# Why are the Dutch such good swimmers? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 13, 2008, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-dutch-such-good-swimmers/459810 "2008-08-13T03:16:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-dutch-such-good-swimmers/459810/1 "2008-08-13T03:16:14Z")
I can understand why the US and Aussies are, but what is it with the Dutch? It seems they spend a lot of energy keeping the water out of their country. How did swimming become such a big sport in a country that doesn’t seem (to me) to be a natural home to it. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-dutch-such-good-swimmers/459810/2 "2008-08-13T03:19:19Z")
Probably for the reason you mentioned - for so long, they had to deal with flooding, and the people who couldn’t swim were weeded out by natural selection. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-dutch-such-good-swimmers/459810/3 "2008-08-13T03:21:18Z")
‘Welcome to Amsterdam, the “City of Cats and Canals” – which is a dangerous combination…’ (Remembered from _Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video_ (1979), ‘Cat Swimming School’ segment.) ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-dutch-such-good-swimmers/459810/4 "2008-08-13T07:16:47Z")
I don’t see how it makes more sense that aussies are good at swimming and not the Dutch - I mean, there’s only three or four million more of them than of us. As to the water thing, the Netherlands is the most natural home to swimming that you can think of. There’s water everywhere - we don’t try and get rid of it, we try to regulate it. We do this by building dykes and digging canals and ditches and what have you. Still, lots of water, look it up on google maps if you have to. As a result, every Dutch kid is required to learn how to swim when they’re four or five years old. So, while some slip through the cracks and never get their diploma’s, pretty much everyone in the Netherlands can swim. That gives a large pool - pun intended - to select olympic champions from. The large number of canals and ditches, which basically don’t stream and therefore freeze up easily, is probably also the explanation that The Netherlands has dominated speed skating for decades - even though the last time it was actually cold enough to do some actual skating on natural ice was over ten years ago… ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-dutch-such-good-swimmers/459810/5 "2008-08-13T12:22:30Z")
What Švejk said. Swimming practice is compulsory at Dutch elementary schools. Besides, the Dutch are tall, and that also helps with swimming. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-dutch-such-good-swimmers/459810/6 "2008-08-13T12:39:26Z")
[QUOTE=Maastricht] Besides, the Dutch are tall, and that also helps with swimming. [/QUOTE] Yes of course, they can allus put one foot on the bottom and tippy-toe along 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-dutch-such-good-swimmers/459810/7 "2008-08-13T12:47:16Z")
[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane] I can understand why the US and Aussies are, but what is it with the Dutch? It seems they spend a lot of energy keeping the water out of their country. How did swimming become such a big sport in a country that doesn’t seem (to me) to be a natural home to it. [/QUOTE] I would expect no less from a nation that evolved underwater. They had gills until relatively recently. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_Clock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Shot\_Clock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_Clock)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-dutch-such-good-swimmers/459810/8 "2008-08-13T12:53:17Z")
Probably because they’ve been driven into the North Sea by invaders so many times in their history. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-dutch-such-good-swimmers/459810/9 "2008-08-13T12:56:14Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] Yes of course, they can put one foot on the bottom and tippy-toe along 😛 [/QUOTE] [No, really.](http://www.adksportsfitness.com/back_issues/july2002/articles/healthfitness.html) > [@](#): > > If you happened to watch the finals of the 100-meter freestyle at the 2000 Olympics, you might have noticed something rather striking about the world’s eight fastest swimmers. They looked like they might have made a pretty decent basketball team. In fact, the eight fastest male swimmers averaged about 6’ 6" and the eight fastest women were 5’10" to 6’2". > Common sense suggests several advantages of being taller: Longer arms to win close touch-outs and long legs to turn a bit farther from the wall. Incremental advantages like those would help in a close race, but the more critical reason is that researchers have calculated the maximum speed of a human swimmer at approximately one body length per second. > All things being equal, this gives a 6’6" swimmer an advantage of approximately 10 yards over a 6’0" swimmer in a one-minute race. Thus, the price of admission to a final where everyone swims about two meters per second (48 to 49 seconds for men’s 100 meters) is a body that’s about two meters tall. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-dutch-such-good-swimmers/459810/10 "2008-08-13T14:29:13Z")
[QUOTE=Maastricht] Besides, the Dutch are tall, and that also helps with swimming. [/QUOTE] Your supporting post is fascinating–I can’t say I’d ever given much thought to the effect of height on swimming. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-dutch-such-good-swimmers/459810/11 "2008-08-13T23:09:35Z")
my first quick thought seeing the op question was: the canals thaw in the warmer months. and height is a big help. skate in the winter, swim in the summer. world domination thoughts … perhaps during the spring and fall. ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-dutch-such-good-swimmers/459810/12 "2008-08-14T04:47:36Z")
[QUOTE=rocking chair] my first quick thought seeing the op question was: the canals thaw in the warmer months. and height is a big help. skate in the winter, swim in the summer. world domination thoughts … perhaps during the spring and fall. [/QUOTE] If you have been close to those canals you would know what an incentive the water is to getting out fast. That sure improves speed. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-dutch-such-good-swimmers/459810/13 "2008-08-14T12:01:20Z")
[QUOTE=rocking chair] my first quick thought seeing the op question was: the canals thaw in the warmer months. and height is a big help. skate in the winter, swim in the summer. world domination thoughts … perhaps during the spring and fall. [/QUOTE] They thaw in the summer - I wish. The last time they thawed was in February 1996 - and they’ve been open ever since. And even then, the cities are always warmer and as a result, even in that year I don’t think it was safe to skate on the city canals (_grachten_) that the Netherlands is well known for. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-dutch-such-good-swimmers/459810/14 "2008-08-14T23:06:30Z")
good thing world domination is still in play! ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-dutch-such-good-swimmers/459810/15 "2008-08-16T15:42:06Z")
The correct answer is “they are tall”. The canals are largely irrelevant as it’s not like they swim them for transportation. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-dutch-such-good-swimmers/459810/16 "2008-08-16T16:00:18Z")
The alternative answer is that they swim a lot. The Chinese play a lot of ping pong. They win a lot of medals. 10 years ago, the British government invested $10 million in developing a cycling program. The Brits are now winning a lot of cycling medals. Bobsled is not wildly popular in Jamaica, and the trophy cupboard is a little bare.