No Whining Pledge

RE: No Whining Pledge

Chris Stevenson — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 01:23:15 GMT

Along these lines, the following (from this funny list for runners/triathletes) is certainly applicable to swimming: Unless you were trying to qualify for the Olympics and failed, please refrain from throwing a hissy fit at the finish line if you are unhappy with your performance. If your child can’t do it in at a restaurant, you can’t do it at the finish line.

RE: No Whining Pledge

knelson — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:09:34 GMT

I remember the Rick Carey story. Being a swimmer I could see where he was coming from at the time and didn't get the backlash, but in hindsight he was definitely being an ass. He probably realizes that now, too. Swimming can be such an individual sport that it's difficult to see the big picture at times.

RE: No Whining Pledge

Frank Thompson — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:19:21 GMT

As I recall, the moment he touched the wall and practically before he even had time to look at the scoreboard the commentator said something like, "Oh, he's not going to be happy with that." And of course he wasn't. And then everybody jumped on him for not being graceful in his victory (even though nobody was surprised he was disappointed with his time). I remember this well and I think Carey was so rapped up in lowering his WR from the Olympic Trials that he almost was beaten and could have been the victim to one of the great upsets in Olympic history. His prelim time was a 1:58.99 and he had just barely broken John Naber's Olympic record of 1:59.19 and was expected by his standards and others to break his own WR at 1:58.66 in the Olympic final. There was a swimmer in the finals named Fred Delcourt of France who had never gone under 2:04 and went 2:02.59 in the prelims to qualify second. This guy was not even ranked to make the consolation heats and he beat a lot great swimmers to be where he was. He swam for Florida and he placed 23rd in the 200 Back at the 1984 NCAA Championships and was about 5 seconds from the winning time which was by Rick Carey at 1:44.82 and nobody expected this guy or anyone to be with Carey in this race. Before the race, the TV commentators were wondering how much he would lower his World Record. At the start of the race, he got off to about a half a second lead on the first 50 and was a little off his WR. On the second 50, he actually lost ground to Delcourt but was still ahead of his pace for the WR. Carey expected to bury Delcourt on the 3rd 50 but actually was out split again was clinging to a .02 lead and out of the turn these swimmers were even until about 10 meters to go and Delcourt kind of died but still managed to drop to a 2:01.75 and Carey went 2:00.23 and he had to swim the race of his life and as hard as he could on the last 50 as he ever had because he was in complete shock of Delcourt. His last 50 was not that far off but his third 50 was 1.5 seconds slower than his WR swim. I have this race on tape and Jim Lampley and Mark Spitz were saying on the last 50 that he better quit worrying about setting a WR and just try to beat this guy for the gold medal. I think that is the reason why he was so upset because this unknown almost beat him and this is no way to start out the Olympics. Because of his actions in not acknowledging the crowd and walking around the with his head down during the ceremony and the deck walk, he was actually booed by the home country LA crowd. If you did not see this race and judging from the actions of both Carey and Delcourt, you would have thought Delcourt would have won. He did not swim as well as he wanted in the 100 Back but still won by a half second over David Wilson at 55.79 but was short of his World Record of 55.19 and the Olympic Record of 55.49 by John Naber. He led off the 400 Medley Relay in the prelims and went 55.60 and in the finals he finally went under the Olympic Record of 55.49 with a 55.41 for his lead off split. Rick Carey actually swam in the 1989 USMS Nationals and had won of the classic races of all time. Early in the meet, he won the 50 back by one tenth over his old teammate from Texas, Clay Britt. I remember at the meet they announced the last heat of the 100 Back in the 25-29 age group and Carey and Britt were side by side. All of the crowd got on there feet and it reminded me of when Hall and the Race Club swam in the 2004 Nationals. This race was tight all the way and this time Britt won by one tenth of a second. I remember when Britt got out of the pool, he had a long beard and I thought to myself he had extra drag and still won. Carey was gracious in defeat and was nothing like 1984.

RE: No Whining Pledge

aquageek — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:04:59 GMT

Y Because, really, there are many many things in life that are worse than swimming more slowly than you expected. Yes, so true. We get caught up in our little hobby but often fail to realize when we whine and complain it could be categorized as a first world problem.

RE: No Whining Pledge

smontanaro — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:15:52 GMT

Because, really, there are many many things in life that are worse than swimming more slowly than you expected. Amen to that. Skip

RE: No Whining Pledge

Chris Stevenson — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:04:43 GMT

Yes, I remember the Carey incident well. And it has its parallels in the masters world. I think maybe 10 years ago after someone came up to me after a swim and said something like "great job" and I grimaced and expressed something about how slow the swim was for me. Then I realized that I was far faster than the person attempting to congratulate me, and I was almost certainly acting like an arrogant so-and-so. If I thought my own swim was slow, I could imagine him wondering, his swimming ability was probably beyond contemptible in my view. So I do my best to smile and accept congratulations (and give them) gracefully no matter the result of the swim. Because, really, there are many many things in life that are worse than swimming more slowly than you expected.

