Thread by @FondOfBeetles

The Phelps Gambit - life’s unfair.

The Phelps Gambit runs like this:

Michael Phelps had ‘unfair’ advantages in swimming, but nobody prevented him from competing, so why should we prevent others with ‘unfair’ advantages (males) competing against anyone (females)?

Here is a thread outlining Phelps’ ‘unfair’ competitive edge over his closest competitors. It runs at less than 0.5%. His advantage over matched females is around 10-12%.

https://twitter.com/FondOfBeetles/status/1187395445984759808?s=20

Phelps’ advantages are the stuff of legend, growing from fairly straightforward observations like, ‘He’s quite tall, with even longer arms’ to, ‘He’s got superhuman metabolism and his bones are made of Adamantium’.

(I exaggerate).

My argument against the Phelps Gambit to justify male inclusion in female sport has been, primarily, to point out that there are female swimmers who are extremely tall, with disproportionately long arms, big feet etc, who, weirdly, are some way behind Phelps in the pool.

https://twitter.com/fondofbeetles/status/1362446774154190850

That is, the same set of favourable swimming ‘nature + nurture’ environment creates vastly different endpoints in males and females.

(The single biggest genetic advantage Phelps has is a Y chromosome. I mean, we could regulate for that, right?)

My second approach has been to analyse how Phelps’ physique compares with his male competitors, particularly those he is slower than.

I know, right, who knew he wasn’t always the fastest swimmer?

https://twitter.com/FondOfBeetles/status/1276910572257320966

This morning, I have been reading about Caeleb Dressel. In 2019, Dressel took Phelps’ 100m butterfly record, posting 49.50s, down 0.32s from Phelps’ 49.82.

Interestingly, this is a bigger margin that either of Phelps’ acquisitions of this record.

Dressel is shorter than Phelps, with a smaller wingspan:height ratio. He’s the same weight.

I don’t know if he has double-jointed ankles or quirky lactic acid metabolism.

I do know he isn’t considered as perfect a swimming shape as Phelps was.

So it’s a mystery how he can be faster than Phelps, right?

Well, no. Because what Dressel *does have* is an amazing start. He is incredibly strong through his legs, he positions his hips to create a slingshot effect into the water, his underwater technique is superb, and so on.

Dressel can get half a body length ahead in the first 15m.

That’s massive in swimming. Hence his large margin WR.

google.co.uk/amp/s/www.your…

Against this start, Phelps loses.

It’s almost like saying that Phelps had ‘unfair’ advantages is meaningless when you consider the wider field 🤔

Or maybe Phelps promises to never again miss a leg day. He might experiment with the slingshot technique and his leg positioning. But maybe his body proportions aren’t optimal for that. Who knows?

All this talk of the ‘unfair’ advantages of Phelps becomes a little hollow.

How can you rationally label Phelps’ advantages ‘unfair’ when he’s beaten by someone with a different set of advantages that create a ‘legendary’ start?

What we see at the discipline level in the pool are a field of great swimmers who each have unique sets of characteristics that might see them win a the odd race.

We call this ‘sport’, and it’s a marvellous spectacle.

Someone gets an edge from unusually long arms. Someone gets an edge from a great start. Someone beats the two of them with both?

Or brings something else to the table? #TeamAdamantium

(I will not be taking questions on whether Adamantium bones would provide sporting advantage)

When you dissect the Phelps Gambit it falls apart.

What you are left with is someone arguing that it’s ‘unfair’ that good swimmers are good swimmers.

And that’s just a temper tantrum.