Diogo Ribeiro came into the media spotlight with the recent three world titles in the juniors (50m and 100m butterfly and 50m freestyle) and bronze in the absolute Europeans. There has never been such a phenomenon in Portuguese swimming. And if some already call him the “Portuguese Michael Phelps”, others believe he can surpass Alexandre Yokochi and become the best Portuguese swimmer ever. Yokochi was 20 years old when he won the first absolute medal for Portugal (silver in the 1985 Europeans); Diogo achieved this feat at the age of 17 (bronze at the European Championships in August). Michael Phelps, the greatest reference in the history of swimming, was 16 when he won gold in the 200m butterfly at the 2001 absolute world championships.
“It’s comparing the incomparable. Swimming, at the time of Yokochi, in the eighties and nineties, had nothing to do with the present and comparing a youngster who is still a junior with the athlete [Phelps] most medals ever at the Olympics [28] Nor is it a fair analysis. It’s like comparing an F1 and a sports car,” DN Tiago Barbosa, named best researcher in nautical sport for the third time in a row, told Expertcase, an organization that identifies and qualifies specialized medical/scientific content.
Yokochi (also a finalist in the 200m breaststroke at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, who finished the race in seventh place) has no data (he does not have any himself), but it cannot be denied that parameters are in which the young Diogo and Phelps, the greatest reference in swimming, are very close: “Basically, and if we analyze the numbers, they have very similar physical characteristics and formology. Proportionally, both have legs smaller than their bodies and this is a big advantage for swimmers in terms of aerodynamics. You could even say that Diogo is a smaller Phelps.”
But what makes Benfica’s young swimmer so special at the age of 17? The so-called anthropometric assessment parameters can help explain (see image). Diogo has a wingspan (1.90 m) that is greater than its length (1.83 m). That is, the measure that goes from the middle finger of the right hand to the left middle finger is seven centimeters higher than the height (in Phelps’s case it was 10, since he was 1.93 m long and a wingspan of 2. 03 m). The body mass index (distribution of weight by height in square meters) of the Portuguese (22.1) is also identical to that of the North American swimmer who has already withdrawn from competition (22.3).
When assessing a swimmer, some body parameters are taken into account, such as the area of the hand (width and length), dimensions of the lower and upper limbs, height, span, shoulder width to hip width and span. height, perhaps the most relevant and which in the case of Diogo Ribeiro is very close to that of Michael Phelps (1.04 to 1.05 for the North American).
For example, the range of motion of the foot is more important than size. In Phelps’ case, it was 15 degrees, which experts say is superhuman. In the case of Diogo, it is still unknown. “If the hand and foot area isn’t ideal, you have to find a way to compensate for it somehow. And here come the strategies to minimize this anatomical weakness,” explained the collaborating researcher DN with the Portuguese Swimming Federation (FPN), with the Olympic Committee of Portugal (IOC) and the International Swimming Federation (FINA).
Talent, challenges and huge potential
Talent, of course, and as in any sport, also plays a role. And in the case of Diogo Ribeiro, who won three world junior titles last week (50m and 100m mariposa and 50m freestyle), after all the bronze at the European Championships, this is really the differentiator: “He has enormous potential from the point of view from a physical point of view, but it has something very important from the point of view of high performance, which is maturity, mixed with a great serenity and motivation, which are only found in great swimmers.”
And beyond free points, Diogo has “huge potential” right now. Until now, the quality of the technique and the psychological factor were more important. And when he becomes senior (in October, when he returns to training with coach Albertinho, at the Centro de Alto Rendimento, in Jamor) “the more physical matter will be appreciated, the ingenuity of muscle mass, the speed and execution of movements “. And then the fat mass index (8% – double what Phelps was at his peak) will drop.
Junior champions don’t always succeed in transferring talent into old age. This is also Diogo Ribeiro’s “great challenge” at the moment, according to Tiago Barbosa, who has published more than 200 articles in newspapers and scientific journals.
The bronze that the Portuguese won among the absolute Europeans will help him understand that it is possible to maintain his level among the best. After all, this was a historic moment for Portugal, which only had two medals in international long-distance competitions: Yokochi (silver in the 1985 Europeans) and Alexis Santos (bronze in the 2016 Europeans).
Phelps, who retired in 2016 after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, at the age of 31, comes from another galaxy – 28 Olympic medals and 37 world records.
Source: DN
