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 don't want to get flamed too heavily here and from your past posts you seem like a very positive indvidual. In fact, it's a little cheesy. Again, I'm in no way discouting your opinions, but you sound like Oprah--just think in a positive manner and good things will happen. 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. There are people on this board who should have a goal of being the best in the world for their age group. There are people who don't have a chance and should therefore choose another goal or just enjoy the act of swimming. To each his own, but to downplay the rigors of competition in sport and in life seems somewhat naive to me.
I completely agree with Chris' prior statement.
I'm not a fan of the everyone is talented, special, smart, beautiful, gifted, amazing, etc. I guess they call it the "self esteem" theory for kids. You're not a good parent anymore unless you send your kid to speech therapy and small motors skills therapy at age 3 ... Yes, kids need encouragement and nurturing, but life is competitive and tough. Winning is fun, and not everyone wins in school, sports or life.
For the very young just learning to swim, I think participation ribbons can help. My summer swim club doesn't have those, but we have "PB" ribbons. When a child does a personal best, they get a special ribbon. I know my then 6 year old was always happy to get her ribbons last summer even when she didn't win the race.
As a master swimmer, it seems ridiculous to posit that you should "choose another sport" or "stop trying" if you can't be world ranked. Masters swimming allows myriad time-based goals and is a great sport to participate in as you age. I'm not going to quit just because Peg beat me in the 50 fly last weekend ... And when I can't do fly anymore (egads!), I'll even break down and do evilstroke.
I don't want to get flamed too heavily here and from your past posts you seem like a very positive indvidual. In fact, it's a little cheesy. Again, I'm in no way discouting your opinions, but you sound like Oprah--just think in a positive manner and good things will happen. 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. There are people on this board who should have a goal of being the best in the world for their age group. There are people who don't have a chance and should therefore choose another goal or just enjoy the act of swimming. To each his own, but to downplay the rigors of competition in sport and in life seems somewhat naive to me.
I completely agree with Chris' prior statement.
I'm not a fan of the everyone is talented, special, smart, beautiful, gifted, amazing, etc. I guess they call it the "self esteem" theory for kids. You're not a good parent anymore unless you send your kid to speech therapy and small motors skills therapy at age 3 ... Yes, kids need encouragement and nurturing, but life is competitive and tough. Winning is fun, and not everyone wins in school, sports or life.
For the very young just learning to swim, I think participation ribbons can help. My summer swim club doesn't have those, but we have "PB" ribbons. When a child does a personal best, they get a special ribbon. I know my then 6 year old was always happy to get her ribbons last summer even when she didn't win the race.
As a master swimmer, it seems ridiculous to posit that you should "choose another sport" or "stop trying" if you can't be world ranked. Masters swimming allows myriad time-based goals and is a great sport to participate in as you age. I'm not going to quit just because Peg beat me in the 50 fly last weekend ... And when I can't do fly anymore (egads!), I'll even break down and do evilstroke.
