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.).
Former Member
Originally posted by Ion Beza
This is my last post.
.... this thread is a this for that, and not about bettering oneself thru a process, which is what I intended it to be....
I have a weakness in turns, I practiced good turns for 39 weeks, good turns are still not efficient for me as I look at the clock in repeats in wokouts, bad turns are more efficient for me in workouts and meets, my bad turns are not efficient when compared to the good turns of others, and in the 2005 Long Course Nationals I hope to do the good turns in a 1500 meters free because the walls come slower than in short course so I have more time to think.
In the 2004 Short Course nationals I swam the 200 free in 2:11.10 and I was happy, May 15 2005 I swam the 200 free in 2:09.11, a lifetime best.
I swam it with the same technique, it's only my fitness that improves gradually in this Masters program that I joined in November 2002.
This is Ion in a nut shell.
He knows his turns are weak, but insists on doing bad turns his own way. He did a tremendous amount of yardage but lacked
the will or skill to improve his technique. If he had spent time
perfecting his turns, he might easily have dropped another 3+ seconds.
IMHO, this is where his "process" is flawed. Of course, late
blooming has nothing much to do w/ good turns. ;0)
Originally posted by Ion Beza
No you didn't read this thread a year ago, you want to confuse the substance.
I reported your attitude.
OK Thanks. I hope you explained it as confused and bored.
Originally posted by aquageek
I'm thoroughly enjoying watching this house of cards crumble.
I don't doubt that you would enjoy watching it crumble, but it doesn't crumble:
when I say that my turns are less efficient than other people's, I mean people in my club like Joe Thomas.
I don't mean you.
Or Dorothy here.
Or Heather here.
Or old dog here.
How is the house of cards crumbling when I get a lifetime best?
My turns are a work in progress, and I didn't hit the perfect race.
You wish with your profile and no lifetime best for you now, that it was crumbling at your level.
geek's 'worthy' goal in life:
to enjoy that someone faster than him fails.
Ah, I see.
He was refering to top 10 who started in their 30s.
We talked about this.
It happens in the women's older age groups and in men's old age groups.
There is little competition there, everybody alive and swimming has a world record or near world record.
It doesn't happen in men 40-44 where I was recently and 45-49 where I am now.
Last year Paul Smith at 44 went 45 for 100 free, and Gary Hall Jr. at 29 went 44 for 100 free, then Gary won gold in the 50 meters free in the Olympics and swam again a 100 (a 100 meters now), good enough for #13 in the Olympic world.
And in the 40-44 and 45-45, plenty follow closely Paul Smith.
No, it doesn't happen to be a top ten in these age groups when starting in the 30s.
There is no house of cards that crumbles.
No.
I don't believe it's possible to make top ten in our age group as a late starter. However, that's not the only factor--there's also the matter of talent. As I posted previously, I was about 40 seconds behind the top swimmers in the 500 when I was in college, and as a Masters swimmer the gap is the same.
As the saying goes, the journey is the destination, so I'll keep trying to close the gap.
Yes I caught that. And actually my turns are better than his were at 2004 Nationals. Yes, I am not as fast in the water(nor will I ever be), but who knows, if I had started as young as Ion, I might have been. He started 10-15 years earlier than me.:) Ion, I say that with a sense of humor, OK, humor, got it?
Ion used to(have not seen him lately), do a funny corkscrew like turn on all his turns, that made him hang out a long time on each wall.
This is not an uncommon thing, my 12 year old does it when she gets lazy. There is a man I swim beside sometimes who does it. He is a foot taller, somewhat my same speed, but I get him on every turn, because of the wasted time spinning from back to front instead of allow the body to push of on the side in stream line. I have improved mine by watching our Senior/National team underwater and how they turn and doing my best to imitate.
Ion, I hope they film you. You can learn alot from watching yourself. And since there is areas like turns to improve on, if willing to work on it, you will continue to get faster, and maybe break into that top 10.
And like Scansy, I am tired. I coached a girl's softball team(we won), sat in a 95 degree gym for a band concert(favorite song, Godzilla ate Las Vegas), and have come home to pack up all my computer equipment to run a 3 day age group meet this weekend.
So good luck everyone with this thread, I will pull an Ion, and not be back(maybe), chuckle, chuckle, chuckle(humor Ion, humor)
