On the recent broadcast of www.deckpass.com there was some interesting dialogue on age group swimming, Gary Hall Jr, and yes my hero, Jack LaLanne...
Okay... not to digress, but... Sullivan's breakthrough was from technical improvement, not an increase in power output... just an observation.
Jack LaLanne is my hero...
If you swim for fun, you'll always be a winner! Keeping the focus on personal improvement is a great way to hold the "passion" without making comparisons to others. That concept of winning, only being the absolute freaky best, that concept is dysfunctional. If you are in the water regularly, you'll always be a winner; you can feel great about what you are doing.
Swimming is a unique experience, and mastering the water is a joy.
I'm more inclined to teach young swimmers that there are winners and losers. You won't be first all the time, in the pool and in life. It isn't bad to want to be number one, but you need to learn to cope with it when you aren't. I think the "Participant" ribbon is ridiculous, and I definitely don't believe that everyone is better off for just trying.
I'm more or less with you until the very last phrase.
One of the nice things about swimming -- shared with a few other sports like track & field -- is that there is a pretty absolute measure of your performance. The clock doesn't lie (though my coach has a pretty itchy trigger finger sometimes). I definitely believe in the value of self-improvement, and sustained hard effort will almost always pay off in personal bests and similar achievements. "Be all you can be" may be corny but it is a good goal, I think.
I'm not going to lie to my son and tell him he is the most talented or fastest swimmer around. He already knows that. But I love it when his face lights up when he drops significant time from his events. Should I berate him for not winning? Of course not.
Competition should be used as a spur but it can be a deceptive yardstick. Would you rather win a race but do a poor time or vice versa? I like to win but given the choice I would much prefer a time improvement. There will always be someone faster, if not now then in the future (ie, all records are broken eventually).
I'm more inclined to teach young swimmers that there are winners and losers. You won't be first all the time, in the pool and in life. It isn't bad to want to be number one, but you need to learn to cope with it when you aren't. I think the "Participant" ribbon is ridiculous, and I definitely don't believe that everyone is better off for just trying.
I'm more or less with you until the very last phrase.
One of the nice things about swimming -- shared with a few other sports like track & field -- is that there is a pretty absolute measure of your performance. The clock doesn't lie (though my coach has a pretty itchy trigger finger sometimes). I definitely believe in the value of self-improvement, and sustained hard effort will almost always pay off in personal bests and similar achievements. "Be all you can be" may be corny but it is a good goal, I think.
I'm not going to lie to my son and tell him he is the most talented or fastest swimmer around. He already knows that. But I love it when his face lights up when he drops significant time from his events. Should I berate him for not winning? Of course not.
Competition should be used as a spur but it can be a deceptive yardstick. Would you rather win a race but do a poor time or vice versa? I like to win but given the choice I would much prefer a time improvement. There will always be someone faster, if not now then in the future (ie, all records are broken eventually).
