Mary T.'s 200 fly

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

Former Member — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 07:17:31 GMT

Great swim and impressive as hell. Betsy Rapp was in that heat. Isn't that Susan VDL's (Rapp her maiden name) sister?

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

gobears — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 03:20:23 GMT

Great swim and impressive as hell. Betsy Rapp was in that heat. Isn't that Susan VDL's (Rapp her maiden name) sister? Yes. And, she was the Assistant Coach at Cal while Mary T. was there :) I hadn't known she was part of Mary T's world-record heat!

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

Chris Stevenson — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 03:19:28 GMT

Great swim and impressive as hell. Betsy Rapp was in that heat. Isn't that Susan VDL's (Rapp her maiden name) sister? I noticed that too. I seem to recall a few Rapp sisters swimming for (now defunct) Starlit back in those days.

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

Former Member — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 12:26:49 GMT

It looks like she completely submerges on her stroke for a moment. Once the hands enter the water, she appears to be almost in a streamline position that carry's her forward, under the water.

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

Former Member — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 11:54:31 GMT

Did you swim with Michael Solderlund at Cal? He's here in ATL swimming and got to swim against him today at a LCM meet. The guy is amazing!:afraid: I did - saw him for the first time in 22 years in Atlanta. He swam great. There were a few (G)olden Bears at the meet.

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

Former Member — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 11:12:58 GMT

I've seen this clip before and it still amazes me. She is like the Energizer bunny, fast turnover and never seems to tire. Her distance per stroke is amazing how she just rockets forward on her armpull. I also have a still underwater picture of her in a swim textbook where she is making the catch on her fly. Absolutely perfect. It would be interesting to be able to fire up the time warp and watch the various elite athletes over the decades train and compete on a level playing field. Try training without goggles for a while and deal with bloodshot chlorine-irritated eyes all day and you'll see what I mean.

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

Former Member — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 10:10:14 GMT

T is living in Atlanta. Chris Weissman (also an Atlantan (sp?)) tried without success to get her to come and watch some other (G)olden Bears humiliate themselves at Nationals... Ha! I didn't know she was in the ATL! Chris swims with me on DYNA (although we train in different locations).....GREAT guy!

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

Former Member — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 10:08:26 GMT

I got to see her swim a 1500 fly one year at Belmont Shores. She was in a guys heat and swimming for Mark Shubert (1983, I think) taking a year off from Cal to train for the Olympics. My coach and I sat in the bleachers watching her counter hold up 11's or 13's and figured out the counter was holding up her splits. Shubert had a deal with her that if she broke 18 minutes he'd buy her dinner. She did it. My coach and I sat there in awe. I got to swim with her at Cal after the 84 Olympics. Pure class act. Great person. Always bugged me that she didn't really get to capitalize on her success like some (because of the 1980 boycott). Talked to her a couple of years ago and she said she has no interest in swimming masters. She's got a family and is busy with all sorts of things. Did you swim with Michael Solderlund at Cal? He's here in ATL swimming and got to swim against him today at a LCM meet. The guy is amazing!:afraid:

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

Former Member — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 16:43:43 GMT

Looking forward to watching you swim fly next weekend. You will be at the meet wookie? If so, be sure to say hi. Why watch when Im sure there will be plenty of room for ya to swim the 2fly :)

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

Former Member — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 16:19:22 GMT

That was an amazing race. She really didnt even utilize the underwater kicks off turns, she basically came up at the flags and got moving. Also very little splash when hands entering the water, what great technique! I will be doing meet next weekend in Louisville at her pool. Wonder if I can get some of that 2fly mojo! Looking forward to watching you swim fly next weekend.

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

Former Member — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:44:27 GMT

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

Former Member — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:48:52 GMT

Just SO many great things about her and her swims. Convert those times to SCY.....that is about what I'm doing FREESTYLE now. She is swimming with no goggles, old style suit. Just SO far ahead of her time! :applaud: Gives me goosebumps watching it. She actually gets stronger as the race unfolds. Love the tripled up lane ropes by the way!!

