Anyone surprised by % body fat composition of female Olympic Trial swimmers?

Having a bit of extra fat isn't really a detriment in swimming. Even Lochte isn't super lean for an elite athlete, and he is the best swimmer in the world right now.

something to do with fat and buoyancy. it's easier to swim on top of the water rather than through it. skinny people sink.

I get the body fat and buoyancy hypothesis and all, but with the amount of exercise these women endure (and their caloric burn)- I'd expect them to be more muscular especially in their arms since they use them to cut through the water. I was a swimmer once upon a time and found it to be far more grueling than running.

If you are a runner that has less than 5 percent body fat and tried to swim competitvely you fight the bouncy. Top women swimmers have always had a smooth marble of fat, even a skinny little one like Janet Evens.

I can't imagine any top female athletes in any sport that can compete well at low body fats other than distance runners.

Looks can be deceiving as well.

It's not fat, and they're likely just as low body fast as any women runner.

Both male and female swimmers have a high degree of muscle flexability. Watch them warm up before they step on the blocks. That's not fat flopping around, that's muscle.

What that means is even though you have really low body fat you don't look "ripped". I was measured at 4% body fat when I was in top swimming shape and I still didn't have the ripped look body builders or even runners have.

If you spend 20 minutes after each workout stretching you lose that defined look.

Africans American males typically have less body fat than their white counter parts - that's why there's so few black American swimmers. African American females typically have more body fat than their white counterparts, however the fat is distributed lower in the body. Thus black females will be lifted from the waist and their head will be pushed under water.

One does not build much muscle by moving their own weight through the water. Just as one doesn't build much muscle by running.

In order to build muscle, one needs to continually lift max efforts, adding to that next time, and so on. Breaking the muscle down and telling the body it needs more muscle to do what you are asking of it.

The men have more muscle because they are men. (i.e. testosterone)

Keith Stone, I'm calling BS, muscle flexibility and not looking ripped because of stretching- any real evidence to back this up?

But these women don't look like they have any muscle tone in their arms despite repetitive drive against water resistance, which, by the way, is more intensive than fighting gravity.

I know that swimming is considered a poor exercise for weight control. Years ago at least, it wasn't well understood why that was the case.

calling bs wrote:

Keith Stone, I'm calling BS, muscle flexibility and not looking ripped because of stretching- any real evidence to back this up?

it may not be because of the stretching, but a look at tim duncan shows how swimmers develop muscle in a way that is different (lean, long, not ripped) than most other athletes...

I read an article that said some of the issue is that being in the water cools the core, which causes your body to desire calories. So, some folks tended to overeat after their swimming workouts.

spokane xc wrote:

calling bs wrote:

Keith Stone, I'm calling BS, muscle flexibility and not looking ripped because of stretching- any real evidence to back this up?

it may not be because of the stretching, but a look at tim duncan shows how swimmers develop muscle in a way that is different (lean, long, not ripped) than most other athletes...

Perhaps because they are never stimulating any hypertrophic growth. In every other sport, the athletes regularly spend time in the weight room doing heavy lifting. That is why non-swimming athletes have a more muscular look.

One possibility is that the competitive process selects for people (especially women) who have a high percentage of subcutaneous (vs. deeper internal) fat. The positive effect on hydrodyanmics would be enough to confer an advantage, just like being light is for running uphill, for example. Look at the effect of the new swimsuits- a person with an unusual amount of subcutaneous fat would have a similar advantage.

Here is a bikini picture of a current 3-time gold medalist female swimmer. Not much fat on that body. Who are the fat girls that you are talking about?

http://www.webpronews.com/australian-swimmer-getting-flack-for-twitter-bikini-picture-2012-06

You are an idiot. They might be flexible but that is still bodyfat you are seeing. We all know how subcutaneous fat appears and moves. They more than likely possess more lean muscle under that layer of fat thereby also increasing size/appearance.

Let me guess, you probably also believe that when a muscular person stops lifting, that it "all just turns to fat". As opposed to what typically happens is that actually, said individual does add bodyfat and lose muscle, but also retains more muscle mass along with added bodyfat thereby giving the impression of being bigger.

I think you will also find that it is a matter of muscle and force propulsion, especially in the upper body. It is a fact that even very fat athletes such as powerlifters...though fat....carry just as much muscle if not more than in lighter weight classes. Ever notice too that women in sports such as softball are very typically carrying extra bodyfat? Women cannot put on muscle mass as easily as men, fact, naturally they don't have the hormones to. However the added bodyfat does allow them more weight and leverage ,and possibly more muscle mass retention. But definitely allows them more mass and power expression too which they otherwise can't achieve from just muscle as easily as men. Just as a heavyweight powerlifter seeks to do.

And lastly, just as many female runners and bodybuilders many times encounter, too low of bodyfat throws hormones so out of whack that many females stop having their periods.

The points regarding cold and insulation and calorie ant hunger signals above are very valid too. Happens with male swimmers too, they just have more lean muscle to burn more of the calories off.

Also one of the other posters is right, these women are not weak. Donnie Thompson looks like a fatass redneck, but underneath his bodyfat is a nervous system wired to muscles trained to explode and have produced a 3,000lb world record total. People look too much at muscles and body composition all the time and not the nervous system or functionality of the muscle mass.

They are far from fat. It is those swimsuits that make them look fat. They are so very very tight that it makes their shoulders look weird and shove their muscles up. I work at a pool that has eight swimmers at the trials and none, and I mean none of them are even remotely fat. They are strong badass girls. With HUGE lung capacity.

Just know that any one of them could kick your skinning distance runner ass any day.