Today, I swam the 200 yards free in 2:09.11.
This beats my previous best of 2:09.54 from April 1994.
I challenged the 2:09.54 in the past 11 years, over 20 times, many times under what I learned the hard way to be the wrong preparation, and never came close.
My result will be posted officially in the USMS databse.
I won't be able to make the 2005 Short Course Nationals, but hopefully I will make the 2005 Long Course Nationals.
The reason that I bring this success here is that there are some lessons to learn from it:
1.) to pursue virtue and excellence by meeting the intrinsic requirements that come to having a worthwhile goal (in my case, the goal is to stay in my prime intellectually and physically, for longtime), that's intelligence and tenacious work;
I immigrated to U.S. and relocated within U.S. on job skills in science to live my lifestyle;
this lifestyle comprises now, over 39 weeks of the 2004-2005 season so far, of 1,093 kilometers of training (an average of 28.025 kilometers per week, or 30,828 yards per week, no matter the holidays, tapering or illness, that includes kicking, strokes, and technique quotas), the most mileage I slowly built my late starter physiology up to in life, mostly under a Masters club with primarly college and age group swimming expertise, which I searched for and choosed;
I also cross train consistently in weights and running;
2.) I scrutinize self-indulgence and greed (to an employer who was asking me to work overtime like his Japanese employees do, even though I was ahead in schedule in a project, and who thought that I am a slave to him giving me a work visa, I stated "You know, my life doesn't depend on you." and I walked away from a near six-figures salary because it was jeopardizing my swim training; I looked for and found another) and I scrutinize good intentions backed up by feelings without hard data.
2:09.11 and staying in my prime, that's a tribute to 1.) and 2.).
Parents
Former Member
Originally posted by Phil Arcuni
This is not "all" Ion is trying to say, if it were there would be no trouble. What Ion is also saying is that the combination of his talent and his hard work and his dedication make it extremely unlikely that *anyone* else in an equivalent "late-bloomer" situation could ever swim faster.
That is what Ion believes and what he has said several times. He will respond strongly to even hints that my summary is not true.
Look, friends. Whether you think it is true or not, or whether you think it reflects poorly on his personality, LET IT GO! Ion is a dedicated swimmer who can contribute much to this forum if we let the issue lay when Ion brings it up. There are some questions that should not be asked (you can find one of them if you go back through this thread.) Perhaps some of the newer posters need to know this, but the rest of you already should.
As an early bloomer (but a pretty small bloom at the time) I know that I will never do a lifetime best in my strongest events. Unlike Ion, I will not let swimming pick my job or my country, my family will always come first, and I get tired swimming 30,000 yards a week for very long. Also unlike Ion, I am competing against a 20 year old who swam more than 50,000 yards a week with near-personalized workouts and daily competition.
Ion's dedication is very impressive, if not something I want to copy.
Very well said, Phil.
Reply
Former Member
Originally posted by Phil Arcuni
This is not "all" Ion is trying to say, if it were there would be no trouble. What Ion is also saying is that the combination of his talent and his hard work and his dedication make it extremely unlikely that *anyone* else in an equivalent "late-bloomer" situation could ever swim faster.
That is what Ion believes and what he has said several times. He will respond strongly to even hints that my summary is not true.
Look, friends. Whether you think it is true or not, or whether you think it reflects poorly on his personality, LET IT GO! Ion is a dedicated swimmer who can contribute much to this forum if we let the issue lay when Ion brings it up. There are some questions that should not be asked (you can find one of them if you go back through this thread.) Perhaps some of the newer posters need to know this, but the rest of you already should.
As an early bloomer (but a pretty small bloom at the time) I know that I will never do a lifetime best in my strongest events. Unlike Ion, I will not let swimming pick my job or my country, my family will always come first, and I get tired swimming 30,000 yards a week for very long. Also unlike Ion, I am competing against a 20 year old who swam more than 50,000 yards a week with near-personalized workouts and daily competition.
Ion's dedication is very impressive, if not something I want to copy.
Very well said, Phil.