hello!! im new to these boards, and was wondering what y'all thought. Most of the time in the Olympics the ages of swimmers seem to be between the early teens to about early 30s. (pardon me if im wrong on this.) Is there some sort of age cap here? it seems that way to me. I am 23, LOVE swimming and still dream about what if i had devoted my time to my olympic dream. what if i started now, would I be at that level. I beleive you are the age u feel u are. its just a number. what do YOU think? :)
You should be proud when you do something great, no doubt about it.
I just don't think there is any deserving in sports.
I've run out of V02Max shampoo but switched to V02Max goggles and the results have been less than satisfactory.
To get into the Olympic games as a US Swimmer, you have to have placed one or two in the individual event that you swam at the Trials. (Or as someone said, the Olympic trials is the only time coming in second counts).
You can be any age. You just have to be one of the two fastest on that day.
michael
In reference to gull80's question if some of the high older performers at the Worlds in Australia were early bloomers, it was a mix. Some swam as youngsters, stopped in their 30s, then returned. Some started in 30s and 40s.
Pondering "what ifs" in life can take a lot of time and energy. Can't get back time so just go with the now and try your best. I think most of us Masters swimmers just love swimming for the love of it and enjoy competing for our personal best. However, I also know many Masters swimmers are inspirations to young potential future Olympians. At the college pool I practice in that has a large Masters club, often the college team swimmers find inspiration from the older folks (and vice versa).
Here's an quote from Lance Armstrong that I keep on my screen as a perspective of facing each day: "Time is limited, so I better wake up every morning fresh, and know that I have just one chance to live this particular day right, and to string my days together into a life of action, and purpose."
THANK YOU ced357 for understanding what im saying. It is good to know that there are "dreamers" out there.
aquageek, so u disagree with me? deserving has alot to do with it. its not to mean that it should be handed to you. as you say "If you make the times, beat the competition, you make the team." Fine. When you work that hard, what is so wrong with celebrating how proud you are of your accomplishment!!
If you want to get an idea of how swimming potential varies with age, take a look at the record times on this website, which USMS maintains for each event, sex, and age group. There is probably a slight bias toward younger swimmers, since older swimmers are less likely to have been trained in the most up to date techniques, and since marriage, raising kids, increased job responsibilities from moving up the corporate ladder, and the need to care for aging parents all tend to erode the amount of time swimmers can spend in training.
