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?
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)
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)
