By Corey He on SwimSwam
Many competitive sports favor taller athletes, including basketball, volleyball, long/high jump, rowing, and even goaltending in soccer. But is this the case for swimming? And more specifically, are there certain heights that confer a slight advantage for swimmers who may specialize in certain distances and events?
To answer this question, we’ve gone through all of the major contested long-course events (minus the 50’s stroke) and identified the following statistics: the average height among all WR holders, the average height among all WR holders since 2000 (to see if trends in height have changed), the tallest and shortest WR holder, and the most common height among the WR holders in that specific event.
*Note: this analysis includes all swimmers with publicly available height information; unfortunately, some swimmers have been excluded due to lack of information.
First up, we’ll start with the world record holders on the men’s side.
Event Average Height Average Height Since 2000 Tallest WR Holder(s) Shortest WR Holder(s) Most Common Height(s) 50 free 1.93 m 1.938 m (+0.8 cm) Matt Biondi / Alexander Popov, 2.01 m Robin Leamy / Rowdy Gaines, 1.85 m 1.96 m 100 free 1.885 m 1.919 m (+3.39 cm) Matt Biondi / Alexander Popov, 2.01 m Alan Ford, 1.75 m 1.83 m, 1.91 m 200 free 1.846 m 1.94 m (+9.36 cm) Michael Gross, 2.01 m Ford Konno, 1.68 m 1.83 m 400 free 1.815 m 1.937 m (+12.18 cm) Michael Gross, 2.01 m Brad Cooper, 1.60 m 1.83 m 800 free 1500 free 1.796 m 1.823 m 1.937 m (+14.09 cm) 1.933 m (+11.04 cm) Grant Hackett, 1.97 m Sun Yang, 1.98 m Stephen Holland, 1.52 m Stephen Holland, 1.52 m 1.83 m, 1.88 m 1.83 m, 1.85 m, 1.88 m 100 back 1.866 m 1.905 m (+3.89 cm) John Naber, 1.98 m Tom Stock, 1.52 m 1.83 m, 1.91 m 200 back 1.879 m 1.857 m (–2.28 cm) Jed Graef / John Naber, 1.98 m Tom Stock, 1.52 m 1.88 m 100 breast 1.819 m 1.845 m (+2.63 cm) Adam Peaty, 1.91 m Vladimir Kosinsky, 1.72 m 1.8 m, 1.83 m, 1.88 m 200 breast 1.817 m 1.855 m (+3.86 cm) Christian Sprenger, 1.96 m Bob Skelton, 1.60 m 1.83 m 100 fly 1.886 m 1.924 m (+3.84 cm) Michael Gross, 2.01 m Luis Nicolao, 1.82 m 1.83 m 200 fly 1.839 m 1.937 m (+9.79 cm) Michael Gross, 2.01 m Kevin Berry, 1.72 m 1.85 m 200 IM 1.859 m 1.905 m (+4.65 cm) Michael Phelps / Steve Furniss, 1.93 m Jesse Vassallo, 1.75 m 1.83 m, 1.85 m 400 IM 1.844 m 1.937 m (+9.27 cm) Tom Dolan, 2.01 m Ricardo Prado, 1.68 m 1.83 mRight off the bat, the most obvious trend is that world record holders, on average, have been getting taller, with the average height since 2000 across all events greater than the average height among all swimmers, though this difference is very minuscule among 50 freestylers. Not surprisingly, mid- to long-distance freestylers are the tallest, while the breaststrokers have always been the shortest.
In the past, it seems that successful sprint freestylers were considerably taller than swimmers specializing in other disciplines. Now, however, it appears that the height difference between sprint freestylers and other swimmers (including distance freestylers, butterfliers, and IMers) has narrowed, though the 50 freestylers are still the tallest of them all.
Incredibly, with the exception of ONE event, world record holders in all events have been getting significantly taller. That one exception happens to be the 200 backstroke — but this may be a case of a small sample size: this record has only been reset 3 times since 2000 (by Aaron Peirsol, Ryosuke Irie, and Ryan Lochte). As such, perhaps it remains to be seen in the coming years and decades if the fastest 200 backstrokers are indeed getting a bit shorter compared to the past.
Here’s another fascinating observation: is 1.83 m (a bit over 6 feet tall) the most optimal or versatile male swimmer height? Across almost ALL events, it is the most common height among world record holders ranging in widely different disciplines from the 100 freestyle to the 200 breaststroke. Perhaps this is just pure coincidence, or is it?…
Next, here are the stats for the world record holders on the women’s side.
