IThe forums have been a bit drab since our friend was kicked off. We need to spice things up. Here are some possible topics:
What should US swimming do more to promote the sport?
Should the qualifying times for nationals (masters) be lowered to make the meet smaller and more conducive to fast swimming?
400 IM - the true measure of swimming ability?
Has Bush exaggerated the threat of terrorism so that he can push his social agenda in the name of national security?
My answers: Yes, Yes, Yes, and Yes
Former Member
Well, Gerald Ford was the last to lap swim. He had a pool built at the white house.
Hey!! we already had a swimming president, Ronald Reagan. He swam for Eureka College. And while he never, at least that I know of, swam Masters, he is part of our swimming family. There is an interesting quote from Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan, by Edmund Morris that seems appropriate here:
”Often I have marveled at Reagan's cool, unhurried progress through crises of politics and personnel, and thought to myself, He sees the world as a swimmer sees it.”
Originally quoted by Rob Copeland
”... He sees the world as a swimmer sees it.”
Is this a college swimmer after a *serious* party (21 or older, no underage drinking)? Or a distance swimmer with no goggles in a heavily chlorinated pool?
That must be the distance and open water approach to swimming.
Kennedy was a varsity swimmer at Harvard, and used his swimming skills to become a true hero of WWII.
Nixon removed the White House pool to install something else (putting green?)
Nixon removed the White House pool to install something else (putting green?)
Many years ago I had the opportunity to attend a White House daily press briefing (I dont want to say how long ago it was, but it was the day the Chinese Ping Pong team visited the White House). As I recall, the area where the press corp had there cubicles, was the area of the swimming pool. The swimming pool was not filled in, it was just covered up and a floor laid over the pool.
michael
Kennedy came from a family with some money, so in the earlier part of the 20th century when public pools were scare he had more opportunities to learn to swim. Nixon probably didn't learn to swim. The area he was born and grew up in Yorba Linda and Whittier was very rural and the nearest public pools in those days was probably in the city of Los Angeles about 35 miles away and there were no freeways until the 1950's.
