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. . . "
But I think she is only swimming a little faster than she did in her prime. If we are comparing her to herself, and not the thousands that will never be as fast as she was/is, then it's not that astounding just because she is 41. With improvements in training techniques, stroke techniques, nutrition, etc. since the 1980s, there are plenty of folks 40+ (like yourself, GoodSmith) that could go as fast as they did 'back in the day' if they could spare eight hours a day for training, stretching, getting massages, etc.
Not true.
If it was you would see far more than the handful of 40+ year old athletes in pro sports already doing it.
As JS points out...what we are seeing is unprecedented in our sport, and maybe all sports. An athlete taking two 7 year breaks comes back at 41 to set the AR.
But I think she is only swimming a little faster than she did in her prime. If we are comparing her to herself, and not the thousands that will never be as fast as she was/is, then it's not that astounding just because she is 41. With improvements in training techniques, stroke techniques, nutrition, etc. since the 1980s, there are plenty of folks 40+ (like yourself, GoodSmith) that could go as fast as they did 'back in the day' if they could spare eight hours a day for training, stretching, getting massages, etc.
Not true.
If it was you would see far more than the handful of 40+ year old athletes in pro sports already doing it.
As JS points out...what we are seeing is unprecedented in our sport, and maybe all sports. An athlete taking two 7 year breaks comes back at 41 to set the AR.
