www.swiminfo.com, in an article about 27-years old Olympic Algerian sprinter Salim Iles who two days ago in France set a new African record in 100 meter freestyle in a 50 meter pool at :49.00, claims that age 29 is now considered the "prime years for male swimming".
One day ago, Franck Esposito (Fra.), age 31, swam 1:54.62 in 200 meter butterfly in a 50 meter pool, second fastest time in history, marginally behind Michael Phelps (US) 1:54.58, age 17.
(As a side note, Esposito is not a giant like 6' 7" Tom Malchow (US), or tall like Phelps' 6' 3", he is 5' 11").
Alex. Popov (Rus.), Mark Foster (GBR), John Miranda (US), Ron Karnaugh (US), Sven Lodziewski (Ger) are clear Olympic-level calibers for male swimmers past the age of 30.
So, age 29 is now considered within the "prime years for male swimming" in this sport that is physically fitness-driven.
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Hey Cynthia,
Here's another one for you. I recently heard of a story about which a former runner who joined a local Masters team because he was tired of running. So he decided he would like to try competitive swimming as a change of pace. It seems that he's doing darned good so far and keeps up pretty well with the rest of the group for his age. Oops! Did I forget to mention his age? I undersrand that he's 80 or thereabout. This certainly supports Ion's last post, to my way of thinking.
Hey Cynthia,
Here's another one for you. I recently heard of a story about which a former runner who joined a local Masters team because he was tired of running. So he decided he would like to try competitive swimming as a change of pace. It seems that he's doing darned good so far and keeps up pretty well with the rest of the group for his age. Oops! Did I forget to mention his age? I undersrand that he's 80 or thereabout. This certainly supports Ion's last post, to my way of thinking.
