Worthwhile Article That Was Lost in "The Fastest Age" Thread/Saga
Former Member
I put up this post in the "The Fastest Age" thread. I should have put it here in the first place so it would not get buried. Here's what I originally posted for those who might be interested.
To digress a bit if I may, the Baltimore Sun has been running a series of articles on Michael Phelps. On March 8, 2004, the paper ran an article The Measure of a Swimmer. You can access it by clicking here.
It's a fascinating story, IMHO, and I thought that I would share it with my friends in the USMS Forum. Unfortunately, the underwater pictures, which were in color, are not included in the article. They were especially great. It was good to see Doc Counsilman mentioned in the article, too. I submit this article only for your reading interest and not for debate.
Kindest regards,
Mark
Another thanks for a great article.
I couldn't help but think of my husband. He too is 6'4" (used to be 195!) with a huge lung volume capacity (I believe it's 1 liter bigger than the average), and he too swims 400 IM and makes it look easy. He has long legs though. He usually wins Nationals in his age group for the 400 IM... no Olympics though! ;)
Anyway, it seemed to me that Phelps is a blessed combination of: hard work/ethic, talent, great physiology, and a positive mental attitude. If that's supernatural, OK then. I think it's neat to see the evolution of swimmers and swimming and I wonder how much faster "we" can get?
PS. Don't tell, ;) but a friend of ours worked at the US OTC in Colorado, and he and my husband snuck our black Labrador Retriever, MacGuire, into the flume! Mac did great. And his best time for 100m Dog Paddle was 1:37. Sadly he passed last November at 14 :( I don't know what his lung capacity was but I could tell you stories about his stomach capacity!!!
Another thanks for a great article.
I couldn't help but think of my husband. He too is 6'4" (used to be 195!) with a huge lung volume capacity (I believe it's 1 liter bigger than the average), and he too swims 400 IM and makes it look easy. He has long legs though. He usually wins Nationals in his age group for the 400 IM... no Olympics though! ;)
Anyway, it seemed to me that Phelps is a blessed combination of: hard work/ethic, talent, great physiology, and a positive mental attitude. If that's supernatural, OK then. I think it's neat to see the evolution of swimmers and swimming and I wonder how much faster "we" can get?
PS. Don't tell, ;) but a friend of ours worked at the US OTC in Colorado, and he and my husband snuck our black Labrador Retriever, MacGuire, into the flume! Mac did great. And his best time for 100m Dog Paddle was 1:37. Sadly he passed last November at 14 :( I don't know what his lung capacity was but I could tell you stories about his stomach capacity!!!
