I think it is sad we have slipped down the slope we call “being civil”. Being away from these posts for the better part of a week has allowed me to look at them in a different light then before. The thoughts and feelings of many of the people who post here are very raw right now. Decency, understanding, compassion, patience and kindness have been lost to pain and anger.
I have learned some very valuable lessons over the past nineteen months. Often, anger is directly driven by pain. I read pain into many of the post here. People have offended one another and tramped on each others toes and people have been hurt emotionally.
Gosh, I am the farthest thing from a counselor or referee for that matter, but I am qualified to say that each of us has good days, and each of us has bad days. Without exception, EVERY SINGLE POSTER was decent, understanding and compassionate towards me during a very tough time in my life. Ion has a way of invoking anger and hostility in people. Having said that, he reached out to me during a very tough time and demonstrated a very different and compassionate side then the one we see here.
My point, in the final annalists we call life, what more do we really have then one another? We are a body of swimmers who share a common bond for the love of swimming and adult exercise in the water. Let us keep to this course as opposed to offending one another and fracturing our beloved sport with pain, hard feelings and anger. We are different, yet, we are the same. We all love our children, we all want to excel in life, we all want to think of ourselves are winners, we all want to be free people, we all want to raise our families and enjoy life as best we can. Regardless of how fast we are, how smart we are or anything else…. in the final toll….we all want and strive for many of the same things. As we all did on playgrounds all over the world as children, let’s shake hands and make up….
Parents
Former Member
There is no organization in the entire world in any discipline that recognizes a subset of its members as "late bloomers," let alone USMS. Therefore that category, subset, or grouping does not officially exist and therefore should not be acknowledged. We are swimmers: male, female, in age groups or events period. Speed, ability, amount of weekly yardage, start date/year, nationality, success level (at any level), freestylers, backstrokers, TI disciples, sprinters, distance, with or without body suits, goggles, or caps; none of those characteristics matter. The JOY of our sport is not measured by a clock (though that is what drives so many of us). It is measured by what it feels like to glide off a wall, by the fun you get talking to teammates during the kick set, seeing old friends at meets that you attend, by the buzz you get when you finish that tough set or workout and your coach says "awesome," or the doctor takes your resting HR, and says "you must be an athlete..." and you beam "swimmer." That is what matters (or what should matter). We are swimmers. No explanation, self-defense, apologies necessary. When you figure that out Ion, we'll all be there to shake your hand. Feel the JOY.
There is no organization in the entire world in any discipline that recognizes a subset of its members as "late bloomers," let alone USMS. Therefore that category, subset, or grouping does not officially exist and therefore should not be acknowledged. We are swimmers: male, female, in age groups or events period. Speed, ability, amount of weekly yardage, start date/year, nationality, success level (at any level), freestylers, backstrokers, TI disciples, sprinters, distance, with or without body suits, goggles, or caps; none of those characteristics matter. The JOY of our sport is not measured by a clock (though that is what drives so many of us). It is measured by what it feels like to glide off a wall, by the fun you get talking to teammates during the kick set, seeing old friends at meets that you attend, by the buzz you get when you finish that tough set or workout and your coach says "awesome," or the doctor takes your resting HR, and says "you must be an athlete..." and you beam "swimmer." That is what matters (or what should matter). We are swimmers. No explanation, self-defense, apologies necessary. When you figure that out Ion, we'll all be there to shake your hand. Feel the JOY.
