Swimming World top 6 male and females masters for 2006 to be named in April issue.

IN response to Rich I remember a year when Swimming World did have their list of individual top swim performances. I agree that there are over-all year results and individual races. Jeff Commings 1:01 100 sc meters breastroke cetainly comes to mind. As far as older swimmers having it easier I beg to differ with the hurdles that age brings. I think it all averages out in the long run to be pretty fair.

It would reflect an impure heart. Jim: Are you reading there, buddy? :thhbbb: 7 women were mentioned above. I'm not as familiar with the young whippersnappers, but they have to put someone under 35 on that list, don't they? Sorry Fort, My aging brain again LOL! I guess I missed those postings....Its kind of how I can not see the remote control even when its right in front of my face. If we go with under 35 (or say under 40)...as part of the all time top 6, then in addition to the ones already mentioned, I guess that also puts Ron Karnaugh in the mix as well....I mean look at the IM records alone for 30-34 and 35 - 39! Then throw in the SCY *** records for 35 - 39 and the 200 back record (also SCY) for 35 - 39 and you still haven't covered all of his records. The other factor for Dr. Karnaugh (besides the sheer number of records) is the amazing times themselves! I personally wish they made it a top 15 or top even 20 for both Male and Female separately ...afterall, as Frank mentioned,...this is all time for the entire World...so lots of deserving swimmers to make mention of here IMO. Newmastersswimmer

Remember this is performances in 2006 only

I've always thought awards like these favor swimmers over 45. Not that swimmers over 45 aren't good swimmers. If I'm still walking upright when I'm 45, I'll be a happy man. Oh, thanks, Rich. Oh Wow. Jeff, my daughter says I am not old until I hit 50....I have 4.5 years left.

That'll teach you to not drink too much tequilla. :thhbbb: :thhbbb: :thhbbb: Just to make you feel really bad, Poolraat, it happened a year ago. Got up in the middle of the night because my youngest was having a nightmare. Slipped and fell down a flight of stairs, slamming my left shoulder and neck. Crawled back up after I tucked her back in. Swam in a meet 5 days later. But I'll let you know when I fall down from drinking too much tequila. :thhbbb: Today, I'm going to that same meet a year later, this time with my left shoulder in a wheelbarrow. Life is tough for the 45+ set. But we persevere.

Remember this is performances in 2006 only Right. As far as I know Karnaugh didn't compete at all last year. I don't remember seeing his name anywhere.

Just to make you feel really bad, Poolraat, it happened a year ago. Got up in the middle of the night because my youngest was having a nightmare. Slipped and fell down a flight of stairs, slamming my left shoulder and neck. Crawled back up after I tucked her back in. Swam in a meet 5 days later. Now I do feel bad. I know you have shoulder issues from the past. Did this make it worse? I'm glad I have a single level house. No stairs to fall down. I don't drink tequila either. Used up my quota in college. I hope you swim well today. Take it easy on the shoulder. :banana: :banana: :banana:

Remember this is performances in 2006 only I see that I have been more than just a bit discombobulated on this thread (or lets just say more than I usually am LOL!). I guess when I read Rich Abrahams comments about how swimmers over 45 typically have a better chance of making the list due to the fact that they can rack up more records over time than the younger swimmers, that made me think this was more of an all time lifetime achievement list of some kind....but then again, I guessed I could have read the title of thread a little better eh? LOL! So not only is Dr. Karnaugh now out of the running, but even more importantly I will also be out of the running too since I didn't swim any in 2006 as well LOL!:rofl: :rofl: Newmastersswimmer p.s. All this talk of tequila is starting to make me thirsty...and its 10:30 in the morning!

Is Mark Foster (YoB 1970) considered ? He swam 21.21 SCM in 2006 but not in a masters meet.

Hey guys, A few things. First, it is a World award, and second, it is voted on by an international panel. I like the idea of a separate listing included in the article about most mind-blowing swims. I'll have to think about that for next year. To be completely honest, this article probably took the most amount of work to do for anything I've done here so far. It was great fun working on it. The two biggest difficulties were as follows: We only used world records recognized by FINA. When we posted the list of all the world record we had, I had a bunch of e-mails come in talking about different world records. We have to draw the line somewhere, and Phil drew it at FINA-recognized records when he started the top 12 three years ago. The second difficulty is that it is not completely a "2006" award. It is the competitive season encompassing some of 2006 and 2005 - as recognized by FINA. One of the things I am looking to improve for next year and future editions is adding more international Masters swimming experts to the panel. I think we could double the size of the panel and still be able to get this article done by deadline. I'll have to think about the over-45 bias of the award. We had someone in their 20s win this year, but I can see where the talent pool gets smaller and smaller for massive amounts of world records as you get older. If you have any questions, e-mail me. jasonm@swimmingworldmagazine.com