I overheard some ladies talking yesterday and instructing their kids not to get in the ocean. Here are two of their reasons: 1) they just had lunch and lady said you'll get cramps, you can't swim for an hour, and 2) your face will turn to scales while food is in your stomach.
Later, a young woman was advising me on my newest problem, leg cramps, and she told me it was impossible for me to get leg cramps because I wasn't sprinting. She said that leg cramping is caused from dehydration and only a person who sprints will get dehydrated; not distance people, so she suggested I see a doctor.
We all know these are pretty ridiculous, have you overheard anyone advising others about "their myths?" The people making these comments were from England.
During the summer after my junior year in college and well into double digits of a pretty good swimming career, I went to the Boy Scout camp for the Worcester MA council as I was an assistant scoutmaster. When I went to get checked out at the beach so I could go swimming and use the boats, the ever helpful instructor did not want to give me the "swimmer" designation because I could not float on my back without a little bit of sculling yet I could have easily taken a few laps around the lake without any trouble. I finally convinced him and was able to be a "swimmer" during my stay.
During college, the coach got on me for kicking my feet a little bit during breaststroke pulling without a pull buoy. I told him I had no choice. He would not hear of it. So I pulled a couple of laps grinding my toe nails on the bottom in the shallow end. He latter let me use a pull buoy.
Lesson from this: you don't have to be African American to be dense (physically or mentally)!
Leo
During the summer after my junior year in college and well into double digits of a pretty good swimming career, I went to the Boy Scout camp for the Worcester MA council as I was an assistant scoutmaster. When I went to get checked out at the beach so I could go swimming and use the boats, the ever helpful instructor did not want to give me the "swimmer" designation because I could not float on my back without a little bit of sculling yet I could have easily taken a few laps around the lake without any trouble. I finally convinced him and was able to be a "swimmer" during my stay.
During college, the coach got on me for kicking my feet a little bit during breaststroke pulling without a pull buoy. I told him I had no choice. He would not hear of it. So I pulled a couple of laps grinding my toe nails on the bottom in the shallow end. He latter let me use a pull buoy.
Lesson from this: you don't have to be African American to be dense (physically or mentally)!
Leo
