[lqdc13]

That's the thing. If he was the better athlete then they didn't do the generic engineering well at all.

For me the message seemed to be "don't do generic engineering because it cannot beat motivation" which discounts the potential overlap between the two and also undersells the potential gains of genetic engineering.

What if his competitors were 10x smarter and 10x faster swimmers than he was as well as being equally motivated?

[Jtsummers]

A better athlete than his brother. Not than everyone. Each valid was designed by the parents for something, or in the case of his brother just generally enhanced because they weren't filthy rich.

[lqdc13]

I guess my point is that the valids could have been 100x better athletes than all the invalids which wasn't the case in the movie. For example, they could have retractable fins and could breathe under water.

Something which would make them swim a lot faster and the point of the movie would be lost.