Lotte Friis (Photo borrowed from BT.dk)
By Rikke Skovbakke.
Do you think this women is fat? If you're like most people, I think not. Well, in the last few days she has been in the Danish media, because she was accused of being fat. By a man. Not something that we women normally find particularly amusing. She herself has not said very much about the accusations of her being "too fat". Very wisely. Because the woman is Lotte Friis, Danish World Champion swimmer, and the man making the accusations is Paulus Wildeboer, the national swimming coach. How the public got hold of the private e-mail in which Paulus Wildeboer made his statements about Lotte's weight is another story. The questions I want to raise here is: 1. Who defines how fat is fat? And 2. How much is a coach allowed to decide about the body weights and fat level of his athletes?
We are all aware of the unhealthy body images portrayed by thinner-than-thin teeny catwalk models and the number of eating disorders among youngsters in the western world. We are also aware of the increasing obesity level of kids and youths.
So, can we allow ourselves to point our fingers at a young athlete and role model and tell her that she is too fat? Every analysis shows that it is much healthier to be slightly overweight and active than thin and in-active. It is actually the activity level that decides our well-being much more than our body weights. I find it a very unwise and problematic message to send - even if Paulus Wildeboer thought his mail would never hit the front pages of the Danish newspapers.
"Well, then", some (mostly men for some reason) have said. "but as long as she is swimming in the national team and being supported by Team Denmark (financial support for outstanding athletes), she must obey to the rules and the standards set by the coaches for her physical shape." And then they give me the example of how a professional football player cannot allow himself to come back to his team after the holidays with a few pounds too much. If this happens these players are drilled by the coaches until they reach their ideal weights, and if it lasts too long, they are kicked out of the first team. "Well," I say, "the difference is that professional football players are employed by their clubs." They are paid a tremendous amount of money to play a sport that they love, so you would expect them to have to work for that money and stay in shape. A swimmer - at least in Denmark - does not make anywhere near a decent month's pay for an average employee. They spend hours and hours training in and out of the water, knowing that for most of them their careers are over by the time they are 24.
So, does that mean that just because their financial situation is not as good as for other sports, they are allowed to eat as they please? No, of course not, and then we are back to the specific case with Lotte Friis. Lotte is World Champion, Olympic bronze medalist, several times European record holder: Do we really think that she would allow herself to become "fat" a month before the short course World Championships in Dubai? No, certainly not. In this case, I think the term "fat" applies only in the eyes of Paulus Wildeboer, who has misunderstood his role as a coach and "foster father" of the role models that his swimmers will inevitably become when they are successful. And frankly, if my daughter said she would like to be just like Lotte, I would be proud of her for making a good choice, and the last thing on my mind would be to put her on a diet.
Lotte Friis (Photo borrowed from Sporten.dk)
