Mark Shubert from the NY Times article on Dara:
"But -let's face it- compared with the Olympics, even the Master's World Championships is a glorified losers' round, and holding a master's world record is hardly an exciting achievement. . . "
Chris..... I do not agree with "the larger point" and calling masters swimmers losers because they were mentally mature enough to make the tough choice to move on from the sport years ago and pursue other areas of life with equal fervor.
Tell me again why making 5 Olympic teams is so much better than 4 ?
Sure, good point. And the number that is impressive is "41," not 4 vs 5. Still, I continue to believe that SVDL's accomplishments in masters (based on her training) are at least as impressive as Torres'.
I was irritated by the "losers" comment, sure. But the parts of that paragraph that REALLY raised my eyebrows were David Hoffman's comments ("he'll be relieved when Torres emerges from her Olympic training tunnel" and "I can't wait until this is over.")
"Other areas of life," indeed.
Chris..... I do not agree with "the larger point" and calling masters swimmers losers because they were mentally mature enough to make the tough choice to move on from the sport years ago and pursue other areas of life with equal fervor.
Tell me again why making 5 Olympic teams is so much better than 4 ?
Sure, good point. And the number that is impressive is "41," not 4 vs 5. Still, I continue to believe that SVDL's accomplishments in masters (based on her training) are at least as impressive as Torres'.
I was irritated by the "losers" comment, sure. But the parts of that paragraph that REALLY raised my eyebrows were David Hoffman's comments ("he'll be relieved when Torres emerges from her Olympic training tunnel" and "I can't wait until this is over.")
"Other areas of life," indeed.
