Research Paper On Michael Phelps

The Butterfly is the world’s hardest swim stroke. It takes a swimmer with great strength and determination to succeed in a Butterfly event. Extensive training and constant practice is required to master this stroke. Many swimmers never achieve this extensive goal. Michael Phelps is the best example of a successful Butterfly swimmer. He has spent the better portion of his life mastering this stroke. His unusual body structure helps him excel in this stroke. The muscular structure of a Butterfly swimmer is very similar to that of a Freestyle swimmer. The exercises of a Freestyle swimmer are also similar to that of a Butterfly swimmer. Therefore making a Butterfly swimmer an equally successful Freestyle swimmer. Because swimming the Butterfly is one of the most difficult strokes in swimming, athletes must be able to utilize the specific muscles, and with his unique body structure; Michael Phelps was built perfectly for this challenging stroke. This difficult stroke was invented in 1934 by Dave Armbruster; he invented it for his Breastroke swimmers. It was to be a faster version of the Breastroke (Gonsalves 1). Armbruster filmed his

The feet have an important role as Mcleod writes, "The foot is maintained in a plantarflexed position through a combination of the resistance from the water and activation of the gastrocnemius and soleus, acting as plantar flexors" (Mcleod 6). This is imperative because 90% of the thrust comes from the ankles and the feet (Siebert 1). Keeping your feet together makes the kick stronger (Butterfly 6). Since swimming the Butterfly not only works your normal muscles, it is of utmost importance to work your smaller muscles such as the wrists, ankles, and neck (Fine, Josephson 3). These precise muscle demand extra intense exercises to strengthen. This again necessitates additional time spent in training by the athlete, and the coaching