RE: No Whining Pledge

Swimosaur — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:47:09 GMT

I resolve not to whine about not being ready for the meet(inadequate training,inadequate taper,inadequate sleep,etc.) I resolve to not whine about feeling sick,hurt,sore etc. I resolve that no matter what I think about my swim,if someone says "good swim" I will graciously thank them. I resolve to be grateful to have the time and the money and the freedom to get to the meet at all. I resolve to be grateful to be healthy enough to finish my chosen events. If the event is a 400 IM, 200 fly, or 1500/1650, I resolve to be extra grateful! Life is good! If I don't hit my target time, I will allow myself a moment of disappointment, but I resolve to get over it before I get out of the pool.

RE: No Whining Pledge

jroddin — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:46:47 GMT

Does anyone remember Rick Carey's reaction after winning an Olympic gold medal-but not breaking his own world record? He was obviously very disappointed immediately after the swim and took huge rafters of grief from the press for not suppressing those emotions. As I recall, the moment he touched the wall and practically before he even had time to look at the scoreboard the commentator said something like, "Oh, he's not going to be happy with that." And of course he wasn't. And then everybody jumped on him for not being graceful in his victory (even though nobody was surprised he was disappointed with his time).

RE: No Whining Pledge

Rob Copeland — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 04:13:37 GMT

I think the gold being a foregone conclusion was part of the problem. I agree with what Chris Stevenson said. You always need to remember that your disappointing time is probably faster than most people will ever swim.I completely agree. I’m just suggesting many folks aren’t that wise at 21.

RE: No Whining Pledge

rxleakem — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 03:29:44 GMT

Why do we whine? A little pity party for one when we don't do as well as we think we could have? I'm still young (compared to jadams, anyways :afraid:), and I am trusting more that sometimes, whether in swimming/work/family/life, the outcome is maybe more determined before my efforts are made than as a result of them. I still contend that that it is normal for us to evaluate our performances, and try to determine if there are areas that we can improve. I'm not convinced that this is whining, and actually might serve a more beneficial purpose in allowing others to tweak their own efforts. I agree that any disappointment we experience should not take away from the fact that we train and then show up at the start of the race. Show up. Swim fast. Have fun. :groovy:

RE: No Whining Pledge

knelson — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 03:10:01 GMT

I believe his goal was a world record and that gold was a foregone conclusion. I think the gold being a foregone conclusion was part of the problem. I agree with what Chris Stevenson said. You always need to remember that your disappointing time is probably faster than most people will ever swim.

RE: No Whining Pledge

Rob Copeland — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 02:20:43 GMT

in hindsight he was definitely being an ass.I don’t know; it could just be a case of setting goals different than what the public expects, then showing disappointment for not achieving his goal. I believe his goal was a world record and that gold was a foregone conclusion. When he looked up to see he not only missed the record, but didn’t break 2:00, he honestly showed his disappointment. I’m sure in hindsight Rick would like to have appeared more gracious in his failure to achieve his goal. If you watch the Olympic Trials this June, look at the reactions of the third place finishers. Most will have just swum one of the fastest 20 times in the world, but almost everyone (except in the 100&200 Free) will have the same look of disappointment after failing to reach a goal as Rick.

RE: No Whining Pledge

aquageek — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 12:43:38 GMT

Is this another convoluted saying invented by distance swimmers? Logically, something can be both bragging and true. Bragging is no less annoying than whining. Next you'll be bragging about not whining. Though having just caught out pwb, I will now be tracking and reporting all distance swimmer whining. I may have to create a "Lane" for that a la Ande. I think it was invented by Bear Bryant and I don't think he was a swimmer. But, if he was a swimmer, he would have been a distance swimmer. I would cut pwb a break. After all, he did go over to the whiny side of swimming for a while. He hasn't fully recovered from that and, thusly, is still shrouded in the deep and gloomy funk of wallsitteritis. It would be fun to take non swimmers and figure if they were swimmers what they would be. For instance, George Costanza would be a sprinter clearly, along with Steve Urkel.

RE: No Whining Pledge

The Fortress — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 12:14:25 GMT

It ain't bragging if it's true. Is this another convoluted saying invented by distance swimmers? Logically, something can be both bragging and true. Bragging is no less annoying than whining. Next you'll be bragging about not whining. Though having just caught out pwb, I will now be tracking and reporting all distance swimmer whining. I may have to create a "Lane" for that a la Ande.

RE: No Whining Pledge

aquageek — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 12:08:33 GMT

I think the D folks should have their own pledge -- No Incessant Bragging about how tough they are, how they don't need rest between events, how cheap their meets are because they swim a zillion events, etc. It ain't bragging if it's true.

RE: No Whining Pledge

Rich Abrahams — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:52:53 GMT

I resolve that no matter what I think about my swim,if someone says "good swim" I will graciously thank them. QUOTE] Along with Chris, this is the one I need help with and pledge to control. I needed my wife to point out how unseemly whining is after being congratulated on just setting a world record. Need to stifle expressing those personal expectations. Does anyone remember Rick Carey's reaction after winning an Olympic gold medal-but not breaking his own world record? He was obviously very disappointed immediately after the swim and took huge rafters of grief from the press for not suppressing those emotions.

