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?
Parents
Former Member
One of the things that has changed a lot is the meaning of terms 'professional' and 'amateur'. Now, the relevance of 'professional' only seems to bear on NCAA elegibility; once upon a time it meant not being eligible for the Olympics or other championships.
I think I have told this before, but it illuminates the point: when I was about eleven I accepted a dare from my dad that I wouldn't swim from dock to dock at our lakeside cabin on New Year's Day. Twenty dollars was the incentive. I did it and it was reported along with a neighbour's snapshot in the local paper: someone complained to the Canadian Amateur Swimming Association about the event and I was suspended from competition for the 6 months that it took to investigate whether I had 'turned professional'. It was determined that I had taken a bet rather than accepting a fee, so that was OK. As a side note, this whole affair occurred right after I was the first person in Victoria to switch clubs; my older brother, who had stayed with the Y, but who had accepted the same dare and did it, was not complained about.
One of the things that has changed a lot is the meaning of terms 'professional' and 'amateur'. Now, the relevance of 'professional' only seems to bear on NCAA elegibility; once upon a time it meant not being eligible for the Olympics or other championships.
I think I have told this before, but it illuminates the point: when I was about eleven I accepted a dare from my dad that I wouldn't swim from dock to dock at our lakeside cabin on New Year's Day. Twenty dollars was the incentive. I did it and it was reported along with a neighbour's snapshot in the local paper: someone complained to the Canadian Amateur Swimming Association about the event and I was suspended from competition for the 6 months that it took to investigate whether I had 'turned professional'. It was determined that I had taken a bet rather than accepting a fee, so that was OK. As a side note, this whole affair occurred right after I was the first person in Victoria to switch clubs; my older brother, who had stayed with the Y, but who had accepted the same dare and did it, was not complained about.
