why do female swimmers look so doughy?

Many of the guys are doughy as well. Swimming isn't a good weight controlling exercise like running.

It's because if the girls look ripped they're immediately on drugs. ie Katinka.

Which of the women look particularly doughy to you?

Opinion & personal experience:

Being in cold pools for extended periods, over a length of time can do that.

My College freshman year, I was injured most of it. So I swam a whole lot & lifted weights. My diet was strict too, including not drinking. I lost definition at the end of the year, & got a small layer of fat, despite my dedication. I think the body develops "insulation" vs the cold water. I recently returned to swimming- but only because it's a warmer pool. No issues.

slowerthanthough wrote:

Many of the guys are doughy as well. Swimming isn't a good weight controlling exercise like running.

Phelps is quite ripped.

ttc wrote:

Opinion & personal experience:

Being in cold pools for extended periods, over a length of time can do that.

My College freshman year, I was injured most of it. So I swam a whole lot & lifted weights. My diet was strict too, including not drinking. I lost definition at the end of the year, & got a small layer of fat, despite my dedication. I think the body develops "insulation" vs the cold water. I recently returned to swimming- but only because it's a warmer pool. No issues.

What?!?

You mean the human body develops an evolutionary layer of blubber like is seen on Arctic marine mammals by swimming in water temps below 70?

balding wrote:

It's because if the girls look ripped they're immediately on drugs. ie Katinka.

Which of the women look particularly doughy to you?

Ledecky, especially for someone who just torched the wr.

slowerthanthough wrote:

Many of the guys are doughy as well.

This. The more barrel-chested ones look fu\cking fat up there on the blocks.

here is one of those barrel chested swimmers

http://img.20mn.fr/7_rP6zuVQzWCrGWMLxT5IQ/2048x1536-fit_florent-manaudou-apres-victoire-100m-nage-libre-championnats-europe-berlin-22-aout-2014.jpg

balding wrote:

here is one of those barrel chested swimmers

http://img.20mn.fr/7_rP6zuVQzWCrGWMLxT5IQ/2048x1536-fit_florent-manaudou-apres-victoire-100m-nage-libre-championnats-europe-berlin-22-aout-2014.jpg

Manaudou is fine as hell. Nice cherry picking.

Gonna revise my statement, special for you:

Some of the more barrel-chested ones look fu\cking fat up there on the blocks.

A lot of the guys aren't ripped unless they do a lot of cross training outside of swimming. Swimmers keep that layer of fat for buoyancy.

They only look 'doughy' to guys with warped body image complexes. I guess it can be a bit emasculating to compare your skeleton-like self to a woman who has more muscle mass in her hand than you do in your whole upper body.

this doughy female was just fastest in 50m free semis:

http://cdn29.elitedaily.com/content/uploads/2016/08/02110006/pernille-blume-instagram-danish-swimmer-rio-olympics-800x400.jpg

They are on the Brenda Martinez weight program.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SpmIfkv9UKo/hqdefault.jpg

Pretty fast for being so plump.

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

A lot of the guys aren't ripped unless they do a lot of cross training outside of swimming. Swimmers keep that layer of fat for buoyancy.

Swimmers don't need body fat for buoyancy. When you're strong enough, your kick and pull will keep you on the surface. There are two factors:

1) Competition (Tech) Swim suits are *extremely* tight. The women racers I know need help getting into their suits. These suits move things around and change your shape.

Natalie Coughlin in a tech suit:

Not in a tech suit:

2) Competition pools are cold. Swimming in a cold pool makes you very hungry. There's not a significant performance penalty to having a layer of fat, as it has essentially no impact on your primary enemy in swimming (drag). It helps you stay warm enough

They look doughy compared to English Gardner. My goodness she is cut