Neither fish nor Phelps

by Jo-ann Hodgson in At home on 15.08.08

Michael Phelps, or ‘freaky Phelps’, as some of the tabloids have so kindly named him, is everyone’s new favourite sporting hero.

Competing swimmers giving it their all against the aquatic powerhouse are ridiculed by commentators. “He has the audacity to try and catch Phelps,” one exclaimed, probably followed by a muttered “foolish boy”. And Phelps himself just seems to be showing off now. “For my next trick I’m going to win this race…with water in my goggles!”

For those who have been living in a galaxy far, far away, let’s just recap: the 23-year-old American has won the most gold medals of an Olympic athlete in the modern Olympic era, having already bagged six Golds in Beijing - all in record time of course.

So incredible is his athleticism that some have become suspicious. “Well, his body is shaped like the hull of a boat,” one water-side commentator remarked, in a tone that insinuated Phelps was somehow cheating.

So the question must now be asked is: is Phelps in fact the first of some new aquatic/human species?

He certainly boasts many similarities to some of the sea’s finest swimmers.

The dolphin kick, in which swimmers push off walls and swim underwater without moving their arms, is an important move in professional swimming.  Similar to how a dolphin moves through the water, the swimmer raises their hips and bends their knees with extended ankles. Phelps, unsurprisingly, in one of the best in the world at this move.

Indeed, Russell Mark, biomechanics coordinator for USA Swimming said that Phelps “probably gets as close to anyone as having a more shark-like finesse in the water.”

Some swimmers now wear ’shark skin suits’, which, made from slippery material, make them move faster in the water by reducing friction and drag. 

Phelps doesn’t need a suit - his body is made for the water. With ankles that bend 15 degrees more than the average swimmer and huge size 14 feet, he may as well have flippers. And, as has become a common observation, the titanic torso of the world’s best swimmer is indeed boat-like, allowing him to ride the water.

Edward Cussler from the University of Minnesota said good swimmers should have the “body of a snake and the arms of a gorilla.” Phelps has a massive wingspan which is 3 inches wider than his 6 foot 4 height - I’d be scared if he started beating his muscular chest. And with a long and slightly concaved torso and highly flexible joints, I think snake could be added to the list of extraordinary animals Phelps resembles.

If any more evidence was needed that Phelps is some form of superhuman, he has a highly unusual tolerance for pain. With very low levels of lactate - produced when muscle cells use oxygen - after swimming, ‘freaky Phelps’ has a super- quick recovery rate.

“This is the best specimen that nature has come up with in terms of swimming,” said Mel Stewart, swim analyst and former world-record holder.

Is it a bird? Is it a dolphin? No, it’s Michael Phelps.

IMAGE by Flickr user Fleur-design