I really enjoyed this weekend’s profile of U.S. Olympics swimmer Michael Phelps in the New York Times Magazine (not to mention the magazine’s cover photo, which appears with the article). I think this part is so cute:

Phelps is no good on land. He is weirdly hyperflexible, what is sometimes called double-jointed, and therefore not entirely stable. He does not lift weights. He used to run but gave it up because of a tendency to step in holes or trip over nothing. To exert himself on land, even mildly, is to risk orthopedic peril… Wherever he is, water must be made available to him. He craves it like some sea creature who can survive for only so long at the ocean’s edge.

It’s neat how certain human beings are eerily built for certain things, like swimming, or playing the piano, or communicating in sign language (OK, the last one is a gorilla, but close enough). Here’s part of what makes Phelps such a great swimmer:

Phelps’s build — 6 feet 4 inches, 195 pounds, broad shoulders, slim hips — conforms to the classic swimmer’s physique. But he is a type within that type, with a bizarrely long torso and short legs — an inseam of just 32 inches — that help him ride high in the water like a long, thin sailboat. The body below hip level is what tends to sag in the water, creating drag, or resistance, so Phelps, relative to his overall height, has a short lower body to keep afloat. “He has the upper body of a man who is 6-foot-8 but not the legs to go with it,” says Jonty Skinner, USA Swimming’s national team director of technical support. “It’s an advantage.” Another Phelps oddity: unlike most people, for whom height and wingspan are nearly identical, his wingspan is 6-foot-7, 3 inches longer than his height. He is that rare person with short legs but long arms — that is, long levers for pulling water.

Speaking of U.S. Olympic athletes, I have a big crush on gymnast Paul Hamm. Totally cute and only 5’6″.

Is it too late for me to become a gymnast? I totally have the height for it.

Here are all the U.S. Olympic gymnast bios.

Anyway, the opening ceremonies will be on NBC this Friday night. I wanna watch. (Hope you don’t mind.)