Drafting

Although I am a former US Marine Plt. Sgt. and am more the capable of taking care of myself, I always attempt to deal with these situations with tack. Sometimes that is NOT possible. Having said that, I not only see and understand George’s point, I embrace his point. Simply put, there are times when people push the envelope to the max with respect to fairness, decency and respect and they ask for what they get by their unbelievably bad behavior. I have never hit, punched, kicked or elbowed another swimmer intentionally. I handled my situation by swimming over the top of the guy. I stand by what I did and have no moral or ethical questions regarding my actions out on the lake that day. In George’s case, I have heard the old time Marathon swimming circuit was in fact often a contact sport. Those guys were tough guys, and I mean tough guys. I will not judge or criticize George for his actions for I was not there and I did not endure the things he did, and I dare say many of us have no clue what those days were like or the methods used to intimidate, slow down or beat the competition. We live and compete in a much more politically correct society today, but still we see people behaving like morons. Frankly, out in the middle of the San Francisco Bay, Lake Travis or anywhere else open water swims take place, a swimmer if often on his own. Heck, I never saw a race marshal or official to deal with two guys dogging me, so I dealt with the problem…my way….and I am completely unrepentant for how I handled that situation.

Although I am a former US Marine Plt. Sgt. and am more the capable of taking care of myself, I always attempt to deal with these situations with tack. Sometimes that is NOT possible. Having said that, I not only see and understand George’s point, I embrace his point. Simply put, there are times when people push the envelope to the max with respect to fairness, decency and respect and they ask for what they get by their unbelievably bad behavior. I have never hit, punched, kicked or elbowed another swimmer intentionally. I handled my situation by swimming over the top of the guy. I stand by what I did and have no moral or ethical questions regarding my actions out on the lake that day. In George’s case, I have heard the old time Marathon swimming circuit was in fact often a contact sport. Those guys were tough guys, and I mean tough guys. I will not judge or criticize George for his actions for I was not there and I did not endure the things he did, and I dare say many of us have no clue what those days were like or the methods used to intimidate, slow down or beat the competition. We live and compete in a much more politically correct society today, but still we see people behaving like morons. Frankly, out in the middle of the San Francisco Bay, Lake Travis or anywhere else open water swims take place, a swimmer if often on his own. Heck, I never saw a race marshal or official to deal with two guys dogging me, so I dealt with the problem…my way….and I am completely unrepentant for how I handled that situation.