Interview(s) with the Champion(s)

What do you mean by this? Your current SCM backstroke times are your best ever SCM times, am I reading that right? Is that because of the new turns, and the natural gift you have for under-water dolphin? (Something you probably acquired in your butterfly training) Sigh...there are people out there my age (Sean Murphy, Ron Karnaugh to name two) who can usually thump me in the backstroke but haven't bothered to race lately, so the "champ" business is a bit much...two weeks ago was the very first time in my life I ever shaved or tapered for a SCM meet so getting PBs wasn't really too hard. I don't think I ever swam SCM in college. But even with the old turns and the lack of underwater SDK, I was still a much faster backstroker in college (heck, even in high school). My college times were decent, second-tier stuff, please don't make too much of them. The fly WR was in the 53s (Matt Gribble) until Pablo broke it around the time of the LA games (though he got beat by Michael Gross that time). I missed finals there by 0.2 and ended up 12th -- like I said, second-tier stuff. I am happy with my college career but please tone down the hyperbole, okay? :)

My college times were decent, second-tier stuffDarn, I’ll need to rewrite my swimming bio. If NCAA All American Honorable Mention (top 16 or was it 12 back then?) and being an Olympian (top 16 again) qualifies as “second-tier stuff”, then I guess I was somewhere around the 20th to 30th tier.

Significantly slower than current times What do you mean by this? Your current SCM backstroke times are your best ever SCM times, am I reading that right? Is that because of the new turns, and the natural gift you have for under-water dolphin? (Something you probably acquired in your butterfly training)

I started Master's in 1974, and have been swimming continuously since. As to why I was faster than in college, in college we only swam 200 *** in dual meets and our training was focused on the 200. On my own, I could do more speed work. I've always liked and been better at the 100. :banana:

Masters swimming is about friendship, staying healthy, and having fun only compare your performances to yourself make it easy to feel good and hard to feel bad the social aspect is awesome you get to see and support your friends in their events The best part is the stories and beer after each day or the end of the meet Meets are fun. Training is too. Ande Boy do you have that right. That intimidation factor is one thing that keeps me from going to meet sometimes. The main reason is the drive, 2 hours to get to most meets. But then I think, do I want to drive 2 hours and look like a fool in front of people who have been swimming all their lives? So I stay in my own little pond, and work on my own times, and the aerobic ladies think I am the most graceful thing ever(I swim during their class), and life is good.

There's guys and women out there, that if they started training again they would be very fast. Matt Biondi, Tom Jager, Rowdy Gaines, I wouldn't be surprised if within ten years we see a 40 year old man go under 20 sec in the 50 scy fr I bet Neil Walker could do this if he trains a little after he retires though to do the Dara equivalent he'd need to go under 19. I wonder how many former greats are going to come out of the woodwork for Austin 2008 I was talking with Eddie Reese about this. Eddie said "I go because I want to see every one and have fun." "These guys (the former greats) are likely to only show up if they are in good shape and can win."

I wouldn't be surprised if within ten years we see a 40 year old man go under 20 sec in the 50 scy fr I bet Neil Walker could do this if he trains a little after he retires though to do the Dara equivolent he'd need to go under 19. Yah, we need a whole new vocabulary: the "Dara equivalent." I checked using the calculator at www.vaswim.org/.../rcalc.cgi and the equivalent of Torres' 50 free last summer would be 19.01 for a 40 year-old male in scy. Don't think that will happen anytime soon, but who knows? Slightly more "realistic" would be a 19.72, which is equivalent to Susan Von Der Lippe's 100 *** lcm of 1:13.80 last summer. Still amazingly fast!

Masters swimming is about friendship, staying healthy, and having fun only compare your performances to yourself make it easy to feel good and hard to feel bad the social aspect is awesome you get to see and support your friends in their events The best part is the stories and beer after each day or the end of the meet Meets are fun. Training is too. Ande I know and when I can stop being the chaffeur and volunteer for the kids(really kid, cause the other is in college now), I can have more time for ME! I did have a first in the pool last night. This first is easy for most 8 year old speedsters but for me it is hard, and I have tried and tried and never done it. One of our coaches like those no breathe 25's, so she had put up 9 25's breathing 2,1 and 0. I said, OK on the 2, maybe on the 1, but the 0, don't think so. Well I did all three no breathes, near died, but did them! So hey, this old lady can improve.

I won my first Masters National Championship in 1976 (100 BR LCM) and my reaction was stunned disbelief.How could little old me win a National Championship(and go faster than I had in college.)My favorite and most personally exciting race was 240+ Mens 200 MR at the 2001 LCM Nats. 3 teams broke the WR(though one was DQd) and a fourth broke the NR but we(OREG) won! I yelled in pleasure and amazement.:banana::banana: Why do you think you went faster in 1976 than college? Different training? Allen is not fessing up to being king of butterfrog!

when my 8 y.o. daughter joined the swim team I thought "Hey! I can do that." Chuckle...I was wondering how many USMS swimmers started that way... Nice job with the personal bests. Hopefully they'll keep coming. Personally -- for the rest of us, anyway! -- I think we should wipe the slate clean every time we age up, trying every year for personal bests in that age group. It gives us yet another reason to look forward to aging up, too.