Phelps’s arms extend 80 inches (203 centimeters) tip to tip, and his body measures in at 76 inches (193 centimeters) in height. There’s his proportionally longer wingspan. Mind-blowing facts about w hat makes Michael Phelps so good in the Pool?ĭo Phelps’s body shape and flexibility give him a physical edge in swimming over others?īeyond Phelps’ drive to succeed, as reported by the Australian Broadcasting Company, and his undoubtedly good training, could it be that a good bit of his talent just boils down to simple anatomy? ![]()
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