Originally Posted by
mercator
I don't mean to condescend, and I suppose if fitness is your goal then technique is unimportant.
If your goals involve speed or distance, then I'm fairly certain that it is.
Did they have a life guard at the pool? What do they even pay those people for?
I think there may be some misunderstanding here.
You posted:
Originally Posted by
Bah Humbug
Things like boxing and tennis introduce skill, which is a fundamentally different question. The rigged biology is absolutely the biggest deal, and shows up in any like-for-like comparison (swimming, cycling, running, rowing, XC skiing, etc) over any distance
Tio me it seemed you were saying that boxing and tennis took skill while swimming and XC skiing did not ... which i can assure (and I think you know) is a ridiculous belief. technique is extremely important in Every sport. efficiency in pedaling, swimming stroke, stride, make a huge difference.
That was exactly what I said. not sure why you would disagree.
There are some sports where pure physical strength makes a bigger difference. Wrestling and boxing are such sports---where, assuming comparable skill, five pounds of muscle will decide the bout. This is why boxing and wrestling have so many weight classes, and at the light end, the difference might be five pounds or less.
It is not that technique doesn't matter .... it is that a small advantage in strength makes the deciding difference. So, participants are given a maximum weight limit, and can carry as much muscle of whatever quality they can develop into the ring or cage, or onto the mat.
In other sports a small strength difference doesn't make the playing filed as uneven---or so the organizers of sports around the world have decided.
Since men tend to carry more and denser muscle than women----in general---it is assumed that with a man and a woman of equal weight who train equally hard, the man will have some genetic advantage, which is why women and men do not compete head-to-head in some sports (including swimming and cross-country skiing.)
Maybe this is all some misunderstanding, and if so .... let's just drop it and forget it.