Swimming - the women's bodies

[Angela_Freda]

[QUOTE=MistyBlue;8789129]
My 3 sisters were all competitive swimmers back in the 70s.
They were all built with huge shoulders, arms and had flat chests from the chest muscles.
They swam distance meets and one also swam distance open water.
They trained by swimming laps for hours. They also did laps with their feet tied together so they were only pulling with their arms for countless laps.
All of them had teeny narrow hips and enormously wide shoulders.
No steroids.
When you’re seriously serious about a sport you don’t just practice for it, your lifestyle revolves around training. And when you start young, your body reflects that.
Heck, my youngest daughter isn’t a swimmer but she’s built similar to these ladies in terms of upper body. Hers is from constant strength training and tons of pulls ups and chin ups.
Meanwhile you could pick a lock with my shoulders, lol![/QUOTE]

My sons team trains with a parachute thingie… it is attached to their waist and they have to swim laps dragging that open chute.
Or they swim with a bungee chord attached to another swimmer… and whomever drags the other swimmer to their ‘side’ [a la tug of war] wins.
They wear the equivalent of a diaper cover called a ‘drag suit’ over their Jammer [the long, clam digger length tight swim trunks]

Watching swimmers train has been eye opening to me… it’s a very graceful, elegant sport to watch. And even to this non-swimmer it was easy to recognize a ‘good swimmer’ as they practiced.

.

[Palm_Beach]

[QUOTE=Palm Beach;8783863]

I was watching swimming in a bar with some friends last night, all of whom decided that women swimmers are on steriods due to their overdeveloped upper bodies along with almost complete lack of breasts.

I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but wow, I could see what they were talking about.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=AMWookey;8787236]that women swimmers are on steriods due to their overdeveloped upper bodies along with almost complete lack of breasts. They honestly looked like men.

Sorry Palm Beach - while this doesn’t say all athletes, it does push to the athletic body=must be on steroids assumption that you made. I don’t blame the poster for thinking that you were implying that.[/QUOTE]

Read for content. It seems to be a difficulty here. My friends decided they were on steroids. I understood why they thought that.

[Montanas_Girl]

[QUOTE=Rackonteur;8789036]
Some male golfer believes female golfers are handicapped because their breasts get in the way of their swing.

I wondered if breasts really get in the way all that much, then logically male equestrians and cyclists would surgically reduce their genitals so they won’t handicap them when riding.[/QUOTE]

I (obviously) can’t speak for male riders and cyclists…But, yes, as a large-breasted female who played golf as a youngster, my breasts did interfere with my swing. They interfere with MANY activities. I can’t do a lot of yoga poses, for instance, because I can’t flatten my body to the ground or my knees, not because of a lack of flexibility but because by breasts create a physical barrier that prevents me from fully folding or flattening my body.

[Russinka]

[QUOTE=Montanas_Girl;8795305]
I (obviously) can’t speak for male riders and cyclists…But, yes, as a large-breasted female who played golf as a youngster, my breasts did interfere with my swing. They interfere with MANY activities. I can’t do a lot of yoga poses, for instance, because I can’t flatten my body to the ground or my knees, not because of a lack of flexibility but because by breasts create a physical barrier that prevents me from fully folding or flattening my body.[/QUOTE]

A large breasted aspiring jockey friend of mine was seriously considering breast reduction. Even at her thinnest her boobs were huge and she felt it would help get her weight down enough that she had a kilo of wiggle room. She booked into have it done and then had a nasty fall, healed up enough to get back in the saddle, found out she was pregnant and took it as a sign she wasn’t meant to ride.

[Montanas_Girl]

[QUOTE=Russinka;8795346]
A large breasted aspiring jockey friend of mine was seriously considering breast reduction. Even at her thinnest her boobs were huge and she felt it would help get her weight down enough that she had a kilo of wiggle room.[/QUOTE]

If I can ever figure out a way to get my insurance policy to cover the procedure, I’ll have it done in a heart beat. My bras (no matter how high quality and carefully measured) bloody me EVERY SINGLE DAY. It’s no fun at all and can’t possibly be healthy for my spinal cord.

