Equipment Rep
Trains with every piece of equipment available at all times.
The Luddite
Trains with nothing. Only uses a loin cloth and goggles in workout.
The Barnacle
Leaves right on your feet. Couldn't count to five or ten if his life depnded on it.
The Coach
Not an actual coach, but someone who is consumed with technique. Swimming is a precise set of moves that can be broken down, categorized, and scientifically analyzed.
The Jaded
Could care less about technique. Just wants to swim and leave the analysis to the eggheads.
The Swimaholic
Trains at least 10 swimming workouts a week. Anything less is viewed as not trying.
Fast Guy who Never Trains
Shows up once a month and breaks national records in practice.
Hardest Working Man in the Swim Business
Trains like a ferocious animal in workout, but has no speed when it comes to racing.
Lane Guy
Works out in a lane that is far too fast or slow for him.
The Crack Guy
Dude, pull your swimsuit up or get a bigger size.
The Newbie
Shows up to practice in board shorts and a scuba mask.
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As for myself, I would fall into the categories of Luddite and Jaded. Also, I wrote this from a male perspective, but the women are included as well. Any other stereotypes?
The Conundrum IV - What she's doing looks like flutter kick to me. How, then, does she end up going backwards? She pushes off the wall or the bottom of the pool to get some forward momentum, then kicks and kicks (with a kickboard), slowing down until she eventually starts going in reverse and the cycle repeats. How? Actually... I don't want to know. I'll just keep kicking forwards! :banana:
The Conundrum V - There are plenty of ways to kick incorrectly in breaststroke, and they're often on display during lap swim time. I'm sure you're all familiar with Scissor-Kick Breaststroker and Flutter-Kick Breaststroker. And dolphin-kick breaststroke isn't a stereotype, it's a valid drill. But that's not all. At my gym, there are two practitioners of cross-legged breaststroke. Yes, it's actually possible, and yes, it's completely ridiculous to behold. One of the two is a very slow-swimming elderly man whose body position is never better than 45 degrees. With his cross-legged kick barely clearing the bottom of the pool, he sort of inchworms along. More interesting is the woman who swims real workouts with cross-legged breaststroke. Since her body position is nearly flat in the water, bringing her crossed legs up for the kick causes her to splash her own rear end, and then when she kicks her legs back out for propulsion, her feet and ankles go completely out of the water in an arc and create a splash that goes 8 feet behind her Every. Single. Time. Needless to say, cross-legged kick is not very propulsive, so DPS is very low and stroke counts are very high. The conundrum here is WHY, WHY, WHY, WOULD ANYONE SWIM LIKE THAT? :afraid:
The Maestro - Watch out ladies! You'll swoon at his 200 IM repeats. Each one is a seven-minute symphony celebrating the water and his movement through it. He dives 2 feet down on each butterfly stroke so that he can breach the surface like a killer whale at the same time that his arms are spread like an albatross. His scissor-kick backstroke creates joyous waves that mere lanelines cannot contain. Similar to his fly, his breaststroke explores the depths of the pool as well as the entire width of the lane. And for the grand finale, don't miss his freestyle, which comes to a complete stop each time he elects to breathe. If you missed his last performance or arrived in the middle of it, don't worry, the next show starts soon. :cheerleader:
The Conundrum IV - What she's doing looks like flutter kick to me. How, then, does she end up going backwards? She pushes off the wall or the bottom of the pool to get some forward momentum, then kicks and kicks (with a kickboard), slowing down until she eventually starts going in reverse and the cycle repeats. How? Actually... I don't want to know. I'll just keep kicking forwards! :banana:
The Conundrum V - There are plenty of ways to kick incorrectly in breaststroke, and they're often on display during lap swim time. I'm sure you're all familiar with Scissor-Kick Breaststroker and Flutter-Kick Breaststroker. And dolphin-kick breaststroke isn't a stereotype, it's a valid drill. But that's not all. At my gym, there are two practitioners of cross-legged breaststroke. Yes, it's actually possible, and yes, it's completely ridiculous to behold. One of the two is a very slow-swimming elderly man whose body position is never better than 45 degrees. With his cross-legged kick barely clearing the bottom of the pool, he sort of inchworms along. More interesting is the woman who swims real workouts with cross-legged breaststroke. Since her body position is nearly flat in the water, bringing her crossed legs up for the kick causes her to splash her own rear end, and then when she kicks her legs back out for propulsion, her feet and ankles go completely out of the water in an arc and create a splash that goes 8 feet behind her Every. Single. Time. Needless to say, cross-legged kick is not very propulsive, so DPS is very low and stroke counts are very high. The conundrum here is WHY, WHY, WHY, WOULD ANYONE SWIM LIKE THAT? :afraid:
The Maestro - Watch out ladies! You'll swoon at his 200 IM repeats. Each one is a seven-minute symphony celebrating the water and his movement through it. He dives 2 feet down on each butterfly stroke so that he can breach the surface like a killer whale at the same time that his arms are spread like an albatross. His scissor-kick backstroke creates joyous waves that mere lanelines cannot contain. Similar to his fly, his breaststroke explores the depths of the pool as well as the entire width of the lane. And for the grand finale, don't miss his freestyle, which comes to a complete stop each time he elects to breathe. If you missed his last performance or arrived in the middle of it, don't worry, the next show starts soon. :cheerleader:
