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….
Now this is truly interesting.
One part of me says the IM is the "jack of all trades, master of none." The other part says if you win the IM you are the best swimmer.
I think the 400 IM stands alone at proving the most well balanced swimmer, and, maybe the fastest overall. But, for those of us too pathetic to try the 400 IM, I will say that you can be fast in any event.
I'd rather spend a day in the pool with Ion than do the 400 IM. That's one hard event, the IM that is.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, my ignore button didn't work!
On a different note, on American soil, not Canadian, I, myself like the 400 IM. To me it's like an obstacle course. It's fun to watch too because the lead can change a few times. The flyers look great in the beginning, the backstrokers catch up, the breaststrokers get their revenge and the distance freestylers pounce at the end. All very entertaining!
As far as being the best overall swimmer, I would think it's somebody who excels in all of the pool events (I'm not tackling open water, another ball of wax for my purposes right now).
I like to think that I am an IMer, and I can do all of the strokes decently, but I sure get my clock cleaned sprinting. My best times 26.8, 56.8 and 2:08 will never get me in the Top 10. In my age group, somebody like Nadine Day, who excels in everything (!) would be the best overall swimmer. The Top Ten rankings are great because they don't necessarily show the best overall swimmer (although it's easy to figure out, NADINE!) but they show the achievements for the top ten in an event. It shows the rest of us how we stack up
I'm starting to ramble...
:)
Tom, I see you've taken your humor on the road. Where ya headed if you don't mind me asking? If you're headed this way we've got lots of workout times for you to attend :)
Well, I sure as heck don't think it's funny my ignore button is NOT working. My eyes, they burn!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tom, you are quite humorous, in an American sorta way:)
Originally posted by Ion Beza
Ignorance of knowledge is not a blessing.
I think you and many from your choir, you believe in the wrong century, at odds with the world of today.
You might as well submit your post to the local church, not to me.
Knowledge is a blessing.
Hi Ion,
Excellent self-analysis here. Have to give you that.
Originally posted by Ion Beza
Because you like Bert's post so much, you shouldn't have told that you started swimming at 33.
Why not?
The only one that matters to is you. None of us swimmers who started at what not age are looking for special recognition.
I started swimming at least 6 years later in life than you, and I', already getting more recognition for it than I ever thought I would.
The recogniotion you tuly crave, and will never get is, sadly, inside of you.
You still can't see it: it is the joy AND the knowledge of appreciating what he (and we) have that makes this worthwhile. You are science-driven and a bit cynical. Not necessarily totally wrong qualities to have; it would be nice to also possess humility, humor, and appreciation for the simplicity of what we are able to do. At your age, you should be doing this for the enjoyment and pleasure of it...none of this matters in the big picture. You're not going to get faster--hopefully smarter.
Originally posted by Ion Beza
I did:
42,000.
You don't pay attention.
I pay attention just fine. You missed the point of my post. You questioned why your results became an issue, when it is you who are responsible. No, you did not initially state that it was the entire USMS membership in the denominator, but again that's not the point.
The point is that when you make statements to the effect that you're faster than 90% of us, you're opening yourself up to criticism. If you're going to play hardball, you may get dusted.
Is that the best response you can muster, or are you still looking for typo's?
Cripes Oh mighty - Ion, your team has 42,000 members on it - because that is the only way they would have 'access the same workout conditions as I do.'
So being in the top 4,200 USMS swimmers means......what ? In that number are men and women older, younger and the same age as you that are faster (and of course slower there is a good number of swimmers that are slower). One thing I find laughable is how you define and limit things. Your justification is based upon one event (if I remember correctly), so going the other way you are where in regards to the 200 butterfly, 400 IM, 100 backstroke near the bottom of the USMS since you don't swim these events you would be considered as fast as those fitness lap swimmers that you continually put down, how ironic. So I really don't see what your point is
If being in the top 10% floats your boat and gets you in the water and makes you feel like you've accomplished something, then fine, more power to ya. But you'll have to excuse me if I am not totally impressed with your achievements because of your demeanor and how you come off in this posts.
