As an "outsider" to the world of "hardcore" swimming ...
Former Member
I swim a lot and really enjoy it. It's something I've done all of my life, growing up in Southern California, and it's my main form of exercise. I'm good at it, but I do it primarily for health and enjoyment.
I've noticed from lurking around this board for several years that there seems to be a very self-congratulatory, cliquish tone to many threads and posts. It seems like it's often a small group of people who post relentlessly, as if they are engaged in some sort of private conversation where they're trying to outdo each other.
Maybe I'm the only one who feels that way. Maybe that's part and parcel of the world of "hardcore" competitive swimmers. Or maybe it's because there wouldn't be anything else to talk about, unless there weren't a constant focus on who's the "best" at this or that.
A race is something that happens once in a while, whereas a lifetime of swimming lasts, well, a lifetime. Yes, it's great to break a certain time in a certain race, but it's also great to have the self-discpline to keep at a daily swimming program and work on improving one's technique and endurance. Both are valid, and, to my mind, neither is more worthy of praise than the other.
Jim Thornton, if I recall correctly, noted a while ago that there were a lot of people lurking around the board and not really participating. If that is the case, I would propose that may be due to the general off-putting tone of things on here. (I won't give examples at this point, although I could.)
Not to mention all of us are solely responsible for the content here. If you don't like the current threads, start a new one to discuss the topic you are interested in. It doesn't make sense to just lurk and then complain that people aren't discussing what you want to hear!
Perhaps a sticky thread dedicated to "outsiders" or fitness swimmers, where talk of competition and inside jokes are discouraged, would be a good idea.
I don't know that you'll convince moderators to make it "sticky," but other than that: what is stopping you? Go for it.
I see a thread has already started. There are a number of people here with coaching experience (I'm not one of them, other than self-coaching). Share your experiences, ask a question, state what it is you would prefer to see in "Swimmer" and on the web site. I can guarantee people are listening. I still don't know what you're looking for, exactly, just that you aren't completely happy with what you're getting.
Despite the in-jokes you decry, I seriously doubt you'll find any regular poster belittling someone else based on their swimming ability.
Not to mention all of us are solely responsible for the content here. If you don't like the current threads, start a new one to discuss the topic you are interested in. It doesn't make sense to just lurk and then complain that people aren't discussing what you want to hear!
YES.My favorite thread is the Attaboy/girl thread.People post all sorts of accomplishments and everyone is congratulatory.
I think Jim's leaving me off his list of Forumites is Eastern media Bias.
Perhaps a sticky thread (note my familiarity with message-board lingo) dedicated to "outsiders" or fitness swimmers, where talk of competition and inside jokes are discouraged, would be a good idea. What say ye moderators?
I really don't understand where you are going with this. We aren't supposed to like each other, poke fun of each other, be competititive, etc. It's really not terribly difficult to peel away some of the stuff you dislike and find a lot of great swimming advice here. There aren't that many inside jokes left now that Stud has perfected his backstroke and The Valentines Day Forum Debacle is well in the past.
The way I see it, a forum is like a buffet. Just because they're serving calf's liver with bacon and onions doesn't mean you have to put them on your plate. Somewhere down the line, something preferable will appear.
So clique-ish yuckstering is the equivalent of calf's liver with bacon and onions?! Ew.
Allen, you were left off because of the anti-evilstroker bias. :)
Allen, you were left off because of the anti-evilstroker bias. :)
That's what I thought at first,but he had Rich and Peter.On second thought you may be right.He probably didn't know Peter is a breaststroker as he doesn't really advertise the fact and he couldn't leave Rich off as he is too "colourful"
Also,when are you going to realize that backstroke is the real evilstroke.
Dramatis Personnae Continued:
Allen Stark, an incredibly decent fellow born with one of those bowl-legged conditions sometimes mistaken for rickets but which has left him with an ability to swim like the most slippery Rana pipiens you ever did see squirt its way through a lily pond!
Poolrat, AKA, Floyd, AKA, Swims with Bees, a noble lad of the first rank and the only one of us with a snowball's chance in hell of getting a casino license one day, at which point his nobility will be as tested as his ability to ignore requests for money from people like his spiritual leader, Jim Thornton
Rtodd, a former runner who, I must say, I do not know the life story details of, and thus will simply make them up here the way I have done with Allen Stark and Floyd; given his slight resemblance to the big-headed Olympic miler great hope, Alan Web, I am pretty sure Rtodd is Alan Web. For more information, google Alan Web, though you might have to try various spellings, Allen Webb, Alain Waeb, etc. till you get the right one.
Knelson, another very likable person I admit I don't Know (pronounced ka-no) very well, in fact, I am not even sure if the K in Knelson is pronounced, as in Ka Nelson, or silent, as in Know. In any event, and based on no real knowledge, or perhaps kanowledge, I am pretty sure he can beat me badly in the pool, even were lactic acid tying up his muscles in kanots.
Ensignada, the person I would most want to administer my final Brompton's Cocktail when the time comes, so soothing and kind and generous of spirit this one is, and I am pretty sure whe wouldn't try to horde my drink for herself.
Quicksilver's cat, the buffest of all.
CreamPuff, Goddess. :bow:
ViveBene (that would be me), mountain climber with unusual interest in OW swims; good at applauding others' achievements in the pool, which she cannot imagine herself doing (but maybe if I get a monofin... hmm).
:cheerleader:
JMiller, good life swimmer who has singlehandedly converted many forumites to better workouts through his thread, "Fun, and Fast."
:banana: The banana, which speaks for itself.
