• csolisr@hub.azkware.net
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    134
    ·
    22 hours ago

    The only enhancement he used (but everyone else on the pool was using it too) was a swimming suit so efficient, that it got eventually banned by the IOC for being deemed an unfair advantage. Also, most of the “enhanced” competitors were just returning from retirement, there’s only so much you can compensate with steroids.

    • csolisr@hub.azkware.net
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      85
      ·
      22 hours ago

      Oh, and furthermore: jacking up a la Broly is actually a terrible idea for swimming specifically, because the extra bulging muscle is actually inefficient for hydrodynamic drag.

      • SamuraiBeandog@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        12
        ·
        15 hours ago

        I read an article a little while ago about one of the swimmers who was training for these games and it talked about exactly this, how the changes to his body shape and composition were bigger drawbacks than the added strength from the enhancements.

        If this event ends up going for a while and has enough interest I would expect people to figure out an optimal way to dope to find the balance.

        • JcbAzPx@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          10 hours ago

          The advancements will be to the suit. It will become more like speed submarining than swimming.

      • nomecks@lemmy.wtf
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        edit-2
        14 hours ago

        That’s just them taking the wrong performance enhancing drugs. I would imagine that something that would lead to huge swelling of the hands and feet might be good for increasing how much water they can push against.

        • optimisticturtle@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          13 hours ago

          something that would lead to huge swelling of the hands and feet might be good for increasing how much water they can push against.

          HGH does that.

        • csolisr@hub.azkware.net
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          33
          ·
          22 hours ago

          Yes, generally, but at a certain point, the amount of energy gained from sheer muscle is unfortunately negated by the amount of drag from the muscle’s additional volume. That’s why most swimmers are relatively lean, with good core muscles.

            • csolisr@hub.azkware.net
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              8
              ·
              22 hours ago

              Yeah, an energy boosting substance should be more apt for quick sprints. Again, as I mentioned above, most of the “enhanced” athletes are coming back from retirement - giving 120% from a degraded muscle can (and here, did) give less of a payback than giving 100% from a muscle in its prime.

              • SamuraiBeandog@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                4
                ·
                15 hours ago

                Yeah, an energy boosting substance should be more apt for quick sprints.

                The opposite I think, meth doesn’t magically make you stronger or faster (it just feels like it does) but it keeps you going for longer.

                • NannerBanner@literature.cafe
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  ·
                  11 hours ago

                  but it keeps you going for longer.

                  Specifically, mentally going. The majority of olympic level athletes are not ‘flagging’ due to not being able to keep their mental focus while pushing through pain/fatigue, it’s due to actual physiological reasons as your energy stores deplete and muscles suffer damage.

    • MinnesotaGoddam@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      13 hours ago

      i would have thought there’s be like a blood oxygen thingy. or blood something else re- like… what’s it called. sorry, can’t remember the word. too much weed. 4:, uh, 4:57 if you want to be precise 4:20 was a bit ago. when you give platelets. they take the blood out and pull out the platelets, put the blood back in. i’d think there’d be something you could do with iv bullshit, something more intense with APHERESIS HAHA THATS THE WORD. i think that’s the word.

      juice up right before the meet so you can voom. not even with anything that illegal, just with, idunno, making sure your electrolytes are the right balance.