Dressel would never come close to LeBron after a year of basketball training. He wouldn’t even be as good as the best middle schooler, probably. LeBron would never come close to Dressel after a year of swim training. He definitely wouldn’t be as good as the best middle schooler. So, what’s your point? Sounds like you have a narrow view of what makes a person athletic. Whether it’s table tennis, handball, kayaking, or rock climbing, athletes are athletes. If it were easy, everyone would do it. Jump in a lane with the 10u group of your local swim club and you’ll see how athletic they are. |
| I have 3 kids and only the youngest is a good swimmer. It's not that she started younger, although she did. She is more competitive and coordinated. |
There’s a video of Shaq racing Phelps. Phelps spots Shaq 100m on a 200m and still crushes him. |
Swimmers are not coordinated that’s why they’re in the pool |
Keep trolling
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For the best of the best, it’s both. Can’t make the Olympics without elite training and great genetics.
For little kids, could be one or the other. DS started swimming late, has terrible form but crushes kids on summer swim. He’s about two heads taller than them and much stronger. There’s another smaller kid whose parents are intense sport parents and he smokes kids too. Unless my son improves his form, and the other kid grows/gets strong, neither of them will be great by high school. |
We’ve got one of those at our pool. But it’s just that she grew early and is at least a head taller than everyone else. |
That’s what people mean by genetics. |
Well I hope so she’s the oldest |
But but but my one anecdote and Michael Phelps’s lax |
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What do you mean by amazing swimmers? They have all-star times?
We have a lot of "amazing" sibling swimmers but only one is usually truly amazing. The others ones are just great swimmers by summer swim measures and are just okay club swimmers and they are not getting all star times. I can think of 8-10 families like this where 3 kids swim and they all make A meets but only one is in the highest NCAP group or RMSC NTG. A lot of families put kids in swimming together for the ease of driving to activities and as one PP said one kid may be really great at it and the others just tag along and then end up getting okay at it. |
We have a boy like this at our pool. Just a great athlete but also very tall/large so even though he only swims in the summer he's placing very high. It was most prominent in the younger ages when the lengths were shorter but the swimmer looks less incredible as the distances get longer as the kids get older. |
Not always. We are a big soccer family (not me lol but my boys) and my eldest is just a good athlete who regularly out swims most of the year round swimmers, never done a days worth of extra coaching either! He just does summer swim this is his second year. |
You’re citing one physical attribute which actually ties directly to being a great swimmer. Having a powerful jump is important for a good start. I am sure he has done a ton of work on jumping targeting those leg muscles just for that. That doesn’t mean he is going to run a 10 (or even 12) second 100m or throw a baseball 90mph. |
What exactly is your point, that only baseball players and sprinters are good athletes? I’m sure Shohei Ohtani can’t swim like Michael Phelps either, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a phenomenal athlete. |