Event Average Height Average Height Since 2000 Tallest WR Holder(s) Shortest WR Holder(s) Most Common Height(s) 50 free 1.771 m 1.786 m (+1.46 cm) Sarah Sjostrom / Inge de Bruijn / Marleen Veldhuis, 1.82 m Libby Trickett, 1.67 m 1.8 m 100 free 1.746 m 1.775 m (+2.95 cm) Cate Campbell, 1.86 m Ethel Lackie / Willy den Ouden, 1.63 m 1.63 m, 1.67 m, 1.8 m 200 free 1.738 m 1.784 m (+4.56 cm) Kristin Otto, 1.85 m Willy den Ouden, 1.63 m 1.75 m 400 free 1.724 m 1.793 m (+6.96 cm) Joanne Jackson, 1.84 m Willy den Ouden / Tracey Wickham, 1.63 m 1.65 m 800 free 1.693 m 1.81 m (+11.72 cm) Katie Ledecky, 1.83 m Michelle Ford, 1.59 m 1.63 m 1500 free 1.688 m 1.83 m (+14.25 cm) Kate Ziegler / Katie Ledecky, 1.83 m Helen Wainwright, 1.55 m 1.63 m 100 back 1.736 m 1.768 m (+3.2 cm) Gemma Spofforth, 1.86 m Karen Muir, 1.52 m 1.73 m 200 back 1.725 m 1.778 m (+5.28 cm) Missy Franklin, 1.88 m Karen Muir, 1.52 m 1.73 m 100 breast 1.719 m 1.754 m (+3.54 cm) Jessica Hardy, 1.83 m Hannelore Anke / Samantha Riley, 1.60 m 1.7 m, 1.73 m 200 breast 1.735 m 1.754 m (+1.88 cm) Ada de Haan / Karla Linke / Allison Higson, 1.80 m Anita Nall, 1.65 m 1.7 m, 1.73 m, 1.75 m 100 fly 1.706 m 1.838 m (+13.2 cm) Gretchen Walsh, 1.86 m Mary Stewart, 1.54 m 1.64 m 200 fly 1.697 m 1.78 m (+8.26 cm) Otylia Jędrzejczak, 1.87 m Tineke Lagerberg, 1.50 m 1.73 m 200 IM 1.715 m 1.735 m (+2.03 cm) Ute Geweniger, 1.79 m Patty Kempner, 1.60 m 1.7 m, 1.73 m 400 IM 1.721 m 1.755 m (+3.39 cm) Yana Klochkova, 1.82 m Sharon Finneron, 1.60 m 1.73 m, 1.75 mThere are some interesting trends to note here. Similar to the men’s world record holders, the most successful sprint freestylers were much taller than all other swimmers in the past. Nowadays, the difference has narrowed significantly, with the tallest swimmers today being mid-
to long-distance freestylers and butterfliers. Across all events, the average height among world record holders has increased.
There also appears to be a certain height that is most versatile for female swimmers: 1.73 m (or just above 5’8”). Across almost all of the non-freestyle and IM events, this height is the most common among all world recorders.
It may also come as a surprise that the fastest IMers in history have generally been shorter than the fastest breaststrokers in history. What’s even stranger is that back in the day, long-distance freestylers (which are now the tallest of the lot today) were the shortest world record holders, followed by butterfliers. As such, it seems that the best breaststrokers today and in the past are actually not the shortest among the world’s fastest swimmers.
Across both the men’s and women’s world record holders, the most substantial changes in height are seen in the 800m and 1500m freestyle, with increases of more than 10 cm in average height. This is followed by the butterfly events, which have also seen large increases.
Final Thoughts
Obviously, there’s much more that goes into being a successful swimmer besides height. Things like muscle mass, conditioning, aerobic capacity, mental toughness, and the intangibles such as dedication and competitive nature also fit into the equation — and are all extremely difficult to
quantitatively gauge. But perhaps this analysis provides an interesting depiction of where the most successful in our sport stack up in relation to one another and to ourselves as well.
Here’s one last completely unrelated but fun fact that I’ll close with: after running all the numbers, it appears that the world record that has been held by the greatest number of unique swimmers is the 400m freestyle — on BOTH the men’s and women’s sides. Pure coincidence, I suppose.
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