https://www.biography.com/news/michael-p...y-swimming
Phelps has a very long torso and 'short' legs
Swimmers tend to have longer torsos and shorter legs than the average person. Standing at 6 feet 4 inches, Phelps has the torso of a man who’s 6 feet 8 inches tall… and the legs of a man 8 inches shorter.
This disproportionately large chest enables Phelps to power himself through the water. It also means his legs produce less drag (or water resistance) with each stroke.
Wingspan is the distance from fingertip to fingertip when your arms are stretched out to your sides. The average person’s wingspan is about the same as their height. Phelps’ wingspan is three inches longer than his height (6 feet 7 inches versus 6 feet 4 inches), according to The Telegraph.
A longer wingspan means your arms can reach farther. When winning a race is the matter of a fraction of a second, even a small advantage in wingspan can make a big difference.
The swimmer's legs resemble flippers
Phelps specializes in butterfly, and dolphin kick is essential to a powerful stroke. It looks just like you’d imagine, with a swimmer propelling himself through the water in a dolphin-like motion. Up to 90 percent of thrust in dolphin kick comes from the feet and ankles.
Like many swimmers, Phelps has hyperextended joints — but his double-jointed ankles bend 15 percent more than his rivals. Paired with his size-14 feet, his legs act like flippers, thrusting him through the water.
Phelps is also hyper-jointed in the chest. That means he can kick from his chest instead of just his ribs, giving him more force with each stroke, according to former Olympian Mark Tewksbury.
Whadayaknow...Phelps falls outside the norm in a way that makes swimming the sport for him. Is that falling way outside the average for his bio sex?
Phelps has a very long torso and 'short' legs
Swimmers tend to have longer torsos and shorter legs than the average person. Standing at 6 feet 4 inches, Phelps has the torso of a man who’s 6 feet 8 inches tall… and the legs of a man 8 inches shorter.
This disproportionately large chest enables Phelps to power himself through the water. It also means his legs produce less drag (or water resistance) with each stroke.
Wingspan is the distance from fingertip to fingertip when your arms are stretched out to your sides. The average person’s wingspan is about the same as their height. Phelps’ wingspan is three inches longer than his height (6 feet 7 inches versus 6 feet 4 inches), according to The Telegraph.
A longer wingspan means your arms can reach farther. When winning a race is the matter of a fraction of a second, even a small advantage in wingspan can make a big difference.
The swimmer's legs resemble flippers
Phelps specializes in butterfly, and dolphin kick is essential to a powerful stroke. It looks just like you’d imagine, with a swimmer propelling himself through the water in a dolphin-like motion. Up to 90 percent of thrust in dolphin kick comes from the feet and ankles.
Like many swimmers, Phelps has hyperextended joints — but his double-jointed ankles bend 15 percent more than his rivals. Paired with his size-14 feet, his legs act like flippers, thrusting him through the water.
Phelps is also hyper-jointed in the chest. That means he can kick from his chest instead of just his ribs, giving him more force with each stroke, according to former Olympian Mark Tewksbury.
Whadayaknow...Phelps falls outside the norm in a way that makes swimming the sport for him. Is that falling way outside the average for his bio sex?