[Albion]

Has anyone seen the videos with the Chinese swimmer, Fu Yuanhui, that have gone viral (definitely in China, but I’ve seen a fair bit of coverage in the West, too). In one clip, she ‘snaps’ herself with her swimsuit & you can see it’s very painful - she discusses HOW tight the suits are & what it does to a woman’s bustline (the snapping moment is at about 1:15 in the first video). http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2016/08/swimmer-fu-yuanhui-wins-publics-heart-viral-video/

[QUOTE=Montanas_Girl;8795350]
If I can ever figure out a way to get my insurance policy to cover the procedure, I’ll have it done in a heart beat. My bras (no matter how high quality and carefully measured) bloody me EVERY SINGLE DAY. It’s no fun at all and can’t possibly be healthy for my spinal cord.[/QUOTE]

Surely your GP can get you a referral that will hopefully lead towards reduction? Although if you’re getting bloody from bras, I can’t imagine they fit right. I have a large chest (G/H depending on brand), no matter what my weight. I now wear Empreinte, which are ~$200 a pop (sigh), for everything but outdoor activity/running on the treadmill, when I use sports bras. Empreinte, as far as I understand, one of the only brands (if not the only, barring custom) that doesn’t have one-size-fits-all underwire (where no matter the band size, the underwire is the same per cup measurement). The underwire on my 34H is different than the underwire on a 36H, etc.

[Montanas_Girl]

[QUOTE=Albion;8795377]
Surely your GP can get you a referral that will hopefully lead towards reduction? Although if you’re getting bloody from bras, I can’t imagine they fit right. [/QUOTE]

Not to carry this much further off topic but no, I can’t. I need to figure out how to get my doctors to “document” the years of discomfort and injuries I’ve suffered before my insurance will consider covering a small portion of the surgery. Even then, it will still cost me far more out of pocket than the insurance company will cover. And, yes, my bras fit very well. But when you have breasts that weigh 15% or more of your body weight, no underwire in the world is going to fully support them. The more weight the bra’s shoulder straps are forced to support, the more discomfort one will experience on a day-to-day basis.

[Albion]

[QUOTE=Montanas_Girl;8795387]
Not to carry this much further off topic but no, I can’t. I need to figure out how to get my doctors to “document” the years of discomfort and injuries I’ve suffered before my insurance will consider covering a small portion of the surgery.[/QUOTE]

Sorry, not attempting to be insensitive - especially as someone with a large bust (and not because I’m “fat,” so I don’t really need a lecture on what bra straps do to shoulders, because I know). But I’ve had several friends who have gotten reductions for what sounds like a lot less than you’ve been dealing with. Being bloody every day? Wow. I’m really surprised your GPs aren’t willing to document or refer in that case. I hope you can find a sympathetic doctor willing to help you.

[Where_sMyWhite]

[QUOTE=Rackonteur;8789036]
I wondered if breasts really get in the way all that much, then logically male equestrians and cyclists would surgically reduce their genitals so they won’t handicap them when riding.[/QUOTE]

Having never personally experienced what male cyclists experience but have asked… the seat is reasonably small in the forward crotch area and the jewels and equipment are packed in high and tight and not usually an issue except during a crash when the cross bar might be high :eek:

I have often wondered if some of the cases of testicular cancer have come from the “package” being packed in and kept too warm…

[Palm_Beach]

[QUOTE=Montanas_Girl;8795305]
I (obviously) can’t speak for male riders and cyclists…But, yes, as a large-breasted female who played golf as a youngster, my breasts did interfere with my swing. They interfere with MANY activities. I can’t do a lot of yoga poses, for instance, because I can’t flatten my body to the ground or my knees, not because of a lack of flexibility but because by breasts create a physical barrier that prevents me from fully folding or flattening my body.[/QUOTE]

Apparently we have a “resident bra fitter” on this board, but I can’t remember who it is. She may be able to help you out a bit, although I certainly cannot speak for her.

[JanM]

There is a book about women’s gymnastics and figure skating, called Girls in Little Boxes (or something like that title). The author talked about the body shaming, extreme dieting, how some coaches are abusive, and the body shape issues.

The author said they knew of many young girls that had breast reductions so they could flip and spin better, and they were young teens.