What does it mean when we look at the performance of the US men's swimming team at Beijing without Phelps....... i.e. without the man carrying the team? Is he merely the "Vince Young" of a slightly above average football Team?
We essentially lose the 400 free relay, 100 fly (Ian moves form 4th to 3rd), 200 IM and 400 IM (Lochted moves to silver), 200 free and 200 fly. That's makes 6 less golds and one extra bronze.
The US would effectively only win 2 individual events...... the 200 and 100 back.
Is Phelps a true representation of the state of US men's swimming or and exception?
www.nbcolympics.com/.../index.html
Perhaps. But no video games in my house whatsoever.
As a parent of a teen boy and girl, the typical complaints I hear regarding lack of social life are usually from girls and usually involve wanting to see friends and doing things with friends more often. (For example, my kid had to stay home on Halloween because she had to get up before 6:00 am for a swim meet.) Plus, it seems to me that a huge percentage of teenage girls are in PT, which often doesn't work. Thus, they're practicing a lot, missing out on social things, crying about their times not improving at meets and in pain -- a deadly combo for continuing in a sport. So, in general, unlike GoodSmith, I'm more worried about teenage girls than boys.
So is this any different than it was 20-30 Years ago for any of us who swam in high school? Video games are new to the equation but for the most part my social life revolved around the friends that I had made in swimming and water polo and since we all had the same basic schedules it didn't seem anhone was left out?
One good thing about people who do get into swimming and stick with it is the ability to work hard/play hard...with 5, 6am workouts the nights (for some) may have been earlier but we learned to "make the bell"....don't think its a coincendence that swimmers almost always have the highest GPA's of any sport.
Perhaps. But no video games in my house whatsoever.
As a parent of a teen boy and girl, the typical complaints I hear regarding lack of social life are usually from girls and usually involve wanting to see friends and doing things with friends more often. (For example, my kid had to stay home on Halloween because she had to get up before 6:00 am for a swim meet.) Plus, it seems to me that a huge percentage of teenage girls are in PT, which often doesn't work. Thus, they're practicing a lot, missing out on social things, crying about their times not improving at meets and in pain -- a deadly combo for continuing in a sport. So, in general, unlike GoodSmith, I'm more worried about teenage girls than boys.
So is this any different than it was 20-30 Years ago for any of us who swam in high school? Video games are new to the equation but for the most part my social life revolved around the friends that I had made in swimming and water polo and since we all had the same basic schedules it didn't seem anhone was left out?
One good thing about people who do get into swimming and stick with it is the ability to work hard/play hard...with 5, 6am workouts the nights (for some) may have been earlier but we learned to "make the bell"....don't think its a coincendence that swimmers almost always have the highest GPA's of any sport.
