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
I swam age group in the late 60s to 70s, and remember a lot of the things people have already posted. My vivid memories:
politically incorrect (now!) coaches who would turn the firehose on us if we were too long to get out of the shower or if we swam too slow...same coach used to step on our fingers if we did open turns in freestyle...
goggles came in while I was swimming...coach wouldn't let us wear them in races, and had to practice 1/2 of the time without goggles (so we would be used to stinging red eyes?)
going straight from morning practice to school; eating breakfast in the car; smelling like chlorine all day; arriving at school with frozen hair because both my mom and coach figured the extra ten minutes it would take to dry my hair would be better spent in the pool
billeting for out of town meets...now is not allowed due to security risks, etc. Understandable, but sad.
the rule that said ALL females had to wear caps, even if our hair was short (I hated that rule) but guys didn't have to wear caps, even if their hair was long.
Once lycra came in, wearing two or three suits because they became see through in the bum and boobs after a week or so...
failing Red Cross stroke technique for breaststroke - my bronze medallion instuctor insisted that arms be swept out just under the surface untill parallel with our shoulders - elbows weren't supposed to bend on the pull, just on the recovery
suicide backstroke flip turns
I swam age group in the late 60s to 70s, and remember a lot of the things people have already posted. My vivid memories:
politically incorrect (now!) coaches who would turn the firehose on us if we were too long to get out of the shower or if we swam too slow...same coach used to step on our fingers if we did open turns in freestyle...
goggles came in while I was swimming...coach wouldn't let us wear them in races, and had to practice 1/2 of the time without goggles (so we would be used to stinging red eyes?)
going straight from morning practice to school; eating breakfast in the car; smelling like chlorine all day; arriving at school with frozen hair because both my mom and coach figured the extra ten minutes it would take to dry my hair would be better spent in the pool
billeting for out of town meets...now is not allowed due to security risks, etc. Understandable, but sad.
the rule that said ALL females had to wear caps, even if our hair was short (I hated that rule) but guys didn't have to wear caps, even if their hair was long.
Once lycra came in, wearing two or three suits because they became see through in the bum and boobs after a week or so...
failing Red Cross stroke technique for breaststroke - my bronze medallion instuctor insisted that arms be swept out just under the surface untill parallel with our shoulders - elbows weren't supposed to bend on the pull, just on the recovery
suicide backstroke flip turns
