Swimmers get no respect

I wish Masters Swimming was a "spectator sport"! Wouldn't it be great to get paid to train and compete? Swimming is definitely much harder than football as far as endurance. I LOVE it when a local trainer brings his football players to our pool. He helps guys who are trying out for the pros. They get in and try to swim. They also put on harnesses tied to our blocks with rubber tubing and run in the water. They are so awkward! It is hillarious. Yeah, I know....they aren't used to it, don't have the technique, yada yada....BUT it is hillarious anyway. They stare at us and watch my masters team in awe. I enjoy showing them that swimming is tougher than they think and definitely not a "soft" sport.

Why don't you go to a football practice one day and see how it feels to get hit for a few hours on end. Then, the next day, put on 10-15 pounds of plastic under long pants and a polyester shirt, a plastic non-breathable helmet and do it in 95 degree weather. Football, like swimming, has different positions (or events in our case). Certain positions are built for endurance, others for speed. You want to tell me a free safety or DB doesn't have endurance or an o-lineman. You don't think trying to wrestle another 350 pound man (or two) to the ground 40 plays a game requires serious endurance? When was the last time you practiced 4 days a week and then did a meet for 16/18 straight weekends? Oh, and if you did those good, you get to do another 1-4 more meets. I love swimming but I'm not about to mock another hard sport, that's silly. The point is every sport has its training nuances. It's kinda like comparing our Army to Canadas. They ride a mean horse, we ride a mean tank. I could no more play football than a footballer swim like me. I think I read where hockey players are the best conditioned. I can buy that.

Swimming is a soft sport. Look around see who the swimmers are, anyone can do it. You got 65 year old ladies swimming laps. thats not hard. What about the college swimmers training their ass off? That is very repectful and extremely hard too. Swimmers deserve alot of respect for their training but not for being a manly sport. It's this kind of thinking that has caused young boys not to swim. I used to play football and now I run and swim. From my perspective, swimming (and all endurance) sports are a LOT harder than football. The fact that someone chooses to get beat up on a football field does not make them "manly." Football's a great game, but endurance sports separate the men from the boys. Oh, and I don't think it's just college swimmers that deserve respect.

my extreme psychological (or psychiactric?) fear of winning. Not fear, but not wanting to hurt the other guy's feelings....I use to jog or run, but running a marathon with 35,000 others isn't really competitive, just a struggle not to die and end the darn thing. It's fine, and even highly desirable, to focus on self-improvement in swimming. But there is nothing wrong with a little aggression at swim meets. Aggression has served me quite well in my marathons as well. It's tough to be competitive if you're worried about hurting feelings. One should, of course, shift into a non-aggressive mode AFTER the race. At least you don't have to worry about hurting anyone's feelings on that 400 free.

Any sport regardless of contact is a matter of strength of mind if you want to succeed: The last 5 miles of a marathon, penalty kicks after extra time in soccer, putting for birdies, pushing out the last 25yds at top speed in a swim meet etc. The body heals. There is an demi-obsession with appearing macho and brutish in sports, which baffles me. I danced as a teen. ballet, tap etc. I went on stage with hamstring tweaks, with support banadages on under my outfits. Top dancers frequently dance on busted toes. Yet for all this nobody will look beyond guys leaping around in tights and just assuming them to be gay, or fairies. Ballet dancers are as tough as any NFL player in the confines of doing their job. Furthermore if you wish to compare them outside of their "job;" running around outside of work in a steroid rage, fighting and acting like a hood is no measure of hardness. Before anyone wants to make fun of me or question my sexuatlity for dancing...I spent my teenage recreation time in the company of many, many scantily clad girls with a ratio of at least 6:1 F:M...not towel flicking and butt-slapping in the locker room with 40 other guys...you do the math :p hehe Rich I'm not angry just trying to draw a comparison, and have a little laugh.

But there is nothing wrong with a little aggression at swim meets. Aggression has served me quite well in my marathons as well. It's tough to be competitive if you're worried about hurting feelings. One should, of course, shift into a non-aggressive mode AFTER the race. billy: I am quite agressive while swimming, even at practice. That was my point! While swimming I don't see the bad mood or anything in the opponent. I don't feel sorry for the other guy, because he is also swimming against his own deficiencies. When swimming open water I try to find my age group opponents and stick to them and eventually pass them with agressive swimming for awhile, till I puke of course... as for running, I only run to be in shape, don't even go to races any more.take care, billy fanstone

But there is nothing wrong with a little aggression at swim meets. Aggression has served me quite well in my marathons as well. It's tough to be competitive if you're worried about hurting feelings. One should, of course, shift into a non-aggressive mode AFTER the race. billy: I am quite agressive while swimming, even at practice. That was my point! While swimming I don't see the bad mood or anything in the opponent. I don't feel sorry for the other guy, because he is also swimming against his own deficiencies. When swimming open water I try to find my age group oponents and stick to them and eventually pass them with agressive swimming for awhile, till I puke of course... as for running, I only run to be in shape, don't even go to races any more.take care, billy fanstone Billy I don't disagree. I mean just I have an issue with valuing brutishness and machoism above everything else in sports...as to decide what is hard or soft etc...

Swim meets might not be football like with the contact, however, in practice I have and others have taken a beating in the pool. There is nothing like being in an out reached position streamlined and getting a kick in the ribs by a breaststroker in next lane, and we dont have pads to protect ourselves. Or what about getting whacked in the head by a hand or even worse paddles, nothing like getting split open by a paddle, and we dont wear helments. You dont really see to many swimmers huffing on oxygen after a few minutes of a workout either, seems I always see the football players inhaling somthing on the sidelines. I'll stick with swimming over football for longer lasting better effects now and down the road in years health wise. greg

I had the pleasure of meeting the late Floyd Patterson;a true sportsman in every sense of the word and a well respected citizen who used every bit of his celebrity for the benefit of others. Not all boxers are ear biting rapists! Aside from any ear biting or rape, it makes no sense whatsoever to place yourself in a position that might very well land you in the hospital or possibly even a morgue. No boxer starts out by making the big bucks, they all start out getting their heads bashed in by boxers who are better than they are. Why? That is my question.

This thread is begining to make me think I should quickly shop for marshmallows, graham crackers and some chocolate slabs... ...smores anyone? :D