I am curious as to the majority view on who is the " Fastest human in the water ? ".
More specifically on what criteria do we base it on ? I followed Ion's link to www.swimclub.co.uk and started posting on their discussion forum. I have received a very hostile reaction there.
In the UK, Mark Foster bills himself as " The fastest Human in the water ". His basis for claiming this, is that he holds the world record in the 50m Short Course freestyle event. I felt that this was not fair to Popov and Hoogie as he had never beaten them head to head in any event and that they held the World Records for 50m and 100m Freestyle.
The angry response was that Foster was the fastest as his short course 50m is faster than the 50m LC record. I feel that this is a ridiculous comparison.
Do you agree with me ? Should we base that claim on the 50m Free or the 100m Free event, LC or SC ?
I am not welcome on their site, after only 4 posts, is that a record ?
I think, after living in North America for 12 years that I now have more in common with the mindset of Canadians and Americans than the British who IMHO don't seem to want to "be the best by learning from the best !".
BTW the standard of posts and discussion is much higher over here on the USMS site.
Parents
Former Member
Gareth,
Here we have, once again, the problem with subjective concepts like "the fastest human." Is there any way to prove conclusively that a LCM 50, a SCM 50, or the second half of a 50m is the proper way to measure "the fastest human"? (And, I have not even touched our much beloved SCY 50 here in the U.S.) Absolutely not! Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion (and I have noticed a tendency to first decide who one prefers to be the winner, then pick the criteria to match that result, but hey, I'm just a cynical lawyer. You can't expect much better from me...)
However, I am fairly impressed, in a non-complimentary way, at the refusal of your countrymen to even consider whether an LCM 50 or LCM 100 could be a valid measurement. (Also, since I am a distance snob, and I think all sprinters are inherently suspect, I do care much one way or the other how they pick any particular event to settle things. Poetic justice, considering they have SO FLAMING MANY sprint events and relays to pick from.)
Matt
Gareth,
Here we have, once again, the problem with subjective concepts like "the fastest human." Is there any way to prove conclusively that a LCM 50, a SCM 50, or the second half of a 50m is the proper way to measure "the fastest human"? (And, I have not even touched our much beloved SCY 50 here in the U.S.) Absolutely not! Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion (and I have noticed a tendency to first decide who one prefers to be the winner, then pick the criteria to match that result, but hey, I'm just a cynical lawyer. You can't expect much better from me...)
However, I am fairly impressed, in a non-complimentary way, at the refusal of your countrymen to even consider whether an LCM 50 or LCM 100 could be a valid measurement. (Also, since I am a distance snob, and I think all sprinters are inherently suspect, I do care much one way or the other how they pick any particular event to settle things. Poetic justice, considering they have SO FLAMING MANY sprint events and relays to pick from.)
Matt
