mark spitz times

It is true, googles remain, in my opinion, the greatest innovation for swimming. Before then, practice time was limited because after a while your eyes became so sore from chlorine that you could not bear to open your eyes to see the wall. 3-4,000 yards was the max for practice, and even at that, it was painful the last 1,000 yards of practice, and your eyes were sore for hours after practice. They were invented before 1968, I know I saw Aussie swimmers wearing them in the 1968 Olympics on TV and found an add in swimming world (no internet those days), and ordered a pair - they had very crude cushioning, but they were a goodsend. Within a couple years versions resembling the well padded ones of today came out and became widespread - yardage immediately jumped and 2 a day practices became routine. Other major developments were Councilman's "Science of Swimming" which lead to widespread sharing of technique improvements, the introduction of wave reducing lane lines (many probably still remember those races with ropes and buoys sturng every 2-3 feet), the introduction of turbulance reducing gutter systems, and the concept of deeper pools (most meets used to be in pools with a 3 foot shallow end (or ranging 3-5 feet the full length in L shaped pools). The idea to kick underwater off turns came after I retired - but I've adapted it now in masters and wish people had known that technique - its definitely faster. The rules for touches on turns have been liberalized (used to have to touch the wall on your back in backstroke, and with 2 hands at the same level in *** and fly. Weight training was not a widespread practice as it is now. Timing used to be by stop watches, and there were two judges who called place finishes, the average of order by all three determined the official finish - there used to be many controversial finishes where the fastest time did not always prevail. Touch pads and electronic timing was new - in fact when it first can out, they retained judges for a while - I once lost a race that the touchpad system said I won but the judges voted otherwise. You really can't compare times, everything has changes so much. Spitz did his performances in conditions comparable to others of him time and prevailed he, and almost all other swimmer retired after college or within 1 year - it is interesting to wonder how he would have fared if he had the opportunity to train and swim "professionally" as most elite swimmers now do - he might well have repeated in 1976 in some or all his events.

It is true, googles remain, in my opinion, the greatest innovation for swimming. Before then, practice time was limited because after a while your eyes became so sore from chlorine that you could not bear to open your eyes to see the wall. 3-4,000 yards was the max for practice, and even at that, it was painful the last 1,000 yards of practice, and your eyes were sore for hours after practice. They were invented before 1968, I know I saw Aussie swimmers wearing them in the 1968 Olympics on TV and found an add in swimming world (no internet those days), and ordered a pair - they had very crude cushioning, but they were a goodsend. Within a couple years versions resembling the well padded ones of today came out and became widespread - yardage immediately jumped and 2 a day practices became routine. Other major developments were Councilman's "Science of Swimming" which lead to widespread sharing of technique improvements, the introduction of wave reducing lane lines (many probably still remember those races with ropes and buoys sturng every 2-3 feet), the introduction of turbulance reducing gutter systems, and the concept of deeper pools (most meets used to be in pools with a 3 foot shallow end (or ranging 3-5 feet the full length in L shaped pools). The idea to kick underwater off turns came after I retired - but I've adapted it now in masters and wish people had known that technique - its definitely faster. The rules for touches on turns have been liberalized (used to have to touch the wall on your back in backstroke, and with 2 hands at the same level in *** and fly. Weight training was not a widespread practice as it is now. Timing used to be by stop watches, and there were two judges who called place finishes, the average of order by all three determined the official finish - there used to be many controversial finishes where the fastest time did not always prevail. Touch pads and electronic timing was new - in fact when it first can out, they retained judges for a while - I once lost a race that the touchpad system said I won but the judges voted otherwise. You really can't compare times, everything has changes so much. Spitz did his performances in conditions comparable to others of him time and prevailed he, and almost all other swimmer retired after college or within 1 year - it is interesting to wonder how he would have fared if he had the opportunity to train and swim "professionally" as most elite swimmers now do - he might well have repeated in 1976 in some or all his events.