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

Former Member — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:28:50 GMT

That was really great to watch. The grab starts were the first thing I noticed. I remember seeing Tracy Caulkins and Sippy Woodhead compete right around 1980. They were all so incredibly good. Wonder if they ever swam masters?

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

knelson — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:00:38 GMT

She sure made it look easy. Her last 50 was a 32.27.

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

Patrick W. Brundage — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:49:44 GMT

A swim of beauty ... the question for USMS, though, is this: where is she now and who's going to recruit her back to masters competition?

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

tjrpatt — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:34:35 GMT

that was just beautiful. Plus, she has a good set of lungs to breathe one up, one down for the 200. Really inspiring to watch. :bow:

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

That Guy — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 09:58:14 GMT

Perfect technique. Not hard to see why she's the greatest flyer ever.

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

Former Member — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 08:28:23 GMT

Talked to her a couple of years ago and she said she has no interest in swimming masters. She's got a family and is busy with all sorts of things. T is living in Atlanta. Chris Weissman (also an Atlantan (sp?)) tried without success to get her to come and watch some other (G)olden Bears humiliate themselves at Nationals...

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

Chris Stevenson — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:11:34 GMT

Thanks for posting, that was nice. (Youtube is great.) It was a kick to see all the little throwbacks in this old video, like the triple lane-lines, the old-style starts from the back of the blocks, breathing every other stroke. (No false start, though...we used to get THREE in LCM, remember?) I don't know about others, but breathing every other stroke was just a matter of course in those days. Our coach would punish anyone who did otherwise. She had a gorgeous, effortless stroke; when done right, I still think butterfly is the most beautiful stroke to watch. And no one ever did it better.

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

Former Member — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 05:32:39 GMT

You will be at the meet wookie? If so, be sure to say hi. Why watch when Im sure there will be plenty of room for ya to swim the 2fly :) That's ok. When I get fly figured out again, I will join you. Right now, there is no way I would finish.

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

gobears — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 02:44:41 GMT

In that 1500 fly, did she breathe every other stroke, or every stroke? It's a good question and I doubt she breathed every stroke but, as a 40-something mom of three with limited memory capacity, I can't say I know that for sure! I didn't notice her breathing every stroke in the 200 fly video and don't remember her doing that, but, like I said...

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

That Guy — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 02:13:38 GMT

I got to see her swim a 1500 fly one year at Belmont Shores. She was in a guys heat and swimming for Mark Shubert (1983, I think) taking a year off from Cal to train for the Olympics. My coach and I sat in the bleachers watching her counter hold up 11's or 13's and figured out the counter was holding up her splits. Shubert had a deal with her that if she broke 18 minutes he'd buy her dinner. She did it. My coach and I sat there in awe. I got to swim with her at Cal after the 84 Olympics. Pure class act. Great person. Always bugged me that she didn't really get to capitalize on her success like some (because of the 1980 boycott). Talked to her a couple of years ago and she said she has no interest in swimming masters. She's got a family and is busy with all sorts of things. In that 1500 fly, did she breathe every other stroke, or every stroke?

RE: Mary T.'s 200 fly

gobears — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 02:05:55 GMT

A swim of beauty ... the question for USMS, though, is this: where is she now and who's going to recruit her back to masters competition? I got to see her swim a 1500 fly one year at Belmont Shores. She was in a guys heat and swimming for Mark Shubert (1983, I think) taking a year off from Cal to train for the Olympics. My coach and I sat in the bleachers watching her counter hold up 11's or 13's and figured out the counter was holding up her splits. Shubert had a deal with her that if she broke 18 minutes he'd buy her dinner. She did it. My coach and I sat there in awe. I got to swim with her at Cal after the 84 Olympics. Pure class act. Great person. Always bugged me that she didn't really get to capitalize on her success like some (because of the 1980 boycott). Talked to her a couple of years ago and she said she has no interest in swimming masters. She's got a family and is busy with all sorts of things.