Center of gravity, not race, key to speed

Science Daily - For speediest athletes, it's all in the center of gravity

Researchers performed an analysis of the fastest swimmers and runners of the past century and concluded there are a multitude of factors that make up success in competition. Some of the factors include access, nutrition, social encouragement, body length, and size (muscle mass). But a significant factor often considered-- race-- is not a factor when a more explanatory alternative, center-of-gravity, is considered. Athletes with a higher center of gravity tend to excel at running since their limbs fall further (therefore faster due to gravity being an acceleration). Swimmers, on the other hand, benefit from longer torsos, which coincidentally lowers the center-of-gravity. While there are geographic and genetic origins to who has higher and lower centers-of-gravity, body structure is more explanatory than race. One of the scientists has a wide-ranging theory explaining this, called the constructal theory.