> So, the genes that provide a body for a sport phenotype might allow a
person with
> the most scientifically tuned and efficient body for windsurfing, for
example.
> Will the person make a good windsurfer? Take twenty random people and
train them
> for five years to be windsurfers. Will any be?
>
I had a good friend in highschool who was an uber-jock. He was selected in
college (equivalent of US senior high), by the Australian Institute of Sport
for a rowing team, based solely on physique - he was built like the perfect
rower. This was an experimental method for the institute; they went to
schools and found kids who were right for rowing, even though they had no
rowing experience.
It was a mixed success. There was a women's team and a men's team. The
women's team won lots of medals and did very well, and the men's team was
mostly fairly mediocre; as I remember, there were personality clashes
between the men's coach and the rowers.
I think this method is now being used more widely, however.
Emlyn
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