I had the opportunity to work with a collegiate swimmer for the past two summers. When she started as a freshman, she weighed 130 pounds, at 5'8". By her sophomore year, she was faster, but still not as fast as she would have liked. Her coach told her the only way she would get faster and more competitive was if she got stronger. Except he never showed her how. That's where Starting Strength came in. She came to us the summer before her junior year. She squatted 95 pounds her first day and could only press our 15 pound training bar. She left us that summer stronger and proceeded to swim faster her junior year. She maintained her strength during the school year, lifting on her own on Sundays in addition to her team training. By the next summer, she weighed close to 150 pounds and hit her goal of squatting 200 pounds. Her senior year of college, she swam even faster and broke all of her records. She finished her season this past February weighing close to 155lbs, 25 pounds heavier than when she came in as a freshman. She is stronger. She is faster in the water. She is bigger. In her case, she was encouraged to get stronger and in order to get stronger, she had to get bigger which gave her an advantage. Her teammates who got the bug from her and started lifting with her on Sundays also got stronger AND faster. This is a Division 1 school. She never had an issue with her weight and is delighted with her new body. Bigger and stronger. Her article is coming out on my blog this Monday.