Two things
First of all, it's a matter of time management. The astonishing levels of commitment needed to be even a little bit good at a local level can be enormous. The 14+ year olds in my local swimming club train ten times a week. Very few people can do that and achieve anything worthwhile academically as well.

Secondly, it's a matter of priorities. The sort of person who thinks it's worth working hard for years to make it into rocket scientist school is unlikely to be the sort of person who thinks it's worth expending the same effort learning how to swim relatively short distances very slightly faster than the current group of people of roughly similar age living nearby.

TL;DR: Sporting achievement is fleeting and pointless and therefore disproportionately attractive to stupid people.
(ubergeekian, Mon 23 Apr 2012, 18:31, Reply)