Jeff Kaelon:
Are you mad, man? Now Ion will think he's the Tiger Woods or Arnold Palmer of USMS. We'll never hear the end of V02 Max or late bloomer now. Oops, we'll never hear the end of it anyway.
Ion - hundreds of other racers will be in Indy with you, all hard workers, all taking a risk. You aren't unique in anything except your hyperbole and put downs. You'll have plenty of time to watch those other swimmers as the vast majority will be in the heats after yours, you know, the ones with fast swimmers.
Originally posted by Ion Beza
Catch up style stroke is a no for the 1500 meters free world record holder Grant Hackett (Aus.) and many more.
Are you trying to say Hackett does or does not use a catch-up stroke? I'd say he does, at least on one side. He definitely has an asymmetrical stroke. Check out some of the videos here:
www.swim.ee/.../free.html
And if you want to see an incredible kick check out the one of Ian Thorpe called "Thorpe swim under high elbow catch up style." Man he can swim! One thing I noticed, though, is Thorpe swims with a fairly head up stroke, which many coaches seem to be discouraging lately.
Originally posted by Ion Beza
A lot of claims in USMS are misinformed anyway and fed with cliches for the feeble middle-aged.
Originally posted by Ion Beza
...this is a discussion forum not a dictator forum, so inputs by everyone into swimming are being communicated, analyzed and discussed on their merits.
With a paltry 3 posts one can be irreverent towards me? That question should be reserved for advanced users only. Users with at least 250 posts.
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The following statement puzzles me again, after I called it earlier when in a similar version, pseudo-science terminology.
'Fast' to me means as a late starter in the sport.
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It might be due to the fact that when pulling I am not getting a big enough distance per stroke, and I speculate that it is because of not having enough blood vessels going from the heart to the triceps due to my late start in swimming when the body was already grown (i.e.: I joined my first ever swimming club at age 28).
How is it that I have blood vessels going from the heart into the quadriceps, given the same factor of starting late in swimming, I don't know.
in the 2003 Short Course Nationals, I lost my aerobic for the 1000 free, but surprisingly I got around my fastest speed.
I am in the top 10% in every Masters club I have been across U.S., and in meets I overtake plenty of lifelong swimmers who are already a small percentage of the people who dare to compete.
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Something that I don't seem to have conveyed accross yet, *** and ***, is that I swim for the inner power of personal performance, not the outer power of social rewards.
Hence, a similar standard of achievement by Swim magazine could be a match:
like in being knowledgeable about late bloomers who are competitive amongst lifelong racers.
But there is no match:
Swim magazine has not many clues, and is mostly a waste.
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I am stating that to my achievements, the Swim magazine is mostly a waste, with its bureaucratic style of peachy superlatives and accolades to former age-group swimmers who keep in shape in USMS.
My swimming is a Thorpe-style of swimming, in another league though.
...no matter that I trained and train harder and smarter than the national top ten swimmers
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Now swimmers like us talk, and the politically correct are mute.
In the thread that was deleted I was calling this supression of quest for quality in a list of requirements for better standards in USMS, similar to what the religious Taliban fundamentalists are doing in Afghanistan:
unfounded sentimental feel good for a few conservative and stale but no crytical skills in analytical thinking.
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?
think about the body fat that you carry at meets where I see you, and in contrast to this sloppy body shape you see me slim and strong.
By now, dragging yourself on this board to read enough times that I posted that the swimming VO2Max is developed in most USMS winners prior to USMS (at least in men 40 to 44), should make it within your comprehension also.
Carl:
Thank you very much. Excellent synopsis. I read an article about it but wondered just how demanding it was from a real person. Thanks for taking the time to write this down.
Even though this thread got off the original mark, Carl put the focus on what Masters Swimming is all about! Thanks Carl!!!:)
It reminds me of a senior meet (50 +) I attended about 3 years ago in the San Diego area. I watched a 93 year old compete to qualify for the National Senior Games. After swimming his event, he climbed up the pool ladder where his 71 year old daughter held his walker. The swimmer shuffled away with his daughter beside him. And that is really not an isolated event. I am awestruck every time I see Woody Bowersock, who just aged up to 90, deftly step up on the blocks and compete.
Regardless of our accomplishments as an age grouper, college swimmer, fitness swimmer, triathlete, top ten or all-american, masters swimmer, or late bloomer or male or female or if our personal best in an event is 2:00 slower than anyone else, this organization and this sport is about a lifelong commitment to fitness and health.
The recent CalTech Pentahlon was great fun. People of all ages coming together to compete and have fun together. We had people of extraordinary abilities (of all ages) as well as some in their first meet. We had distance people and sprinters. We had white, black, hispanic, straight , gay, and disabled, foreign born and US born. Everyone encouraged one another and everyone had a good time. Where else can you go and be with such a diverse group of people enjoying the same activity?
This is why I love this sport, and why, when all is said and done, we spend the time and energy we do to swim and to participate in this forum.:)
Originally posted by aquageek
You never know, Ion, it could be that folks are more humble than you...
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Nah.
They are like you.
When taken to the task they have not much to show.
Just me stepping on the blocks next month in Indianapolis after training for racing, that's a risk taking for good and bad racing that is not prevalent in the American culture.
The American culture is into armchair TV.
When me, everyday even in the cold wind and rain, I am the one in the pool who trains under the coach's eye.
Even for thousands of lifelong swimmers, it's hard to beat this...
Aquageek,
Humility is probably the better answer, I'm sure Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods have knocked a couple of hole in ones in their lifetime but you don't hear about them talking about it every day.
Ion, being a little hypocritical - you feel you are unjustly compared to other USMS swimmers because you did not swim as a child where they have (comparing apples to oranges), yet you will compare yourself to a female swimmer and brag about how you can beat them (whatever lifts your ego). You also belittle swimmers because you can beat them in a 1000 free, but they can beat you in say 100 free or breastroke - that's like saying Alberto Salazar is a better runner than Carl Lewis because Alberto can(did) go a sub 2:12 marathon (what about Lewis's gold medals and records - fact is you can't really compare the two - other than maybe how they dominated their perspective races during their careers).
All I can say is you go Connie - good luck train hard and train smart !
Originally posted by aquageek
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Ion is just bitter because he can't swim a 100 SCY very fast, despite his 30K yards a week.
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You mean that he started to swim from a flat start in his late 20s like me and overtakes my 58.40 in the 100 yards free and my 12:25 in 1,000 yards free from last year?
Surely you don't mean this...
