The Fastest Age

Originally posted by sparx35 ion posts= 125 conniekat= 99 i cannot believe how many posts....will the total exceed 10,000? I can't believe you took the time to count them! :eek: Way to go!:D Now, count them again, only keeping track of the posts that include insults!:rolleyes:

37 pages keep going........OK, I have an evil streak in me today. My basement flooded due to a heavy rain and this is my comic relief!

This thread certainly does have the keys a tappin' Just curious, but does anyone out there think the motor learning and motor control aspect plays a part in the development of a swimmer? And does this ability to retrieve (as in feed forward) play a part in the subsequent ability of the swimmer after a significant time away from the sport? And what about a person who developed an excellent training regime in another sport during their developing years (as in youth), that challenged all energy systems and took up swimming later in life. Do you think the training effect --- dare I say V02Max, --- can aid the person to adapt and train well in a new sport? Any thoughts?

Originally posted by aquageek ... Immediately post your meet times on this forum from 8 months after you started 16 years ago. That will really put this all into perspective. ... You know what, Swampygeek? I have them at home. Some of them remain my lifetime bests in a 25 meter pool. Like going 28.xx in a 50 meter free. All what I did since then was to delay my aging, by staying stale or improving a little. When people look at me they guess that I am younger than my chronological age. Technique doesn't improve much and the fight against aging is physiological based pretty much on the baseline that one had to begin with, as an adult past teenage growing years. The key is physiology not technique, and past teenage years physiology is not going to improve much. Connie is not going to be different than me on this. For example, in 1986 in France I did a 20:3x.yy -I believe 20:32.yy- in 1,500 meter free in a 25 meter pool, just a few months after joining my first swimming club. The exact time is in my diary in my apartment. The only time when I could have beaten this is when in September 1995, in Canada, together with Mark Oldham (look for his rankings in Masters in www.fina.org), I did a set of 4x400 meters Long Course leaving every 5:30. When I saw Mark last time in September 2002, he remembers this set. (In Canada I also swam with O'Hare, Draxinger, Berger, Henning -bronze winner in the 200 back in the 1984 Olympics-, Gyorfi and Wayburn). I was doing in 1986 in a club in France 1:04.xx in the 100 meter free in a 25 meter pool, within two months of joining the club. It got down to 1:03.20 within one year. It got down to 1:02.84 in a 25 meter pool in Canada in 1992. Little bits of improvement, thru physiology not technique, that delayed aging so far. Connie is not going to be better than this, including with all her 'technique' talk. At low speed the technique is easy to be good, at high speed under the stress of the load technique degrades and speed improves. Is all in physiology. Mostly developed in age-group swimming.

I think so (IMHO), taking someone who is a runner once I can get them to relax in the water (ie control their breathing) and work on ankle flexibility - I've seen some of them do quite well, of course this also might be based upon the personality/mentality (old chinese proverb, when the student is ready to learn the teacher will appear). In regards to muscle development and being able to change your body. I realize Lance Arsmtrong is a bit of an anomally (sorry for sp). He was once an age group swimmer, turned triathlete then became an okay cyclist (never considered to be a TDF contender). He credits his cancer and treatment with being able to change his body structure, he thought his old swimming physique/mass was a hinderance in the mountain stages but in essence was able to change that after his cancer/treatment. Most of my examples/knowledge invovle swimmers transitioning to another sport (Breastroker able to run a marathon in under 4 hrs, polo player doing a half marathon in about 1.5 hrs, even Steve Lundquist has some minor success in biking) but not too much in regards to other sports to swimming.

Originally posted by nyswim really didn't expect attitude-most people who can perform at a high level in their field are quite modest-it's the "superstars in their own mind" who are jackasses Oh, yea, we have one stirring a pot here ;) Comparing himself with girls.

Originally posted by Fritz I'd say the gauntlet has been thrown down. You guys are hosting nationals next year so you've got a whole year to get in the best shape possible. I'll bet Ion will be there. Maybe we can start a betting pool. No pun intended. My goal is to have NQT in something by LCM 05. By then I will have swum for 2 years. We'll see. My coach thinks it's possible. He knows best.

Kealonj, Perhaps we could continue this discussion on a new thread. It is an interesting concept and I am sure there will be some interesting discussions as a result. I would be most willing to re post the information about how learning a skill is aquired.

Originally posted by Scansy Thanks Connie. My goal is to prove everyone wrong who told me I couldn't get to the weight I wanted by swimming. (Target is 155 - 160.) Then, I can do this - :p ! you'll do it :) Just don't forget to count calories. Did you read the article on weight loss in the Swim Magazine? Shhh... I'm in it

Originally posted by Conniekat8 ... Comparing himself with girls. Then don't compare yourself with me. Like telling stories that I am uncoachable -without knowing me- and you are coachable. When you or geek compare yourself with me, then you get the comparisons coming from me. Like Fritz wrote, by now "...the gauntlet has been thrown down...": it's you and me.