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….
Former Member
Originally posted by old dog
Now you are getting what I mean....
I swam faster at age 50 than at 37 in the distance stuff...not thru
grinding out big yardage, but learning how to swim more efficiently.
You, Ion, are an old dog too. Very hard to teach...
And I have nothing to sell.
I remember each point in this discussion.
We shall see soon...
Originally posted by old dog
Did you read the article Mark relayed re: Phelps?
Phelps is an incredible worker, but is also a "freak" with regard to his
specific physiology and flexibility..whether you want
to call it God's gift or just genetics is moot.
It's science.
They say he has less lactic acid after a hard swim than others.
The chemists will find a supplement to reproduce this that will be taken like the vitamin C is taken now.
We are already not eating like two hundred years ago.
Originally posted by laineybug
The last time l looked at a map, there were other countries in Europe other than France.
...
I saw Germany, Austria and Belgium, and they are secular too.
Originally posted by Ion Beza
Well my point is that the French laugh at Americans in my presence,
Americans laugh at themselves in your presence.
Americans laugh at themselves in my presence, right Tom?:D
Americans laugh at themselves in the presence of ex-Croatian
air-gun champions!
Originally posted by old dog
Americans laugh at themselves in your presence.
...
Not as ridiculing as the French ridicule the Americans.
I posted this in 'Enjoyed the article about us, ordinary people', a judgment shared with me in a French restaurant last year:
"C'est des boeufs."
It's a culture in France to ridicule Americans, their religiousness and drive for money.
Originally posted by Ion Beza
It's science.
They say he has less lactic acid after a hard swim than others.
Genetics or God's gift...or are you saying his lactic acid levels are due to diet? Were is the science/proof of this? Or is this
your theory?
I have read of racers taking mega-doses of CaCO3 to
counter lactic acid buildup--is this what you are saying?
Originally posted by old dog
...
Were is the science/proof of this?
...
Everything in the nature is already or soon to be discovered by science.
Not religion and superstitions.
Originally posted by Ion Beza
I do both.
To know where my goals are best achieved, I look at the environment and what percentage of it I need.
For example, I was looking at which country has the fastest Masters.
I came to the U.S..
... [/QUOT
I think, making a gross generalization, that most American have
as much fun as the French in ridiculing the other...
Originally posted by Ion Beza
I still keep in mind posts where my results are demeaned;
this is not good sportsmanship
You are the one that made your times an issue and a subject for discussion when you:
Stated that you were faster than 90% of USMS swimmers, but didn't specify whether this meant all 42,000 members or only those who actually train seriously and compete.
Compared your times to those of women 10 years older than you.
Insisted that no other "late bloomer" had accomplished what you had, dismissing or ignoring any and all posts to the contrary.
Discredited the results of "early bloomers" because their times were obviously the result of training from 20 or 30 years ago and didn't require much effort.
I have not found that USMS members judge each other by their times. In fact, I've been impressed with the encouragement that even the slowest swimmers receive at meets (and on this forum for that matter). To you, though, this is a sign of weakness.
You seek recognition, but only on your terms.
