Man, do I hate swimming

[SteelBlue]

Originally Posted by Black Diamond Bay

My bil is, by all accounts, a really great swimmer. He also has incredibly short legs, and a long torso. He says that my sisters and I suck at swimming because we have long limbs and he claims that makes our kicking less efficient. I don't know if I buy it or not. Sadly, I am the "strong swimmer" out of the three sisters, but I have to be one of the most inefficient swimmers alive. I feel like I expend an incredible amount of energy for the distance I'm covering...which is generally very short.

Ask your bil to explain why Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe the 2 best swimmers of the past 20 years, destroyed all of their competition despite having long limbs. Most of the best are long and lanky. There are notable exceptions (Spitz was under 6 feet tall and had size 7 feet), but I think your bil is dead wrong.