This new thread occurred to me while reading posts comparing Spitz to Phelps, as well as reflecting upon mortality considering heart attacks etc. In swimming we immortalize individuals or teams for various feats or contributions, but do little to preserve a feeling for subsequent generations of enthusiasts about what it was like to train and compete 'back in the day'. Just what day am I talking about? Exactly: there have been many 'days' or more properly 'eras' that can be narrowly characterized by differences in equipment, distances swum and trained, coaching methods or more widely by larger factors: world war, global depression, racial segregation, inequality of the sexes. All of these can contribute to very different experiences than what are common today to the younger swimmer; hence, 'what was it like'. I visualize a thread that continues to be added to as new people read it and remember their own experiences. As well, experience can vary with national origin, not just era. There have already been posts on this topic scattered in various threads, please feel free to copy or quote material from them to here.
Please remember that this is not about how fast a particular swimmer was, but about the conditions that defined competitive swimming of that day.
We also have a priceless resource out there: aging swimmers in their 80's or 90's who may be less likely to read or hear of this thread; why not ask them for some of their memories or impressions and pass them on to us, while we still can?
I don't go back all that far, but one thing I remember from when I was a kid you don't see much today were those "dial a time" boards behind each lane. At the end of each heat the lane timers would display the swimmers' times by using these hand operated display boards. Minutes, seconds and tenths were each "dialed in" on the board. This was before digital readout boards became widespread.
We swam in 25-yard six lane pools with rope lane dividers and bouys to keep the ropes floating. The starting blocks were painted wood. The starter used a gun that shot blanks. We did not race with goggles because they would not stay on through a dive. My head could not go under water during my ***-stroke, or I would be DQ'd. I spent my summers sporting sea-weed green hair! Oh, the good old days:rofl: !
I swam in the mid 1950's when breaststroke was undergoing rule changes almost every year. At one time, you could stay underwater as long as possible. One of my teammates (about 13 or 14) swam 50 meters underwater on a relay. Her relay had to get a certain place in order for the team to win the meet.
Then the rule changes so that we could stay underwater on breastsroke for 3 strokes, surface, and go back under for 3 strokes. That was followed by the rule change that part of the head had to stay above water.
I will start with a small contribution: training without goggles in the early-mid 60's. When I was doing two-a-days, going to school in the morning each day was a memory of a green haze surrounding lights and itchy, red runny eyes.
When it was hay fever season I was always doped up and had to wear dark sunglasses, even on cloudy days. Everything was a blur under water (sometimes a blessing) and turns could be a guessing game.
Lest people think we are just remembering the negative things, I remember several summers when we bundled up the family and travelled to various 'regattas' on lakes to compete. These were great fun, with attendant carnivals, rides and lakeside barbecues. Usually, there would be 'half-time entertainment' at finals, exhibition diving, acrobats and clowns etc. The swims would be either open water or in floating wooden pools with grandstands (no gutters ever, just flat plywood sides: the waves were incredible).
Wanting a pair of Speedos with the British flag down the side.
Speedo round-shaped goggles that had green, red, blue, smoked or clear round-shaped lenses and made you look like a mutant from mars (to a kid).
My Dad making Weetabix with hot milk before early morning training...
Thick lozenge shaped styrofoam "floats" (kickboards) that doubled as pull buoys...and living in envy of the more expensive thinner modern ones...
Passing the Brut 33 body splash around after swimming LOL Hey we thought it impressed the girls when we were 9.
Thinking a Wilkie moustache would be cool to have, then a few lears later how a bald head would be cooler!
Swimming like the Man from Atlantis before we knew it would be come legal in Breaststroke!
Beating my friends over 33m lengths of *** while they thrashed at crawl...that was always good...
Thinking how freaky the streetlights looked through chlorinated eyes and making your eyes cry to soother them...
When we were a little bit older...Sharon Davies :hug:(we wished)...
At my high school we practiced in a 20 yd. pool with lane ropes.No goggles. Waves about 2 ft when the pool was full. My first high school coach was the assistant football coach. He didn't know much about swimming,but he thought anything that made things harder must be good.We'd swim in sweatsuits with tennis shoes on or kick with a diving brick(actually that is a good drill.) Since the whole team couldn't get in the pool at once,half would swim and half would run stadium steps. No concept of taper,but we'd work on starts and turns the day before every meet. He had a great drill for start reaction time. He took a wooden paddle(as was commonly used for corporal punishment then) and stood behind the block. He'd say go,wait an instant(the instant was variable) and then swing. A slow start meant a red bottom.:( Those were the days)
I love the idea of this thread and hope it takes off. I've actually thought of starting something similar before, but was afraid that being a young 'un I'd accidently offend someone.
I'm anxious to read some stories though. I think it's fun to see how the sport has evolved.
Dammit Allen,
Now you're stealing my stuff.
One of my coaches used to stand behind each of us at the starting block with a kickboard and whale on us if we left too late.:groovy:
I still have more. Bring it!
We would also get wacked with a kickboard if we left late. And our wooden blocks (also handmade) had a backstroke handle, but someone had to stand on it or block and all would end up in the water!!!
When I was a kid...the pool didn't have Ph problems back then...and stay closed for a day.
If the chlorine level was low...the janitor would throw a bucket of HTH coal tablets in the middle of the pool ...and proudly say...Yup that'll do. The halos around the flood lights bring back fond memories. Not to mention the whooping cough.
Those were the days.
