We all know that the best of the best who shine in the Olympics start at, like, age 3-5 and train hard thorought all the years to really achieve their best in their early-mid 20s.Out of curiosity, does anyone know any olimpians that started training very late, maybe closer to their 20s and performed very well at the olympics or were there "old" olimpians on the podium ever(in their 30s)?
And theoretically do you guys think it is possible for someone to start training at an adult age and win in the OLympics?
Originally posted by jpjackson76
If you believe you can you can, If you believe you might not make it you won't. Sorry to get all Tony Robbins on you.
This post requires some analysis. First, say you start at 23, which is a completely unlikely event for someone with Olympic aspirations but we'll go with it. You'd have to spend minimum 1-2 years just on stroke technique. That makes you 25, at which age you don't have the opportunity to compete often with the "kids" who have HS meets and age group meets. That's also assuming in 2 years you can post fast times to qualify. So, this means that somewhere between 25-27 you have caught up with foks swimming competitivey since age 5 and have the opportunity to do it 10-14 times a week, unlikely if you are an adult, unless you have some sort of trust fund, like gull80.
Theoretically it is possible but there are about zero athletes who begin their sport in their 20s, save curling maybe, a sport devoted mostly to alcohol consumption.
Now, before gull80 gets all analytical and accuses me of the early bloomer bandwagon switch, let me state I believe, again, that life gets in the way in your 20s and believing you can and actually doing it are two very different things.
I believe I can swim a 1000 in a clown suit faster than gull80 but, then again, we both enjoy hot coffee, so our arguments should not be taken too seriously.
Originally posted by jpjackson76
If you believe you can you can, If you believe you might not make it you won't. Sorry to get all Tony Robbins on you.
This post requires some analysis. First, say you start at 23, which is a completely unlikely event for someone with Olympic aspirations but we'll go with it. You'd have to spend minimum 1-2 years just on stroke technique. That makes you 25, at which age you don't have the opportunity to compete often with the "kids" who have HS meets and age group meets. That's also assuming in 2 years you can post fast times to qualify. So, this means that somewhere between 25-27 you have caught up with foks swimming competitivey since age 5 and have the opportunity to do it 10-14 times a week, unlikely if you are an adult, unless you have some sort of trust fund, like gull80.
Theoretically it is possible but there are about zero athletes who begin their sport in their 20s, save curling maybe, a sport devoted mostly to alcohol consumption.
Now, before gull80 gets all analytical and accuses me of the early bloomer bandwagon switch, let me state I believe, again, that life gets in the way in your 20s and believing you can and actually doing it are two very different things.
I believe I can swim a 1000 in a clown suit faster than gull80 but, then again, we both enjoy hot coffee, so our arguments should not be taken too seriously.
