Enjoyed the articles about us ordinary people

Well, I have acess to other links thru the Arizona site. It has San Diego-Imperial Lsmc and Spma in LA/Orange,Utah,Colorado, Pacifc masters-Northern Cal. And I look up the results for curiously. As for not being married, there are those of us that neither married or had kids. We are still busy in a different ways Ion may work more hours at work than you. From what I heard he does a lot of overtime. Sometimes I feel that people that are married or divorce feel that those of us that are different do that have a lot of free time on our hands or don't have something too do. We are a minority in society and it doesn't mean we are less responsible. Look at the talk-shows and there are millions of people that have children that they are not responsible for, so those of us for different reasons that chose not to have them are more responsible adults. Not putting down parents but there is more to life than being married or having kids.

Ion, just cool down. If they don't want to tell you who they are then they don't have too.

There are two points that I make: 1.) In life I look down on the character of people who don't keep a promise. This is an excerpt from an e-mail I wrote today, explaining my education on this: "It is not the story that I miss, since my achievements didn't depend on it. It is the lack of your education that I miss: when making a promise, any promise, in my education the promise maker owes the promise made to the recipient of the promise. It is called keeping one's word, otherwise known as integrity (and one can get out of the promise only by asking the recipient of the promise to be let out of the promise):" 2) the only new information to my knowledge in the Sept./Oct. 2003 issue (and I went thru 'Old Folks at World Championships' in page 8 as thru old news to me) was on the back cover of the magazine, showing 1972 Olympian Steve Furniss having founded in 1985 the TYR swimwear company; nothing else in the issue exciting for my lifestyle, just fluff.

Here! Here! Cin! But I think the point was that marriage, children, job, etc limit the time one can swim. Despite his limited time, C J is saying he is still better than Ion who has more time to practice. I think C J was also saying that Ion is so wrapped up in himself that he has lost perspective. He wasn't generalizing to all single folks.

Originally posted by c j Ion . . . ... The sport just interests me, and I'm just curious what your beef is with fat people and a magazine called SWIM. ... I told fat people where I was prior to San Diego, in Tennessee, thinking of their body like if it was a car, what would they rather have a Toyota or a Lamborghini? I tell fat people where I am now, in San Diego, "What's the point to be and look like you do when you are in year-long sunny and outdoorsy San Diego? You could be and look like this in a New Jersey shopping mall, too." The following questions, connect with a post on the first page asking me what I would rather have in Swim magazine: .) if fat and unhealthy people are worth cajoling in Swim magazine articles, then training like me in swimming as a late starter who catches up in a competitive way with the sport as it is being practiced by lifelong racers is that worth ignoring? .) what about who Fritz Lehman (new world record holder in 100 meter back, in men 45 to 49), Bill Specht, Tom McCabe, Andreas Seibt, Barbara Dunbar, Paul Smith, Jim Thornton, Rich Abrahams are? I know them better than Swim magazine does, with the exception of Rich maybe; I re-peat: I know them better than Swim magazine does; how are they training (I know better than Swim magazine about how Tom McCabe -a tough sprinter- tapers, he wrote me a technical e-mail on this, and gee, it doesn't look like a Swim magazine fluffy article), how are they living and working, how are their families and how is their support, is that worth ignoring by Swim magazine, too? it was last summer, in July, before the 2002 Long Course Nationals, that in a thread in this forum it appeared that a bigger emphasis on performances by adults and supporting this with TV exposure of the Masters Nationals, and with an in-depth interest in performers' lifes by Swim magazine -including sponsorships-, is needed; lack of sponsorship, I guess that might be part of why one doesn't see a re-peat in 2003 of the 1:58 for 200 meter free by Paul Smith swam in 2001; the potential is there though, just ignored and wasted with fluff from the likes of Sept./Oct. 2003 Swim magazine issue, and re-iterated by mssgrupp's take in this thread that there are better things to do in life.

