To add to the swimmer point, I was originally going to make a similar point based on the supposed fact that Michael Phelps has a genetic mutation that causes him to build up lactic acid at half the “normal” rate, effectively doubling his endurance.

I want to see an Olympics of average people. Just get Caryl from Accounting, Josh from Sales and Bill from Maintenance, Make it a 2 parter, with an initial games after 1 month of training (enough training to ensure they can at least compete in the event) and a bigger games after 6 months of training, and you could even do a fun event at 12 months with the next batch of randos to see how much they’ve progressed/regressed after spending 6 months intensively training.

Honestly I mostly want more people to know the kind of results you can get from just doing regular exercise, especially when you’re starting at zero. I got on my bicycle for the first time in a decade 6 months ago and struggled to make it around the block. I’m now biking 5 miles a day, and in the longer term there’s some really cool trail networks not far from me connecting cities as far as 100 miles away, so I see that as a possible end goal