Given the countless hours in the pool and at the gym while also attending to the mind and body every spare minute in between, the life of a professional swimmer is a daily grind that ultimately carries the athlete along his or her journey to greatness.
Any swimmer, elite or amateur, can attest to how difficult our sport is, not only regularly testing our mental fortitude, but also forcing virtually every muscle in our bodies to be engaged with every stroke. But swimmers aren’t alone. Wrestlers, track athletes, football players, UFC fighters – they all throw their hearts and souls into training in order to perform at the right time.
In a sort of recognition for the dedication and effort involved in athletic pursuits, Sports Illustrated has created its annual list of the ‘Most Fit Athletes in Sports’.
Consisting of a separate men’s and a women’s list, the line-up was determined with the help of a panel of trainers, exercise physiologists and performance experts based on athletes’ performances over the last 12 months. Per SI, athletes were also elected based on the demands and risks of their respective sports; durability; training regimens; and other physical criteria including power, speed, strength, agility, endurance, flexibility and more.
Arriving at #22 on the list of 25 men is American Record holder and multiple World Championships gold medalist Caeleb Dressel. Described as training ‘like a missile’ Dressel is praised for his ‘explosive power’ of the blocks, with SI adding ‘Dressel has mastered the art of building strength without adding too much muscle mass or bulk.’
The women’s list also includes notable aquatic athletes, including #21 on the list, Maggie Stephens of U.S. Water Polo. Owning two Olympic gold medals, along with three NCAA titles at Stanford, Stephens’ training out of the pool includes CrossFit and beach workouts.
Even higher up is #6, Katie Ledecky, who ranks above skiers Mikaela Shriffin and Lindsey Vonn, Tennis pro Serena Williams and UFC fighter Amanda Nunes. SI calls the multiple Olympic gold medalist ‘the world’s most dominant female swimmer’ and highlights her 5 medal run at the Pan Pacific Championships, as well as the fact that she broke another World Record in 2018.
You can read the entire list of athletes, as well as get more in-depth views into ranking criteria, here.
outrageous that they had connor barwin (who started in 3 games this year and had maybe 20 tackles) on this list over a guy like aaron donald (donald is like 6′ 320 pounds, has an 8 pack and dummies o-line double teams regularly)
they had Gronk on the list (as a boston guy, gronk is a shell of himself, sadly)
in short its cool dressel and a US Paralympic swimmer were included, but maybe throw in a water polo player over a crossfit “athlete”
Trash list.
1) A golfer made the list
2) The fastest person to EVER run a marathon is somehow less fit than a baseball player
This is one of those lists that just has no good way to be compiled in a way that will please everyone. For one, it’s clear that they are doing their best to include every major sport in this mix. Even crossfit (which I’m sorry, is basically just saying the person is very good at “working out”) is included – you might as well also include Strongman winners and Bodybuilders.
Most Fit Athletes in Sports? I don’t think it’s titled well. This reminds me of any poll or ranking. It’s subject to the preferences and expertise and lack of it, that all rankings have. This is undoable. Heck, it’s tough even within each sport.
Adam Peaty or Ben Proud would probably be the most fit in swimming
Alex Honnold does the most athletic feat of this century and gets relegated to a mention lol. He is the greatest living athlete
Even worse, the pic they choose from Instagram of him and Caldwell, Caldwell captions it talking about how Honnold dragged him up the mountain.
The whole list is pretty click-baity, stuff like including Conor on a list of the fittest athletes when he’s nowhere near the fittest UFC fighter, as he’s pretty clearly gassed in a few fights when there are tons of guys in his class who never have, make it seem like they’re just trying to include the biggest names they can.
this is 100% true, ronoldo looks cool and all, but Honnold is on a different planet than every other competitor