Call me an old fashioned cynic, but Gary Hall's oh so exclusive "Race Club" seems to generate more amusement than intimidation. To review the bidding for those with real lives, Mr. Hall announced a few months ago his intent to form his own club dedicated to elite swimming. It has a fabulous location and training facility in the Florida Keys. It will cover travel, training and living expenses. (I'm tempted to ask who is fronting the money, but I won't denigrade Mr. Hall's ability to raise funds.) If you want to join them, send in a resume; don't call us; we'll call you. Let us look over your accoplishments and decide whether you are worthy.
Hmm, great facilities, don't have to share pool time with the non-world class members (i.e. 99%) of a Swim Club, just about all expenses paid. Unless you have your own lucrative endorsement deal, what swimmer wouldn't want to join this team?
Well, the initial members of the "Swim Club" were announced last week. www.swiminfo.com/.../6097.asp Eight Olympians sounds real impressive. But then you look at the list a little more closely. Eleven swimmers, and although I have not googled everyone of them, all of the ones I have googled are in their late 20's or older. Or in other words, 3 of the 11 swimmers are chronologically at the back end of their careers, and they have not yet made their nation's Olympic Team. Closer scrutiny reveals 10 of the 11 are men. Just about all of them swim the 50 free or 50 fly, and few of them seriously compete in anything other that the 50 or 100 free or fly. In contrast to the lack of age, gender and event diversity, the team does have members of many nationalities and ethic backgrounds. However, the most telling stat of all is that roughly half of the members I checked are not currently ranked in the World Top 20 Rankings, LCM or SCM, in any event.
Overall, the "Swim Club" sort of reminds me of the kind of team a rookie fantasy league coach would assemble--there are a lot of names you would recognize, but their most productive years may be behind them. To be fair, all of these folks are amazing, world-class swimmers. Their careers to date have been awesome, and they remain extraordinary today by any standard, except arguably World Rankings. In contrast, I am an opinionated loud mouth. I would be delighted to see them find new speed and light up the scoreboards next year with medals and records, and make a complete monkey of me. As of right now, I think may the "Swim Club's" gloss may have exceeded its actual capabilities.
Matt
Parents
Former Member
Wayne
You called Gary Hall lucky. In my opinion that's not giving him credit. Your lucky because you work hard. I think he should be given the same credit you give yourself. If you don't think he worked hard and created his own luck then say so. That's fine. We'll disagree. No harm done.
Originally posted by breastroker
fritz,
There is no attempt not to give Gary credit. He has 8 Olympic medals!
Start a thread about what makes a great coach and I'll participate. Am I a great swimmer? I don't have a web page with all my swimming credits like you do but if you want to know more about me you can look me up. My last name is Lehman. I don't think I'm in a position to judge the greatness of myself nor do I think it's relevant. You go right ahead.
I never said I knew what a great coach was or who was a great coach. I have not questioned anybodies credentials and the only person I've remotely attacked is you when when I said you were either the greatest coach or arrogant. I'm not even sure that's an attack. All I've said is being ASCA Level 5 doesn't make you, and "you" doesn't equal Wayne here, a great coach. If you want to refute that then do it. I still think it's mostly an academic exercise. It's a worthy exercise but it doesn't mean a coach is a great coach simply by having the credential.
Originally posted by breastroker
Fritz, please go on about what you feel makes a great coach. Do you coach? Are you a great swimmer? Have you had great coaches? What makes you a judge of others? If you question the credentials of others you may never get more coaches here. Why get attacked, there are plenty of people who will pay for advice.
Wayne
You called Gary Hall lucky. In my opinion that's not giving him credit. Your lucky because you work hard. I think he should be given the same credit you give yourself. If you don't think he worked hard and created his own luck then say so. That's fine. We'll disagree. No harm done.
Originally posted by breastroker
fritz,
There is no attempt not to give Gary credit. He has 8 Olympic medals!
Start a thread about what makes a great coach and I'll participate. Am I a great swimmer? I don't have a web page with all my swimming credits like you do but if you want to know more about me you can look me up. My last name is Lehman. I don't think I'm in a position to judge the greatness of myself nor do I think it's relevant. You go right ahead.
I never said I knew what a great coach was or who was a great coach. I have not questioned anybodies credentials and the only person I've remotely attacked is you when when I said you were either the greatest coach or arrogant. I'm not even sure that's an attack. All I've said is being ASCA Level 5 doesn't make you, and "you" doesn't equal Wayne here, a great coach. If you want to refute that then do it. I still think it's mostly an academic exercise. It's a worthy exercise but it doesn't mean a coach is a great coach simply by having the credential.
Originally posted by breastroker
Fritz, please go on about what you feel makes a great coach. Do you coach? Are you a great swimmer? Have you had great coaches? What makes you a judge of others? If you question the credentials of others you may never get more coaches here. Why get attacked, there are plenty of people who will pay for advice.
