Masters Swimmers Acting Like Triathletes

At this point, I think this is pretty relevant. Congrats Mr. Negative on a successful troll thread. YouTube - Successful Troll Song

Just wondering why the dig on public blogs generally. Old habits...growing up in a swimming culture that took pride in mocking anyone who showed even the slightest bit of ego was/has been a way of life...everyone/everything beig fair game including blogs, photos and to many "I" statements. I've never read Jim's blog...I have however never stopped abusing Rowdy for his 400+ facebook updates a day along with the Rowdyz Kidz caricature of him with an Arnold body on the site...took a couple of shots a Creampuff along time ago...anything Geek posts is eagerly jumped on (now he's mad at me), Jazz Hands was fun till he got mad and "de-friended" me, Karlyn's "body shots" album was a good one...and of course any profile picture of someone doing a yoga pose! :) Some folks take these as personal attacks (not meant to be but understand why) and I do so fully expecting to get double of the abuse back...being a clydesdale I have thick skin (with thin suits Stevenson)...10,000 view to come? So then it must be "im-purists" on that moral high ground?

Old habits...growing up in a swimming culture that took pride in mocking anyone who showed even the slightest bit of ego was/has been a way of life I was just thinking about this before you posted it, Paul. It seems like in swimming there's been this culture that you shouldn't show too much interest in the sport. Not just your own swimming, but swimming in general. You're not really supposed to idolize other swimmers or study results for big meets too much or other swimmers will mock you.

I was just thinking about this before you posted it, Paul. It seems like in swimming there's been this culture that you shouldn't show too much interest in the sport. Not just your own swimming, but swimming in general. You're not really supposed to idolize other swimmers or study results for big meets too much or other swimmers will mock you. I don't know what swimming culture you guys grew up in ... our coaches actively encouraged us to idolize and copy (with our weak imitations) the likes of Goodell & Salnikov (we were aspiring d-guys), as well as the regional and state-wide "heroes" who we could learn from. Pursuing, admiring & learning from excellence is always a good thing, IMHO. Call me a swim-nerd, but I find this sport wonderful to cheer about, study and obsess about ... AT ANY AGE.

most people define elite as the level that they achieved. Pft, only people who have never broken 25.0 in a long course 50.

Has the Code of Conduct Committee been formed yet? :bolt:

I don't know what swimming culture you guys grew up in ... our coaches actively encouraged us to idolize and copy (with our weak imitations) the likes of Goodell & Salnikov (we were aspiring d-guys), as well as the regional and state-wide "heroes" who we could learn from. Pursuing, admiring & learning from excellence is always a good thing, IMHO. Call me a swim-nerd, but I find this sport wonderful to cheer about, study and obsess about ... AT ANY AGE. Kurt, not what I was saying. In fact studying your competition (knowing the guys that go out fast and die for example), trying out different training philosophies/techniques was all very common and good...know one I knew got abuse for that stuff. However Gilles Plancon coming into UCSB as a Freshman and telling the school record holder in the 100 fly he was going down earned him getting his bike tossed up on the roof of the gym everyday for 2 weeks. Patrick...you are so full of it! No one talks more smack than a Longhorn, not even a Trojan!!! Being a fan has nothing to do with Britt taking money away from John Smith after waxing him in the 50 back at nationals...a year later and the insults are still flying. If you walked back into the Texas locker room today with a trace of attitude Eddie would have the entire team rolling on the floor laughing at the smart ass comments he'd make.

Has the Code of Conduct Committee been formed yet? :bolt: It was formed many years ago...and one of its first rules was don't discuss working mom's and advocate "conservative" viewpoints...remember?

I take my blog very seriously and expect others to do the same. Who wouldn't take the trials and tribulations of a chubby, middle aged, OW wannabe seriously? forums.usms.org/blog.php I don't have as big a following as Jimbo, but I'm working on it (see link above). At the moment I consider it more of a "boutique" blog, and my disciples an elite group of their own.

Patrick...you are so full of it! No one talks more smack than a Longhorn, not even a Trojan!!! You got both my Dad (a Trojan) and me with that one ... while there is some truth to the rumors of "Everything's Bigger In Texas" Egos, there's a simple reason for it: we're just better than everyone else. :) Seriously, though, while we certainly talked smack (which group of twenty-something guys don't?) and each of us had their own measure of ego, my collegiate memories (admittedly hazy thanks to our storied parties that were better than any other NCAA sports team anywhere) are still of guys who pursued and encouraged others to openly pursue excellence. Yeah, I got my nickname for loving the pain of stadium ramps and distance workouts a little too enthusiastically and we busted the chops of another guy who always cranked it out in warmups, but I don't recall people getting dinged for wanting to be great and expressing that desire ... that's why we went to swim there.