I know that I have seen others talk about "how good am I if I swim the 200 in this time", or "if my mile is 17min".
and then the responses are typically, look at results from previous meets, or last years top 10 time.
But does anyone try to take into account how many actually swim that event/distance? Is one a good swimmer merely because only 12 people swim the 400 IM.
I looked at the 2007 top 10 SCM for Men 30-34. for *** and IM I would have been top 10 in 3 of 6 events/distances.
50 br 33.37 outside of top 10
100br 1:14.08 (10)
200br 2:42.20 (7)
400 IM 5:19.71 (7)
but how many 30-34 competed in those events in 2007? I would guess that more people competed in 2006 at the World Championships in Cali.
In Sweden I have top 10 times in nearly everything but 50-100 free, but that is only because it's not too often that there are more than 10-12 swimmers in my age grupp. I know of 4-6 swimmers that will be 35-39 in 2010 and all of them are significanly faster than me, just not sure swimming at the Worlds is something they plan on doing.
I recently looked at a German time standard, since they had one for every year 11-18 and then an open I used the open table. The table was scaled to 1-20. 20 being the fastest. something simliar to the US AAAA standards but with more divisions. I was at best 6 of a possible 20 in Breaststroke. and not even 1 in Back and Fly. and between 1-2 for Free and IM. to me that seems more like a realistic measurement of my ability.
Hmmm, good question. Based on the repulsive looks I get from most women, including the 4 in my family, I'd say I rate about a 2 or 3. In Sweden I'd probably be lower and Germany a little higher.
You are too humble, CreamPuff! That is a fantastic time! I wonder how many of those gals you mention will be able to do a 5:12 at 36. :)
Thanks Elise. I'm pretty sure humble is not a word to describe me. :blush:
I swim at Swim Atlanta where the pool of swimmers runs huge and the talent is very deep. Heck, Amanda Weir was next to me yesterday. Eric Shanteau was out at the pool a few weeks ago post his surgery. Kathleen Hersey trained there prior to leaving for college. I'm just a cog in the big machine over there - just really trying each day to have fun and witness some great swimming. Since I swim with the kids that's who I compare myself to. I know I'm not supposed to do that. . . but it happens.
Bob Strand was noting that after 55 people don't seem to come out of the woodwork and swim fast at a big meet.Folks who come back after 40 usually need at least a year to get up to speed.Given a fair start for me I'd be lucky to get within 5 sec of my meet time for the 100 BR in practice.Some good workout swimmers could be closer,especially at longer distances,but given a fair start you still must be much faster to beat the record in practice.All this is moot anyway,as they say about medical records"if it isn't written down it didn't happen":if you don't do it in a meet it's like the proverbial tree falling in the forest(how is that for most metaphors in one sentence.)
Is anyone else wondering if Geek started happy hour early? Or perhaps has too many endorphins jangling around from incessant power spinning?
Yea. I was really confused by his last post. And I had an evil lunch - cobb salad and bacardi and diet coke (I NEVER drink at lunch but it was a special going away lunch.)
Maybe abc is referring to the 95+ age group for either Men or Woman. Some of those records can be broken by simply completing the distance.
Those records are where I plan on cleaning house on the national record board. Only 61 more years to go!
PJE
The harsh responses on this site shock me sometimes. I don't understand why when someone is talking about rankings and the subject of fast swimmers who don't compete comes up, people have to jump in and say how they don't give a stuffed clam about those swimmers. What is the purpose of that?
Anyway, as far as fast swimmers in practice, we have a couple guys that compete maybe twice a year tops. They are all very fast, but one of them regularly swims around the 50 fly record. He decided to go with the team to compete at a meet not too long ago, and his time was like three tenths off the national record. I watched his swim, and he definitely goes faster in practice, so I'm sure he could have broken it; yet, he does not compete regularly. Is this relevant to the rankings? Perhaps not, but people are exceptionally skeptical on this forum when someone mentions a swimmer doing something cool like swimming very fast.
I just know that if meet event orders were structured a certain way, the Fortress would blast everyone out of the higher rankings (instead of 99.9% of everyone), probably even in evilstroke...
That's good for you. Luckily, I don't care, nor does it change the truth. I find it hilarious that a large portion of you people act very childish when it comes to other people's accomplishments. Every time someone posts an improvement or an accomplishment on here, I'm happy for them, and I really hate when I'm not the best at something.
I think ultimately you can only compare yourself to others who actually swam the events. There are always going to be lots of people who could have beat you, but if they didn't swim then it's a moot point.
Yes, looking at 'real' time standards is a good reality check, as is swimming against kids.
I think you misunderstood my point, or perhaps I didn't present it well. Obviously if you are not swimming that fast in the meet, it doesn't matter. I was just addressing the fact that everyone jumped on that person for mentioning fast swimmers that don't compete with allegations that she was lying. If you swim super fast in practice and choke in a meet, then you aren't as good a performer as the guy who doesn't. Personally, I think swimming a 25.28 50m fly when the record is 24.98 is pretty good.
As far as "regularly swimming around the record", now that I read it, it sounds really weird. What I meant was, our team has slow and fast lanes, and the fast lanes swim race pace for a large portion of practice with the coach timing them. He always leads the lane, and he always swims around his race times (which are not many, since he only competes every now and then).
Apparently I really suck at this internet thing. Of course, my girlfriend tells me that I don't communicate well in person either, so I guess I'm just not good at it at all.
