Are they running? or are they swimming? Does the water depth matter? Or are they trouncing on the souls of their victims to gain such speed?
In: Biology
That have a specific buoyancy and bone density that allows them to stay in contact with the bottom of the body of water. This effectively allows them to run along the bottom much more effectively than you might imagine. They surface by bouncing off the bottom before sinking back down.
Their maximum speed on *land* is about 30 mph, faster than the fastest human sprinters. Put them in water and that drops to around 5 mph, which is faster than a person walking on land, equal to about a light jog (for most people). In comparison, world record human swimmers top out around 5-5.5 mph, so compared to the average swimmer hippos are Olympic athletes in the water (and on land, actually).
One thing to realize is that hippos actually have relatively little fat on them. The reason they appear fat and dumpy is because their hide is over 2 inches thick. Beneath that waterproof hide, as Nagisan pointed out, they’re tremendously strong.
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