This was in today's "Dear Abby" column in the paper:
DEAR ABBY: I am a 55-year-old female who competes in triathlons for fun, fitness and health. I consulted my doctor because I was having foot pain. When I told him I was a runner and was preparing for a marathon race, his response was, "At your age, you could hardly call it a race."
I was shocked. I repeated the insulting comment to my husband, who has never supported me in this nor attended my races. He replied, "Well, you don't actually consider yourself an athlete, do you?"
I am so offended that I want to dismiss both my doctor and my husband. I just finished a race with 5,000 women. Every one of them was fabulous and serious, no matter how old or what they looked like. It was the spirit of the sport that mattered. At what age does one stop being an athlete? -- OLDER ATHLETE, EUGENE, ORE.
This raised some interesting questions in my mind about support, encouragement, or the lack thereof. I don't want to discuss the "athlete-yes-or-no" question. Instead, I'd like to know how people out there deal with non-supportive spouses, friends, co-workers, doctors, etc.
My own experience includes being teased by my co-workers for "getting beat by a 70-year-old woman." (This was after a big meet where they viewed my results on the Internet.) This came from men who are at least 50 pounds overweight and can barely walk from their cars to their desks.
Former Member
It have the opposite problem. My husband panics in anything deeper than a mud puddle, so he thinks I'm a fabulous swimmer. It gets a little embarrassing because he'll tell people what a wonderful swimmer I am, when in reality I'm pretty mediocre.
:mad:
there are so many people out that who think that, just because they can doggie-paddle from one end of the pool to the other, they know what swimming is. earlier this week, a co-worker and i had it out on whether or not swimming (a real sport) could be lumped in with cheerleading (definitely not a real sport, at least around here!) obviously, to all of us, we understand, that by any definition of the word, that swimming (the way we do it!) is definitely a sport.
back to jayhawk's question...
i've been so lucky that my family and close friends have always been very supportive of my swimming. i got lucky because my dad was a swimmers in his younger days, so he understands what it's all about. and my friends all understand because they've always known me as a swimmer (i'm going on year 17 of swimming... and i'm only 24!)
now i've dated a few guys who just didn't get it, and i think that's why i'm no longer with any of them! ;) they never understood why i had to get to bed early or couldn't hang out till the evenings... but my current boyfriend is a swimmer himself, so he understands all of this. personally, i think for swimmers, your best bet is to be with a swimmer, cause they're the only ones who get it...
:D
My mother is pretty supportive of me because she is a master's swimmer and 11 time iron man person....so she really understands the time and energy that goes into doing a practice.
My dad on the other hand....well...he thinks his tennis classes are more strenuous than what I do in the pool. Heh.
My friends here are mostly completely supportive. I think that's because my University makes everyone take a swim test their freshman year - 4 laps of the pool. Most people have difficulty completeting the 4 laps. So when I equate my average varsity workout (5,000yds when not doing weird sprint work) into laps for them...they freak out a little bit. They generally do think I'm a masochist though.
Originally posted by swimmieAvsFan
earlier this week, a co-worker and i had it out on whether or not swimming (a real sport) could be lumped in with cheerleading (definitely not a real sport, at least around here!)
So why denigrate cheerleading like this? This is just another form of "my sport is better and more of a sport than yours." I have no reason to support cheerleading, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who are serious about it and work hard at it. There's no question it can involve serious athleticism, so why isn't it a sport?
My point is you're doing the exact same thing other people are doing that don't think swimming is a legitimate sport.
Originally posted by knelson
So why denigrate cheerleading like this? This is just another form of "my sport is better and more of a sport than yours." I have no reason to support cheerleading, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who are serious about it and work hard at it. There's no question it can involve serious athleticism, so why isn't it a sport?
My point is you're doing the exact same thing other people are doing that don't think swimming is a legitimate sport.
and my point was that cheerleading in the form that it appears in central PA is little more than girls with pom poms jumping up and down and yelling. now, i will admit that the cheerleading that is shown on ESPN is indeed a sport, but that type of cheerleading involves a great deal of athleticism. the form of cheerleading in this area is nothing like what you see on ESPN. and you yourself even include the phrase can involve serious athleticism- which to me implies that not all cheerleading involves it...
Originally posted by SwiminONandON
I would actually argue that real cheerleading is a sport also ...
note that the word real is included in the above post. cheerleading here is not what would be considered real. i will also defend real cheerleading (again, the type seen on ESPN), but not what i see in central PA.
my only point was that the type of cheerleading that my co-worker was comparing swimming to shouldn't be considered a sport. some cheerleading is a sport, some is not. just like some swimming (ie floating around on a noodle wearing a string bikini) is not a sport...
i'm done now!
:)
I've never seen an out-of-shape collegiate cheerleader and I've been very observant of them over the years. Some of those moves and flips are are, um, acrobatic.
Originally posted by swimmieAvsFan
i've been so lucky that my family and close friends have always been very supportive of my swimming. i got lucky because my dad was a swimmers in his younger days, so he understands what it's all about. and my friends all understand because they've always known me as a swimmer (i'm going on year 17 of swimming... and i'm only 24!)
now i've dated a few guys who just didn't get it, and i think that's why i'm no longer with any of them! ;) they never understood why i had to get to bed early or couldn't hang out till the evenings... but my current boyfriend is a swimmer himself, so he understands all of this. personally, i think for swimmers, your best bet is to be with a swimmer, cause they're the only ones who get it...
:D
Like you, I have a very supportive family. I drag my wife, 6 and 3 year old to all my meets, sometimes 4 hours from my home. It's a long day in the car, but I wouldn't give it up for anything.:)
As a divorced masters swimmer I date occasionally. A few weeks ago I went out to dinner with a guy who commented that he wasn't sure he could handle being involved with a women who is stronger than he is! I guess the sleeveless dress was a mistake! :rolleyes:
Fortunately, my entire family (mom, dad, husband and 10 year old) support swimming in every way. They have all been involved in swimming for so many years (I had a grandfather, uncles a brother and many cousins who swam).
I am a coach, swimmer and swim parent. Thank goodness that everybody understands what this sport is and always will be to me.(I would be really lonely by myself!!)
It makes me so angry when I have to defend swimming as a sport. I did every sport offered by my town and by far swimming is the most difficult yet most rewarding for me.