Ion, just goes on like Vlad the Impaler. Maybe he thinks the rest of us are Turks. Sorry, Ion, just jokng. But you would know more about Vlad than me since he was my of your countrymen.

Ion does raise some valid points, but his style tends to alienate people. Perhaps it's cultural or maybe it's the language. The fact remains that obesity is a significant problem in this country--it's an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease and has been shown to shorten life expectancy. While USMS encourages participation, shouldn't the organization also encourage a healthy lifestyle? While I applaud Rita's commitment to a regular exercise program, she does need to lose weight and modify her diet; ice cream and chocolate covered cookies are not going to get the job done. This has nothing to do with political correctness; what would be our response if Rita were smoking a pack a day? Regarding SWIM, it's difficult to appeal to all 40,000 USMS members. I think it's harsh to say that nothing in the magazine is of interest, although Ion is entitled to his opinion. I thought the editorial alone was worth the price; it's unfortunate that most of us don't gain this perspective until confronted with a serious illness of our own. Finally, it is true that there does not exist a magazine devoted to serious (I didn't say elite) Masters swimmers. There is information out there, but it's widely scattered. There are many issues unique to us as older swimmers because we attempt to train and compete at an age where most of the population won't even walk 30 minutes daily.

Ion Fluff to you is someone else's meat. The magazine isn't published for Ion. It is published for swimmers, whomever they are. The magazine must strive to meet the interests of all of its readers. An analogy is the classroom. A good teacher generally teaches to the middle of the class, supplements for the above average and modifies for the below average. With the majority of Master swimmers being fitness swimmers the majority of its articles should be aimed to or focused at them. You know, reading about elite swimmers and their techniques, or technical articles, all the time gets pretty boring. If the magazine doesn't meet you needs find one that does, its that simple. I believe your problem is that you feel slighted because the article about you has never transpired. GET OVER IT. This summer, I was told that a news piece was going to be done on me. The day the person who was to write the article, and photographer, were suppose to be at my practice, I dressed in a brand new Speedo (bought for the occasion) and was generally excited, nervous, proud and pleased. I never found out what, but something interfered and the article was never written. I was disappointed for about fifteen minutes, but realized it wasn't worth the energy. There are more important things in life than having my accomplishements published for others. I don't need publicity to validate my worth.

Originally posted by Gareth Eckley It seems that swimmers in general don't buy magazines aimed at them. Is there no interest, or do masters swimmers feel that they have little new info to learn ? I suspect it has less to do with circulation than with selling the pages to advertisers. Magazines make their money off advertisers. Since swimming isn't necessarily a high-dollar equipment sport, there's not that much incentive to advertise. Sure, there are gear heads who will buy the latest computer-designed water-foil kickboard, and there are truly serious swimmers who really must have an endless pool on the back deck to maintain their training schedule; but for most of us, our spending is limited to suits, goggles, shampoo, shower shoes and pool passes. With a spending profile like that, there are really only a few companies that get substantial benefit from advertising to this audience. I never subscribed to swimming magazines but would pick them up occasionally in the coffee shop. I wondered what happened to Fitness Swimming. That was a good mag. Too bad. And on that other issue... Ion's ego is so large it keeps crashing my computer. Do they make swim caps in triple-extra large?

I look forward to receiving my SWIM magazing and enjoyed the most recent one. I think the magazine does a nice job of balancing competitive, fitness and recreational swimmers. I usually do the included workouts a couple of times during the month. I have also found the ads useful for when I need a new swim supply. All-in-all I think it's a nice read and one I look forward to getting. What I do not look forward to is reading Ion's endless rambling about his late in life swimming and how much better he is than all of us. It is also tiresome to hear his constant complaining about his language roadblocks and how great he has done in the US. I suspect V02Max is coming soon, watch out. CJ is entitled to his/her opinion as much as you are. He/she is also entitled to his/her privacy. Privacy might be a foreign concept to someone from a communist country.