KUALA LUMPUR: Swimming fast is not about physique or brute strength but instead having the right technique and a strong connection with water.
That is the view of Malaysia Aquatics (MAS) swimming technical director Megan Oesting when asked whether Malaysians, who have generally smaller physiques compared to their Western counterparts, can excel in the sport.
Megan cited Australia's Jon Sieben as an example. Despite being foot shorter, Sieben was able to beat highly favoured Michael Gross (Germany) — dubbed The Albatross for his immense reach — in the men's 200-metre butterfly final at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
"Once upon a time in 1984, Michael Gross was winning everything. People said it was because he is so big, but then Jon Sieben came along and beat him despite there being a foot in difference (height)," Megan recently.
"To me, swimming is not about brute strength. If we put a rugby player who can squat 500 pounds and bench (press) 325 in the water against a 12-year-old girl (swimmer), the swimmer is going to be faster.
"If you put an ironman triathlete, who has the biggest (cardiovascular) engine, against a swimmer, the swimmer is going to win.
"Baseball players can be so strong and powerful but if they don't hit the ball, does it even matter?
"Similarly for us (swimmers) it is about connecting with the water. Strength and endurance only matters when you have timing, finesse and feel.
"It is about leveraging physics, not about who is the biggest and strongest."
Megan added that swimmers training programmes have often focused more on building strength and endurance rather than technique and feel.
"The approach (taken) in swimming is sometimes backwards. Let's get them in shape and get them strong and then make them better swimmers in the water. It should be the opposite," she said.
"First, connect with the water and find flow. After that, find endurance to continue that flow. Then find enough energy to drive power in that flow.
"If we start here, we will be in a good position."
Megan, who joined the national setup last month, has been given the task of reviving Malaysian swimming which has struggled with poor results in recent years.
The former US national swimmer places a strong emphasis on data and technology in her training methods. Megan majored in math and computer science (degree) and also holds a masters in statistics and educational measurement.