I remember P Mulins the author maybe I missed spelled his name talking about swimming being a white upper-middle class sport and the country club set. I guess he had not met Shirley Bashashoff that came from a blue collar background. Anyway, swimmers in elite circles tend to be more from upper-middle families than the non-elite. In high school programs, their are plenty of them from the barrio and the ghetto. Also, he seems to think swimming is divided between whites and blacks. In his state, both Latinos and Asians outnumber blacks. And Latinos are the group lowest on the income level in that state and Arizona mainly done to immirgation. I think the swimming world is seeing that in the states, its not a black and white world anymore,even in the south asians and latins have increase.
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Former Member
Mark Mattson:
Actually, I used to sing the Barney Song while swimming the mile.
Due to my artificial right hip and my inability to explode off the blocks in order to be competitive in sprint events, I am a distance swimmer. Being forced to swim distance events puts me in a rather interesting place with respect to my mind set...(does not, does to, does not, does to....).
Swimming the mile and long off shore events were some of the times I felt closest to God. In that I mean, I viewed them as a religious experience. For me, I found myself dealing with the grind parts of the swim and my ability to deal with the tremendous amounts of discomfort associated with pushing myself right up to the very edge of my human conditioning. Strange as it may sound, when I swam the mile or long off shore races I had the mind set that this could be my last event or action on this earth. I became stoic and quiet before races and attempted to deal with my inner thoughts of who I am and what I am here for. Without exception I always said my Prayers before these events and asked forgiveness for any transgressions I had committed in my life because I was uncomfortable with the possible outcome of pushing myself to the very edge. But, I knew the very edge was the point where I was about to go…..
Once the race began I set my pace and pushed myself to the point where I was in the middle of that zone where discomfort lurked. I kept my mind in my race by thinking about my stroke length, breathing ALL my air out on the exhale part of my breathing and streamlining off the walls. I attempted to be a disciplined swimmer by paying attention to the things that impact my race. Yet, I always had this deep inner feeling of peace. Almost without exception, I was totally spent at the end of these events. I had nothing left and regardless of my time, I felt a sense of pride that I had come face to face with something that…well, quite frankly, scared the heck out of me, but I did it anyway.
Although I have a rather off the wall sense of humor and pride myself in being able to find humor in the most mundane things in life, I always swam the mile or long off shore events with a serious mind set. Ok, I admit it, I am a bit strange and somewhat bent in my thinking …Am not, am to, am not, am to, not, to, not, to….
Mark Mattson:
Actually, I used to sing the Barney Song while swimming the mile.
Due to my artificial right hip and my inability to explode off the blocks in order to be competitive in sprint events, I am a distance swimmer. Being forced to swim distance events puts me in a rather interesting place with respect to my mind set...(does not, does to, does not, does to....).
Swimming the mile and long off shore events were some of the times I felt closest to God. In that I mean, I viewed them as a religious experience. For me, I found myself dealing with the grind parts of the swim and my ability to deal with the tremendous amounts of discomfort associated with pushing myself right up to the very edge of my human conditioning. Strange as it may sound, when I swam the mile or long off shore races I had the mind set that this could be my last event or action on this earth. I became stoic and quiet before races and attempted to deal with my inner thoughts of who I am and what I am here for. Without exception I always said my Prayers before these events and asked forgiveness for any transgressions I had committed in my life because I was uncomfortable with the possible outcome of pushing myself to the very edge. But, I knew the very edge was the point where I was about to go…..
Once the race began I set my pace and pushed myself to the point where I was in the middle of that zone where discomfort lurked. I kept my mind in my race by thinking about my stroke length, breathing ALL my air out on the exhale part of my breathing and streamlining off the walls. I attempted to be a disciplined swimmer by paying attention to the things that impact my race. Yet, I always had this deep inner feeling of peace. Almost without exception, I was totally spent at the end of these events. I had nothing left and regardless of my time, I felt a sense of pride that I had come face to face with something that…well, quite frankly, scared the heck out of me, but I did it anyway.
Although I have a rather off the wall sense of humor and pride myself in being able to find humor in the most mundane things in life, I always swam the mile or long off shore events with a serious mind set. Ok, I admit it, I am a bit strange and somewhat bent in my thinking …Am not, am to, am not, am to, not, to, not, to….
