One thing we over 40 year old swimmers can thank Dara for is the idea that we aren't washed up at 40. Because of her, exercise physiologists started considering the idea that athletes don't decline with age as much as was previously thought.
If Janet can make the team or place at OT, I think she will make execise physiologists reexamine the theory that aerobic capacity declines with age or at least does not decline as much as they previously thought.
One thing I hope the exercise research gurus consider is that as one ages, there may be less time available to train and recover as there was at say age 18. If an individual at 40 training for a distance event has the same amount of time to train and recover (maybe a tiny bit less training and a little bit more recovery due to age), maybe there is not as much of a decline.
I think one of the biggest factors in endurance type events is the mental factor. I think you see marathon runners and triathletes peaking in their thirties instead of their twenties because athletes in their thirties are simply mentally tougher than younger athletes. Life has tested them more.
So, the time factor may really be the reason why we see more folks over 30 making the time cut for OT in the sprints as opposed to middle distance and distance events. It may not be due to there being a marked decline in aerobic capacity. How can exercise physiologists really test a decline in aerobic capacity anyway? You would have to take an athlete at 18, test them, and keep them in the same shape doing the same thing for 12 years to see if his/her aerobic capacity has declined. Has this been done? If anybody knows it would be great to see the study posted.
One thing we over 40 year old swimmers can thank Dara for is the idea that we aren't washed up at 40. Because of her, exercise physiologists started considering the idea that athletes don't decline with age as much as was previously thought.
If Janet can make the team or place at OT, I think she will make execise physiologists reexamine the theory that aerobic capacity declines with age or at least does not decline as much as they previously thought.
One thing I hope the exercise research gurus consider is that as one ages, there may be less time available to train and recover as there was at say age 18. If an individual at 40 training for a distance event has the same amount of time to train and recover (maybe a tiny bit less training and a little bit more recovery due to age), maybe there is not as much of a decline.
I think one of the biggest factors in endurance type events is the mental factor. I think you see marathon runners and triathletes peaking in their thirties instead of their twenties because athletes in their thirties are simply mentally tougher than younger athletes. Life has tested them more.
So, the time factor may really be the reason why we see more folks over 30 making the time cut for OT in the sprints as opposed to middle distance and distance events. It may not be due to there being a marked decline in aerobic capacity. How can exercise physiologists really test a decline in aerobic capacity anyway? You would have to take an athlete at 18, test them, and keep them in the same shape doing the same thing for 12 years to see if his/her aerobic capacity has declined. Has this been done? If anybody knows it would be great to see the study posted.