RE: No Whining Pledge

The Fortress — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:41:09 GMT

I'm in, but I confess that I am having trouble imagining what the sprinters are going to talk about in this new world order :D I think the D folks should have their own pledge -- No Incessant Bragging about how tough they are, how they don't need rest between events, how cheap their meets are because they swim a zillion events, etc. Is this not just as tiresome as sprinter whining? :) Honestly, I figure it's an extremely rare occasion when one is actually "ready" and firing on all cylinders for a meet or when one does not have some form of injury/ache/pain. So it probably makes little sense to dwell on it excessively. On the other hand, I remember Jimby saying that some chatter to this effect may just be chatter, a person's way of working out nerves, and hence fairly harmless.

RE: No Whining Pledge

moodyrichardson — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:38:27 GMT

I'm in!!

RE: No Whining Pledge

TRYM_Swimmer — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:06:14 GMT

Perfect timing, Allen! I went late to practice this morning, a short one because we have a meet Saturday. Coach said to warmup 500 and he would time me for a 50 sprint before he left. Did so. Upon hearing the time, I immediately said, "That's pitiful!" Then I stopped and realized I had almost no warmup, it was during a hard working section of our program, and, besides, I'm lucky to be still swimming anywhere near that at my age and my shape. Count me in!

RE: No Whining Pledge

Former Member — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:09:01 GMT

It would be fun to take non swimmers and figure if they were swimmers what they would be. For instance, George Costanza would be a sprinter clearly, along with Steve Urkel. en.wikipedia.org/.../John_Calvin

RE: No Whining Pledge

jethro — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 07:16:57 GMT

I think if I took a pledge it would have to encompass even more than just swimming. Work, kids, traffic, etc. The more I think about it, I whine and complain quite a bit! :blush:

RE: No Whining Pledge

jim thornton — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 07:16:35 GMT

When I swam with Pitt masters at the U Pittsburgh pool, there was a morning group (up at 5 a.m.) and an evening group (practice starts at 5:30 p.m.) As an unconscious whiner who emitted little whimpers involuntarily, the way a person with halitosis exhales puffs of putrescent breath that he has gotten so used to that its smell seems like normal air, I was informed one day by Pitt's excellent masters coach Jen that I didn't need to be this way. There was, Jen told me, a legendary non-whiner who swam in the 5 a.m. practices, a fellow named Rich Durstein who never complained about anything. The man could have a spike through his head and he would not have mentioned it, nor the impact said spike would have on his ability to hold a tight interval. Perhaps, Jen suggested, I could try to be a little bit more like Rich Durstein. I am nothing if not suggestible! And from that day on, I determined to Durstein my way through the vicissitudes of life, shouldering no shortage of woe and handicap without so much as a micro twitch of my mouth corners! This was approximately five years ago. I have yet to meet Rich Durstein; indeed, I have come to wonder if he even exists. They say that if God did not exist, then Man would have had to invent him. Perhaps it is like this with Rich Durstein. I don't know. But I do know this: after five years of Dursteining my own way through life's teary veil, the thought of ever uttering a whine or complaint has become inconceivable to me. I am, in my own way, a model of Dursteining swimming. Take your pledge? No need, my good man! This would indicate I am capable of backsliding, of paying attention to my corporal state, my fevers and colics and headaches and cramps, and commenting about same either through soliloquy or groan! But I am incapable of doing either! Sometimes I believe that when Man felt the need to invent Rich Durstein, Man inadvertently invented me! If you would like help following my path, I will do my best to help. My disciple Leslie is making progress. I shall not comment on the nature of this progress. It is not the Durstein way.

RE: No Whining Pledge

AnnG — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 06:44:15 GMT

Interesting topic which just came up at our practice recently too. Not necessarily the whining but the "negative speak" a person has with oneself. Its my impression that women are worse for this: self critical and not able to accept a compliment with arguing about its truthfulness. This type of negative thinking is hindering. I would not know how to change the negative self speak until a person recognizes it and wants to change. For me, all the preparation, for a specific meet or working on a particular event, helps me. I tell myself I have put in the work and I deserve the success.

RE: No Whining Pledge

Former Member — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 06:14:39 GMT

hmm I dunno...sprinters need to have a lot of muscle even if they have some fat on top... The fastest short burst swimmers in nature tend to be sleek and highly maneuverable. Whereas it seems the largest ocean going animals tend to be just well, large and fairly slow. I'm convinced any old fatbody can cruise along on distance swims... NB That's not bragging so it must be true.

RE: No Whining Pledge

Allen Stark — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 06:12:58 GMT

I resolve that no matter what I think about my swim,if someone says "good swim" I will graciously thank them. QUOTE] Does anyone remember Rick Carey's reaction after winning an Olympic gold medal-but not breaking his own world record? He was obviously very disappointed immediately after the swim and took huge rafters of grief from the press for not suppressing those emotions. I remember that well.The people who gave him grief seemed pretty petty to me. To some others who have posted,please,no :hijack: ,this is about pledges we make for ourselves,not what you think others should do.