Yeah, I am sure I am not the only one. Not in any way an attack on her, just disappointed she wasn't faster...
I am also disappointed with how some of the swims have gone down. There have been quite a few poorly executed swims that may have resulted in missed Olympic births...
The amount of training and dedication required of a young athlete is stupefying. Add a family and 20+ years on top of that and it is beyond most of our comprehension level. If it was anyone else there would be no whining and complaining and claims of disappointment. It is pretty awesome what she did.
While I definitely agree with all this, I too was hoping that should would be a little more competitive -- top 20 maybe? -- if only because I think it would have been pretty cool to see. It doesn't take away anything from her "legacy" that she wasn't.
I have only heard little bits about what her current training was like, but I wonder if she was trying too much to replicate what worked for her (high volume) 20-25 years ago. While I am sure she kept fit, she didn't compete for a looong time. One thing that becomes obvious to masters swimmers as we age is that, EVEN IF the time commitment to career/family is not an issue, our bodies just aren't the same as they once were and this has to affect the optimum training program.
Dara Torres was maybe a little over-the-top with her training, but this is one thing that she seemed very aware of. Apart from being a sprinter, DT also competed pretty much in her 30s and 40s and this may have helped her devise a training plan that works for someone in their mid-40s. Or maybe it is just that sprinters lose less as they age.
The amount of training and dedication required of a young athlete is stupefying. Add a family and 20+ years on top of that and it is beyond most of our comprehension level. If it was anyone else there would be no whining and complaining and claims of disappointment. It is pretty awesome what she did.
While I definitely agree with all this, I too was hoping that should would be a little more competitive -- top 20 maybe? -- if only because I think it would have been pretty cool to see. It doesn't take away anything from her "legacy" that she wasn't.
I have only heard little bits about what her current training was like, but I wonder if she was trying too much to replicate what worked for her (high volume) 20-25 years ago. While I am sure she kept fit, she didn't compete for a looong time. One thing that becomes obvious to masters swimmers as we age is that, EVEN IF the time commitment to career/family is not an issue, our bodies just aren't the same as they once were and this has to affect the optimum training program.
Dara Torres was maybe a little over-the-top with her training, but this is one thing that she seemed very aware of. Apart from being a sprinter, DT also competed pretty much in her 30s and 40s and this may have helped her devise a training plan that works for someone in their mid-40s. Or maybe it is just that sprinters lose less as they age.
