2007-06-29 19:57:38 · 9 answers · asked by Bob 2 in Sports ➔ Swimming & Diving
It's NOT. I am 5'0" and weigh 80 pounds. I can float, and I swim a mile almost every day. Where in the world did you hear that?
Grief! That's funny. I would think it'd be harder for fatties to float. It seems as if they'd sink. Sure you don't have iit backwards?
2007-06-30 00:37:44 · answer #1 · answered by batgirl2good 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Im 5'10, 160 lbs. and ~6% body fat. I was a swimmer in the Big10. You can see i had no problem swimming, regardless of being thin. But, i do have a hard time floating without moving. If I lie in the water completely motionless, my feet will sink, and I will float with just the crown of my head breaking the surface. If i exhale ANY air at all, will sink to the bottom if I remain motionless.
It comes down to a simple issued of density. Everyone has seen a mixture of oil and water seperate so that the oil floats on top of the water. Fat=Oil, and thus fat floats, while bone and muscle are more dense than water, and want to sink. Because i have so little fat to counteract the more dense tissues in my body, it wants to sink unless i have my near 6 liters of lung capacity filled.
2007-06-30 12:34:59 · answer #2 · answered by spazz5699 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've been lean and muscular most of my life meaning youth and never had a problem with either swimming or floating .
2007-06-30 03:07:12 · answer #3 · answered by dogpatch USA 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because fat makes you float and thats why thin people can't float as well as a fat person might
2007-07-01 03:14:00 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The term is DISPLACEMENT. Their body weighs more than the water they push out of the way. Think of a metal rod and a beachball.
2007-06-30 03:06:13 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm 5'7 and 116 lbs and I bob like a cork when I get in the water.
2007-06-30 06:17:45 · answer #6 · answered by Joya 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Fat floats because its less dense than muscle.
2007-06-30 22:55:02 · answer #7 · answered by mallory b 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
im pretty sure it has something to do with bouyancy, and how skinnier people have a lower weight/size then thicker people do. I know im skinny, and i cant swimm for anything, haha.
2007-06-30 03:06:55 · answer #8 · answered by xmaskedherox 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They have greater density, owing to the fact that muscle and bone are denser than fat.
2007-06-30 03:00:26 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