Am I alone in pursuing freestyle only?
I never understood/appreciated anything other than "swim as fast as you can from A to B".
I was a long time hard-core runner, and the different swimstrokes seems to me to be akin to running backwards or sideways. (Or....heaven forbid......Racewalking!!)
Why shouldn't swimming follow the same path as running? Ie No stroke rules. Just go from A to B in the water anyway you wish? As fast as you can.
School me! Kick my ass! In my newbieness I cannot understand anything other than "A to B in the water as fast as you can."
Why do we have these 4 different strokes? It seems like a beauty contest. (I expect to be crucified for such blasphemy.)
Educate me, USMS people. Help me understand why you would want to find a way to swim slower!! :)
I know that swimmer. It's a....challenge.....swimming at meets with them. Why do they like those long events??
That's a really good question, and I haven't a clue! She has been "competing" in USMS for longer than I have, and I have been competing for nine years. During that entire time, she has not made any effort that I know of to improve her technique at all. I don't think she has ever taken a lesson, watched a video, or done anything else to attempt to become a better swimmer. You would think after all of those years at meets, she would have learned something from watching the other swimmers or even asked for help.
At one of the meets, my husband offered (for free) to shoot video of any swimmer who wanted their races recorded, so she took him up on it. We were hoping that, finally, she would see how she looked in her 400 IM and see how much all four strokes were in desperate need of help. You know what? I don't think she ever watched it! If she did, it sure didn't make an impact!
One side of me (the nicer, empathetic side) thinks, good on her for participating and doing what she enjoys! At least she is here rather than sitting home and watching TV! The other (more annoyed!) side of me thinks, HAVE SOME CONSIDERATION for the rest of us who want to get on with our races! This gal delays a long course meet by 20-30 minutes, when you take into account all of the extra time she is "racing" all of her long events when everybody else is finished! (Now, I know that I, too, race the 400 IM, and my 200 Butterfly is really slow; however, an official at my last meet told my husband that "she has a beautiful fly." :bliss: I have been working on it relentlessly...)
I don't feel this way at all about any other slow swimmer that tries to use decent stroke technique and tries to get better. We have a very slow 75-59 freestyler on our team who at least keeps her body horizontal and does ok. She tries hard! I also have a teammate who is now 102 and doesn't race anymore; however, she was the first woman in the country to race the 200 LCM freestyle in the 100-104 age group. She rocked the pool and looked pretty darn good! :applaud:Shetried much harder and looked much better in the pool at 100 than my teammate did at more than 35 years younger! Delaying the meet to watch Anne Dunivin swim was so worth it and a memory I will never forget. The heart she showed in that race was my favorite Masters memory EVER. I want to grow up to be just like her. :agree:
:rantonoff:
I know that swimmer. It's a....challenge.....swimming at meets with them. Why do they like those long events??
That's a really good question, and I haven't a clue! She has been "competing" in USMS for longer than I have, and I have been competing for nine years. During that entire time, she has not made any effort that I know of to improve her technique at all. I don't think she has ever taken a lesson, watched a video, or done anything else to attempt to become a better swimmer. You would think after all of those years at meets, she would have learned something from watching the other swimmers or even asked for help.
At one of the meets, my husband offered (for free) to shoot video of any swimmer who wanted their races recorded, so she took him up on it. We were hoping that, finally, she would see how she looked in her 400 IM and see how much all four strokes were in desperate need of help. You know what? I don't think she ever watched it! If she did, it sure didn't make an impact!
One side of me (the nicer, empathetic side) thinks, good on her for participating and doing what she enjoys! At least she is here rather than sitting home and watching TV! The other (more annoyed!) side of me thinks, HAVE SOME CONSIDERATION for the rest of us who want to get on with our races! This gal delays a long course meet by 20-30 minutes, when you take into account all of the extra time she is "racing" all of her long events when everybody else is finished! (Now, I know that I, too, race the 400 IM, and my 200 Butterfly is really slow; however, an official at my last meet told my husband that "she has a beautiful fly." :bliss: I have been working on it relentlessly...)
I don't feel this way at all about any other slow swimmer that tries to use decent stroke technique and tries to get better. We have a very slow 75-59 freestyler on our team who at least keeps her body horizontal and does ok. She tries hard! I also have a teammate who is now 102 and doesn't race anymore; however, she was the first woman in the country to race the 200 LCM freestyle in the 100-104 age group. She rocked the pool and looked pretty darn good! :applaud:Shetried much harder and looked much better in the pool at 100 than my teammate did at more than 35 years younger! Delaying the meet to watch Anne Dunivin swim was so worth it and a memory I will never forget. The heart she showed in that race was my favorite Masters memory EVER. I want to grow up to be just like her. :agree:
:rantonoff:
