Thought it would be neat to share our stories about the best athlete we ever swam with. Note that it is not necessarily the fastest or best swimmer we have trained with.
The best athlete I ever trained with was a young man that showed up for my masters swim group. He was training to pass the test to be a Navy SEAL officer. Having graduated from a non-Naval Academy college, the standards for making the officers cut were tough. He was, however, a good prospect.
With no prior competitive swim background, he was able to get his 500 yard sidestroke down to a 7:30 in a matter of a few months. However, this was not the main thing that impressed me. It was the times/scores on his practice tests which I helped time him on.
Here is what he could do:
500 yard sidestroke swim: 7:30
8 minute rest
2 minutes of push-ups: # done was 112
2 minute rest
2 minutes of sit-ups: # done was 110
2 minute rest
max number of pull-ups (palms facing away from body): 25
8 minute rest
1.5 mile run done in combat boots and long pants: 9:05.
The guy was a machine. Speed, strength, endurance, and power. Doing 25 pull-ups shortly after a hard swim, pushups, and sit-ups was impressive! The young man decided not to pursue a career in the Navy but chose to stay near family. Last I heard he had started his own business and was doing well.
There are so many great people I swam with over the years. I was always impressed with this girl, Wendy, on my USS team in high-school who didn't have boatloads of natural talent but she worked as hard and had as much fun as anyone else. I was almost more impressed with her because it wasn't like she was reaping a lot of rewards in terms of awards or recognition. She just loved the sport. That is cool.
As far as truly awesome athletes, I trained with Mary T. at Cal (though I was a breaststoker so, as you can imagine, I rarely swam in the same lane). She was really fun and amazing to swim with. Never met a classier swimmer.
My first awesome athlete encounter was when I was at my first National level meet, World Championship Trials, as a sophomore in high-school in 1982. I was in Tracy Caulkins' heat in the 100 breaststroke prelims and totally star-struck.
There are so many great people I swam with over the years. I was always impressed with this girl, Wendy, on my USS team in high-school who didn't have boatloads of natural talent but she worked as hard and had as much fun as anyone else. I was almost more impressed with her because it wasn't like she was reaping a lot of rewards in terms of awards or recognition. She just loved the sport. That is cool.
As far as truly awesome athletes, I trained with Mary T. at Cal (though I was a breaststoker so, as you can imagine, I rarely swam in the same lane). She was really fun and amazing to swim with. Never met a classier swimmer.
My first awesome athlete encounter was when I was at my first National level meet, World Championship Trials, as a sophomore in high-school in 1982. I was in Tracy Caulkins' heat in the 100 breaststroke prelims and totally star-struck.
