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….
In a different direction than long distance open-water swims, what about zoomers? Strong abs and legs are an advantage over arm strength. There is some serious speed involved. And the article (in Swim Magazine ??) says that those races got the Pablo Morales seal-of-approval.
I also think we each train to our own capabilities. I have tried to do work-outs surpassing 4000 yards and my body breaks down. 3500 is about my limit. Maybe time will change that and as I get used to 3500 I can up it. I know I can now complete that a lot faster than I used to. However, I have to pay attention to preventing injury. It does not mean I work less hard, I am working as hard as I am able. Plus I do a lot of cross training, weights, running(in summer), cardio classes, biking.
But if my shoulders start getting grouchy, I have to back off!
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.
Originally posted by old dog
Kiwi,
Did Mr Beza ever answer your questions re: his times?
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dogie,
you play the mediator.
I don't need you.
You pick the wrong fight.
Old Dog,
I don't wear a wetsuit. I use an aquablade knee length racer back suit for all open water and marathon events. (just like in the picture ;), which is yours truly) I use one cap if the water is 72 or more, and two caps a silicone and the event cap on top for water over 64 degrees. Anything under that I use ear plugs as well as the cold water can get into your inner ear and upset your vestibular/balance mechanism. I generally am able to stay warm in cooler water, although as I age I am finding it more difficult to keep warm. I need the sun out which means buckets of sunscreen and zinc creme. ( an overcast day means calmer water, but cooler outside temp, a sunny day is warm but usually brings a wind and then the waves.)
When I first began open water swimming I did get a wetsuit but I didn't like wearing it as I was getting too warm in it. Plus the awful chaffing/war wounds. So for the past 6 years, I just use a swim suit for training and competing.
At the World Championships, the medical team talked about the fast skins. they felt at that time (2002) that they were too tight and were too constricting and would not help the circulation to the extremeties. Some swimmers wore them anyway. Of the 300 who started, 70 DNF and of those only 12 didn't wear a fast skin. 90% of the DBF'ers had not trained in the open water.
If the weather is cool, with a wind/breeze, then grease can help keep the body warmer.
Ion did answer my question about times, but lets not dwell on that.
The Skaha lake swm is 11.8km, 7.38 miles, this year on Aug 7th. It is in Penticton, B.C the home of the Canadian Ironman
I will get the email/web site for the swimming holidays. My Neck of the woods is certainly a beautiful place to swim and kayak
Originally posted by 2go+h20
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(just like in the picture ;), which is yours truly)
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I wonder whether you are Melissa Doyle -or maybe Sophie Charbonneau- or someone else.
I cannot e-mail you, but you can e-mail me if you want to answer this privately.
If you don't want, that's fine, of course.
I am curious to know success, albeit in open water, a different field than my pool swimming.
I am familiar with British Columbia.
At the beginning of the 90s I was swimming in the Pacific Dolphin Swim Club, a pool swimming club of Vancouver, B.C., with Thurlough O'Hare (92 Olympics), Kevin Draxinger (92 Olympics), Michelle Sallee, Kelvin Mortimer, Christian von Fersen, Julie Durward, Paul Hughes, Kim Fabro, etc., under coach Tom Johnson.
Connie, AG, etc.,
I admire your stamina. I've since hit the ignore button regarding the "import", but you guys plug on! Thanks for the continued entertainment :)
Ion:
Maybe you should make a point and stick to it. It was only when confronted with the fact that you were slower than 85% of folks in your age group at Tempe Nats in 2003 (men, not women, age 40-44) that you reswizzled your assertion by including all 42K USMS swimmers.
And, conveniently, you have no way of proving your assertion now, you can just make it up.
Your arguments are so totally confusing that even you can't keep track. You repeatedly claim no interest in being fast by USMS standards yet constantly harp on how fast you are. You want to be the international voice of the late bloomers but refuse to acknowledge anyone other than yourself in your faux category.
Maybe you could spare us 3000 more of your posts if you just admitted that you want our admiration, regardless of any of the accepted standards by which all other swimmers are judged.
