THE LOOK

Americans have long viewed the swimmer’s body as a cultural ideal. A recent Valentine’s Day article in The Boston Globe on dating services (both straight and gay) reported that over a quarter of men and women placing personal ads described themselves as having “a swimmer’s body.”

This cultural ideal has existed for at least hundreds of years, as Michelangelo’s David testifies. Often cited as representing the epitome of masculine beauty, this statue does not have the gaunt, almost emaciated look of a distance runner. Nor does it have the bulky appearance of a bodybuilder. David looks like a swimmer, freshly emerged from a workout. He has a strong, V-shaped torso; a well-defined body with long, smooth, supple muscles; and low body fat. In short, he looks remarkably much more like Mark Spitz or Matt Biondi than Arnold Schwarzenegger.

For women too the swimmer’s body defines the cultural ideal. Most women want strong bodies, but they also want to retain a natural feminine build, not the haggard look of a distance runner. Nor do most consider the bulky, power-lifter look an ideal feminine form. Most women would rather look like 1992 Olympic hero Summer Sanders, Academy Award-winning actress Mary Steenburgen, or fifty-plus singer Judy Collins, projecting confidence, supple strength, and radiant good health.