When a new masters swimmer asked on a different thread for a meters to yard conversion utility, I referred her to the following site:
www.swiminfo.com/.../conversions.asp
Unfortunately, as another poster quickly pointed out, this site will soon be available only to those who pay for it.
I am wondering if someone with some computer savvy could recreate this very useful utility for us masters, then post it in an area of the USMS web site where we could access it for free.
This same area could also include some other useful tools for swimmers. There is, for example, a fun (though perhaps somewhat suspect) "future times predictor" for aging swimmers at:
http://n3times.com/swimtimes/
In addition, my friend and teammate Bill White wrote an Excel spreadsheet (so far not posted on the web) that allows you to easily calculate your 100 pace for distance swims. You can either input the total distance and total time and it will give you your average 100; or you can input the average 100 you hope to swim and the total distance, and it will crank out what your overall time will be if you can hold that pace.
Anyhow, I propose the USMS web site add a new section called something like "Swimmers Tool Box" that collects, in one place, all these useful and/or just fun-to-play-around-with utilities we can come up with. I know many of the posters here are brilliant amateur mathematicians, who enjoy inventing these things; maybe we could even have an annual award for whatever new calculator we users vote as the most interesting! Kind of like a Touring Prize (is that the right name) for swimming math esoterica!
Lefty, I agree that before a race many people view the few minutes as their time to prepare and concentrate, particulary while at the starting blocks and don't like people who go out of there way to get the person's attention. I will take this one step further. In the old days of AAU swimming back in the late 60's and early 70's there was an informal rule that we use to refer to as the "Gag" rule. What that rule was is that you did not speak, communicate, or socialize with your competitors during the course of the meet. That included before a race and after a race. At the conclusion of the meet you shook hands and communicated with your competitors or the opposing team. Many professional teams did that then and still do today.
When I began masters swimming over 20 years ago I noticed that changed somewhat in that people socialized a lot more during the competion and maybe we were to serious back then. One thing I learned is that different people do different things regarding this and as a swimmer and a coach you have to respect that. I was brought up on the "Gag" rule and would not even think of talking to swimmers during a meet. A lot of that had to do with swimming Psych, meaning the psych up and psych out are so important that we believed the mental part far outweighs the physical in competition. Now I realize that we are masters swimmers and this is not the NCAA or the Olympics but some people have habits and they stick with those habits for a lifetime and some change as they get older.
I happen to know Bill Specht and I have the utmost respect for him. I saw him at the Y Nationals and the two USMS championships last year and talked to him and he is really a nice guy and this was after the days competion. I knew his old coach Bill Farley at Princeton who swam for the University of Michigan for Gus Stager, one of the great coaches of our time. Bill Farley got 4th in the 1500 at the 1964 Olympics and was kind of a role model for young swimmers at the time.
I have observed Bill at USMS Nationals and noticed that he is one of the most focused swimmers I have ever seen in masters swimming. At Rutgers he was at the warm up pool every day when they opened at 6:00 regardless if he was swimming early in the day. He handles adversity extemely well. A case in point was at the 1999 Long Course Nationals in Minneapolis. I remember watching his 50 and 200 Back and noticed that the 2nd place finishers almost caught him to the wall. However in the Fly races he was winning rather easily, winning the 100 by almost 4 seconds. Then came the 200 Fly and a possible World Record.
I remember the announcer at the meet saying the USMS Swimmer of the Year is on record pace to shatter the record. At the 150 he was 4 seconds ahead of the 2nd place finisher. What happened on the last 50 is the classic story of what happens to people that take out the 200 fly to fast. Everyone at the meet that day knew about that race and I saw a lot of people giving there condolences after the race was over. He had maybe 10 to 15 minutes to get ready for the next event which was the 100 back. It was the last event before the relay on Sunday at the end of the meet. I remember everyone watching to see if he could come back from this adversity earlier. He was in 4th place at the 75 meter mark but managed to sprint the last 25 and win by the slimist of margins against 4 really good compeitors all within a second of each other. I remember Scott Shake as one of swimmers but I don't remember the others. Bill Spect received a loud roar from the crowd when he came back. That showed me the kind of competitor Bill really is. When the chips are down he came through.
Lefty, I agree that before a race many people view the few minutes as their time to prepare and concentrate, particulary while at the starting blocks and don't like people who go out of there way to get the person's attention. I will take this one step further. In the old days of AAU swimming back in the late 60's and early 70's there was an informal rule that we use to refer to as the "Gag" rule. What that rule was is that you did not speak, communicate, or socialize with your competitors during the course of the meet. That included before a race and after a race. At the conclusion of the meet you shook hands and communicated with your competitors or the opposing team. Many professional teams did that then and still do today.
When I began masters swimming over 20 years ago I noticed that changed somewhat in that people socialized a lot more during the competion and maybe we were to serious back then. One thing I learned is that different people do different things regarding this and as a swimmer and a coach you have to respect that. I was brought up on the "Gag" rule and would not even think of talking to swimmers during a meet. A lot of that had to do with swimming Psych, meaning the psych up and psych out are so important that we believed the mental part far outweighs the physical in competition. Now I realize that we are masters swimmers and this is not the NCAA or the Olympics but some people have habits and they stick with those habits for a lifetime and some change as they get older.
I happen to know Bill Specht and I have the utmost respect for him. I saw him at the Y Nationals and the two USMS championships last year and talked to him and he is really a nice guy and this was after the days competion. I knew his old coach Bill Farley at Princeton who swam for the University of Michigan for Gus Stager, one of the great coaches of our time. Bill Farley got 4th in the 1500 at the 1964 Olympics and was kind of a role model for young swimmers at the time.
I have observed Bill at USMS Nationals and noticed that he is one of the most focused swimmers I have ever seen in masters swimming. At Rutgers he was at the warm up pool every day when they opened at 6:00 regardless if he was swimming early in the day. He handles adversity extemely well. A case in point was at the 1999 Long Course Nationals in Minneapolis. I remember watching his 50 and 200 Back and noticed that the 2nd place finishers almost caught him to the wall. However in the Fly races he was winning rather easily, winning the 100 by almost 4 seconds. Then came the 200 Fly and a possible World Record.
I remember the announcer at the meet saying the USMS Swimmer of the Year is on record pace to shatter the record. At the 150 he was 4 seconds ahead of the 2nd place finisher. What happened on the last 50 is the classic story of what happens to people that take out the 200 fly to fast. Everyone at the meet that day knew about that race and I saw a lot of people giving there condolences after the race was over. He had maybe 10 to 15 minutes to get ready for the next event which was the 100 back. It was the last event before the relay on Sunday at the end of the meet. I remember everyone watching to see if he could come back from this adversity earlier. He was in 4th place at the 75 meter mark but managed to sprint the last 25 and win by the slimist of margins against 4 really good compeitors all within a second of each other. I remember Scott Shake as one of swimmers but I don't remember the others. Bill Spect received a loud roar from the crowd when he came back. That showed me the kind of competitor Bill really is. When the chips are down he came through.
