Athletic ability represents an expression of psychological and biological variation of human physical activity in a quantified way within the structure of the governing rules of sport. As postulated in a previous paper presented at the Fourth International Seminar on Biomechanics {1974), body form and function are intimately related and do play an important role in achieving top class performance. For every Olympiad, samples of the best athletes from many countries are selected for competition in various sports. There is no doubt that athletes who compete in Olympic Games are endowed with aptitudes which permit them to attain an extremely high level of achievement in their special sport. Hence, a sample group of athletes participating in Olympic Games is particularly favorable for making a comparison of certain characteristics of body build and body form. It is the purpose of this article to present a description and an analysis of anthropometric data and of the somatotypes of male and female Olympic swimmers and divers, as well as of male water polo players.
© Copyright 1975 Swimming II: Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Biomechanics in Swimming, Brussels, Belgium. Veröffentlicht von University Park Press. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.