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
Let me begin by saying that I can’t believe this thread is still kickin’. I guess some people are still mad at me. I definitely would not categorize the world into just “winners” and “losers”; however, I would say that both of these categories exist (along with a bunch of others). I never had the intention of portraying myself as a “winner.” My example of my own swimming was to point out that I failed. I was never an Olympian, and the U.S. didn’t send me anything for being a participant. The same thing happened when I was a kid and lost races, I didn’t get anything then either. I learned that you shouldn’t expect anything. As for other areas of my life, I would be classified as a resounding “loser” in all of them. I have never been the world’s best at anything and won’t be. Pretty much everyone is a loser to some degree, and that’s why I think it’s important to teach kids how to behave later in life. Your boss (if you’re not self-employed) isn’t going to say, “You did your best and your special for just being you and we wanted to recognize you by giving you this ‘employee’ ribbon for being an employee, Congratulations!” I’m also not saying you should forgo the “Participant” ribbon. If you want to hand them out then hand them out. I’m just saying that I personally do not like them.
Let me begin by saying that I can’t believe this thread is still kickin’. I guess some people are still mad at me. I definitely would not categorize the world into just “winners” and “losers”; however, I would say that both of these categories exist (along with a bunch of others). I never had the intention of portraying myself as a “winner.” My example of my own swimming was to point out that I failed. I was never an Olympian, and the U.S. didn’t send me anything for being a participant. The same thing happened when I was a kid and lost races, I didn’t get anything then either. I learned that you shouldn’t expect anything. As for other areas of my life, I would be classified as a resounding “loser” in all of them. I have never been the world’s best at anything and won’t be. Pretty much everyone is a loser to some degree, and that’s why I think it’s important to teach kids how to behave later in life. Your boss (if you’re not self-employed) isn’t going to say, “You did your best and your special for just being you and we wanted to recognize you by giving you this ‘employee’ ribbon for being an employee, Congratulations!” I’m also not saying you should forgo the “Participant” ribbon. If you want to hand them out then hand them out. I’m just saying that I personally do not like them.
