14.34.56 1500 free, Grant Hackett, in Japan, 2001!
14.26.62 1650 free, Chris Thompson, in the US of A, 2001!
I know who Hackett is, Thompson is only vaguely familiar. Fact is, their records are nearly a decade old. Does anyone else find this as impressive and striking as I do? Did Hackett set such an out-of-reach record that more swimmers are cowed rather than motivated to break it? Or have male swimmers just collectively lost a lot of interest in the mile? All of the other men's records are newborns. In fact, Phelps's 400 IM from Beijing is the second-oldest, and it's still not even two years old (it survived the climax of the suits, though, so that's impressive).
Now, if only the Olympics could end the disgrace of not having a women's 1500 on the program, we'd be making real progress. I think the Olympics should have both the 800 and 1500 for men and women.
I just learned about that oversight last week. I had no idea there was no women's event for the 1500! I think we (as a gender) proved that we can handle a marathon, and I'm a just-getting-into-shape-after-30-years swimmer, and I handled the 1500 just fine, as did my 60-something year old teammate.
Heck, I'll submit my 25-minute 1500 meter swim for the Olympics if they'll have me.
Now, if only the Olympics could end the disgrace of not having a women's 1500 on the program, we'd be making real progress. I think the Olympics should have both the 800 and 1500 for men and women.
I just learned about that oversight last week. I had no idea there was no women's event for the 1500! I think we (as a gender) proved that we can handle a marathon, and I'm a just-getting-into-shape-after-30-years swimmer, and I handled the 1500 just fine, as did my 60-something year old teammate.
Heck, I'll submit my 25-minute 1500 meter swim for the Olympics if they'll have me.
