Thanks to everyone involved in the Ft. Lauderdale Nationals. I had a great time and met some exceptional people. I especially want to thank Doug Malcolm for the competition in the adjacent lane. It looks like (from USMS data) you have not competed for quite a while and had a great meet! I had not competed for over 20 years when I entered the 2001 Nat's at Santa Clara and have done pretty well for the past few years. Doug exemplifies what our sport should be all about; a true competitor who brings out the best in someone like me who may not have accomplished the standards acheived in Ft. Lauderdale without someone like him next to me. I never got a chance to thank you so I am doing so now. Keep up the good work!
I would also like to congradulate John Blank for being the first male competitor over 45 to break one minute in the 100 yard breaststroke; a great accomplishment! I have never broken a minute in that event and am full of envy.
Lee Rider
I’ll probably regret this post, but in my opinion the Olympics and relays are two examples of UNLEVEL playing fields. When was the last time small team (Sri Lanka, Vietnam, India, Qatar, Macedonia …) won the medal count in swimming over the “super-clubs” (USA, Australia, USSR/Russia, Germany, China)? And when was the last time you saw Mozambique duke it out for gold with the USA in the 800 Free Relay? And while I haven’t looked at the Estonian Swimming discussion forum lately, I’d guess they aren’t grousing about changing the way Olympic medals are awarded because they aren’t distributed evenly. And one more Olympic note, team size is capped, not fixed.
And talk about level playing fields; it doesn’t get more level than swimming. Each swimmer has practically identical conditions (starting block height, lane length, wall conditions, timing system, water temperature …). So if Tall Paul beats you in a race, blame genetics, blame your training, blame Paul (because of his genetics and training) but don’t blame the playing field.
In Masters, team scoring is supposed to be the icing on the cake, not the whole meal. My most memorable masters moments are NOT of me hoisting a team banner at nationals, they are of my swims and my fellowship with other masters. I admit I had a different view of this in school, where winning the conference championships was a big deal. But, as I was recently reminded “it's just Masters Swimming”.
And congratulation to the Smith’s, Jones’s and all the other folks who were fortunate enough to attend USMS SCN, in sunny Florida!
I’ll probably regret this post, but in my opinion the Olympics and relays are two examples of UNLEVEL playing fields. When was the last time small team (Sri Lanka, Vietnam, India, Qatar, Macedonia …) won the medal count in swimming over the “super-clubs” (USA, Australia, USSR/Russia, Germany, China)? And when was the last time you saw Mozambique duke it out for gold with the USA in the 800 Free Relay? And while I haven’t looked at the Estonian Swimming discussion forum lately, I’d guess they aren’t grousing about changing the way Olympic medals are awarded because they aren’t distributed evenly. And one more Olympic note, team size is capped, not fixed.
And talk about level playing fields; it doesn’t get more level than swimming. Each swimmer has practically identical conditions (starting block height, lane length, wall conditions, timing system, water temperature …). So if Tall Paul beats you in a race, blame genetics, blame your training, blame Paul (because of his genetics and training) but don’t blame the playing field.
In Masters, team scoring is supposed to be the icing on the cake, not the whole meal. My most memorable masters moments are NOT of me hoisting a team banner at nationals, they are of my swims and my fellowship with other masters. I admit I had a different view of this in school, where winning the conference championships was a big deal. But, as I was recently reminded “it's just Masters Swimming”.
And congratulation to the Smith’s, Jones’s and all the other folks who were fortunate enough to attend USMS SCN, in sunny Florida!
