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.
Parents
Former Member
I was a track cyclist in another lifetime, and definitely not Provincial Team caliber, but it was still worth doing. To be out in the sun on a beautiful summer evening, catching up on club gossip in the infield while cheering (or good-naturedly heckling) riders in other categories. To go eyeballs-out and feel like I couldn't possibly have ridden any faster and pushed my previous limits, even if it didn't get me caught up with the break-a-way. To spend long Sunday afternoons working on my standing starts until I felt they were "just right", or at least "so much better". To enjoy the feeling of a healthy fit body working the way it should.
One year when attendance was poor for the Provincial Championships, I got the bronze in the 3000m individual pursuit. It taught me an important lesson - if you don't show up for the race, you definitely won't get a medal. Sure, there were at least half a dozen other women in the province who could have easily beat me, but they didn't bother to come.
I don't take my body for granted any more, not since the car accident that got me into swimming in the first place. My injuries weren't that serious, but they made me realize that being a top level athlete or having a perfect figure are not as important as just being able to move and be active. Anything else is just icing on the cake. I'll probably still come in dead last in that open water race that I plan to do again this year, but if I'm better than last year, I'll be happy.
I was a track cyclist in another lifetime, and definitely not Provincial Team caliber, but it was still worth doing. To be out in the sun on a beautiful summer evening, catching up on club gossip in the infield while cheering (or good-naturedly heckling) riders in other categories. To go eyeballs-out and feel like I couldn't possibly have ridden any faster and pushed my previous limits, even if it didn't get me caught up with the break-a-way. To spend long Sunday afternoons working on my standing starts until I felt they were "just right", or at least "so much better". To enjoy the feeling of a healthy fit body working the way it should.
One year when attendance was poor for the Provincial Championships, I got the bronze in the 3000m individual pursuit. It taught me an important lesson - if you don't show up for the race, you definitely won't get a medal. Sure, there were at least half a dozen other women in the province who could have easily beat me, but they didn't bother to come.
I don't take my body for granted any more, not since the car accident that got me into swimming in the first place. My injuries weren't that serious, but they made me realize that being a top level athlete or having a perfect figure are not as important as just being able to move and be active. Anything else is just icing on the cake. I'll probably still come in dead last in that open water race that I plan to do again this year, but if I'm better than last year, I'll be happy.
