At 11/15/06 06:05 PM, Donthurtme wrote:

How long have you been playing water polo for, and why did you give up? I'm off the team this year as I'm on placement here in Denver, but last season I played for my university side in the UK, and I love the sport. I've been fortunate not to pick up any nasty injuries yet- it does get a bit vicious (understatement!!).

Diving on the other hand is a sport I have never tried and never will do either thanks to being rather severely scared of heights. I doubt I could even climb the ladder up to the board, let alone jump off it.

I played for two years, but the league I was in wasn't organized at all, the coaches sometimes skipped practices, it was really horrible. I live in the U.S, but I don't know the difference in the weather - (I was born in London). Yeah, it does get pretty vicious, the worst ive gotten was getting socked in the eye/nose pretty badly, but thats nothing compared to some injuries you can get. I love heights. I don't know why, but I just do. I really like any dive that involves a flip.

He sounds like a complete nutcase to me. It's a shame that it put you off going down to the pool, best just to ignore him if you ask me. Anyway, what's wrong with a bit of public nudity? ;)

Thanks. Glad to be a member.

dude!!!

At 11/15/06 08:00 PM, Sirockalot wrote:

I played for two years, but the league I was in wasn't organized at all, the coaches sometimes skipped practices, it was really horrible. I live in the U.S, but I don't know the difference in the weather - (I was born in London). Yeah, it does get pretty vicious, the worst ive gotten was getting socked in the eye/nose pretty badly, but thats nothing compared to some injuries you can get. I love heights. I don't know why, but I just do. I really like any dive that involves a flip.

It's a shame the league wasn't well organised as the sport is fantastic when you get into it. I was fortunate to play through a University system. Having said that your two years is longer than I've played- I started about a year and a half ago, although being a strong swimmer I picked it up fast. The worst I've ever been hit was with a shot which hit me plum in the head from about 2 feet. Concussion in a swimming pool is not a nice experience. Other than that just the occassional bruise here and there, and as we train with the girls sometimes plenty of scratches (that sounds really sexist, but their nails are sharp!)

The weather in the UK is famed for being miserable, although it isn't really as bad as people make out. A pool would only really be useable for a couple of months in the the Summer though, and given the high price of maintaining it very few people bother. I used to have a mate at school with a pool in his back garden, but he is the only person I know with one.

Good news! We've been told that the swimming pool at my school will be opened in one week! They've been working on it for ages. It's apparently going to be one of these stop the kids getting obese things. It's pretty good because they actully finished it a month ago too, but they couldn't let us in before hand.

Well, I'd be happy to join the club, as well.

Anyway, here's my situation:

I've been swimming the last 4-5 years, at the YMCA. I started off as a beginner, unaware of much, but after about a year or two, I basically knew how to perform all the strokes. Anyway, I've been practicing for the next 2-3 years after that.

Yesterday, I've tried out for my High School's swim team. I'm only a freshman, so clearly, the upperclassmen are a lot better at me than swimming. Anyway, before the tryouts, I've been swimming a regular of 2-3 times a week, just to prep. for the tryouts. I usually swam about 50-75 laps (25 yards each, as usual), during each session. I basically did 75 yards of Freestyle, Backstroke, and Butterfly, in that order. Rinse, repeat.

Anyway, I'm assuming I'll make the team. Although our practice is basically almost everyday except weekends, which comes out to 4-5 days a week. The practices vary from 1 hour, to 1.5 hours. Now, my questions are:

-Should I swim more in my free time (outside of swim team, that is)?
-Should I do anything besides swimming?
-If I do swim in my free time, what strokes, and how many should I do?
-Is there anything else I should know (about being on a swim team, advice, etc.)?
-In the event that I don't make the swim team, how often should I swim weekly, what strokes, and how many?

Anyway, thanks guys.

At 11/16/06 02:12 PM, Sidorio wrote: Good news! We've been told that the swimming pool at my school will be opened in one week! They've been working on it for ages. It's apparently going to be one of these stop the kids getting obese things. It's pretty good because they actully finished it a month ago too, but they couldn't let us in before hand.

That sounds pretty awesome to me- my old school had a crappy outdoor pool with a heater that broke every other day, so we rarely got to swim (we did brave it once by breaking the ice on the surface first- that wasn't much fun).

At 11/16/06 06:01 PM, Raider-Ftw wrote: Well, I'd be happy to join the club, as well.

Welcome!

I'll do my best with your questions, but being on a swim team is one area that I have absolutely zero exerpeince in. Plus I have no idea about the standards here in the US (despite what my profile says I'm actually from the UK and only here in Denver for this year).

-Should I swim more in my free time (outside of swim team, that is)?

4-5 times a week is quite a lot to be honest, and you don't want to over do it. I guess it depends how fit you're feeling at the weekends as to whether you do more than that. Last year I had three training sessions a week for water polo (plus a game at the weekends) and found that was more than enough to keep my swimming in good shape. Having said that the occassional swim set on my own did help as well. My suggestion would be to ask the other swimmers on the team if they do any extra, and maybe tag along to see what they do.

-Should I do anything besides swimming?

Again this isn't really something I can help with much as I've never set foot in a gym in my life, but I know a lot of the best swimmers do as much land training as they do swim training, so it certainly isn;t a bad idea. Two of the British national swimmers (Mark Foster and Darren Mew if that means anything to you) train at my university, and certainly in the case of Foster he rarely swims at all, but rather spends his time lifting weights. As to what you should do in a gym, I have no idea. Either ask the other team members, or go and inquire in the NG Gym.

-If I do swim in my free time, what strokes, and how many should I do?

If you're looking for increased speed then it is best not to do any breastroke, or atleast not much. One of my favourite training regimes is to swim pyramids- 8 x 25m, 4 x 50m, 2 x 100m, 1 x 200m, 2 x 100m, 4 x 50m, 8 x 25m (or double each if you're really keen). This should all be done with sprint freestyle (or as fast as you can go) and give yourself 10 seconds break or so between each one. I found it very good for increasing speed and stamina- you'll find that the last set of 25m is a lot easier than the first, which always feels good. You can of course modify it and do it with backstroke or even butterfly if you're really brave- no way on earth I could manage that though. Also try and work on your arms and legs seperately (with a float ideally) as this strengthens each. Another thing I like to do is use egg beater leg kick (something you use a lot in water polo) to work my legs, although normal freestyle leg kick works just as well.

-Is there anything else I should know (about being on a swim team, advice, etc.)?

Sorry, but I can't help you with that, but maybe one of the others can...

-In the event that I don't make the swim team, how often should I swim weekly, what strokes, and how many?

It's down to you and how much you want to be a part of the team in years to come- self motivation is very hard to come by when swimming on your own. My suggestion would be 3 or 4 times a week, and ideally bring a friend a long to give you the motivation to keep going. Always try and write out your targets for each session before you start, as this gives you something to aim for. If I don't do that I tend to do 50 or so lengths and then get bored and stop. I'd suggest around 100 lengths- about an hour session should be plenty, and use the same kind of strokes and sets I mentioned above.

Anyway, thanks guys.

No problem- sorry I couldn't be more of a help. I hope you enjoy you're time here in this club, and I wish you luck getting into that swim team.

I remember when I was a little kid, I went to this camp called Landon Camp in Washington D.C and there was this pool there. We were young, so all of these kids were peeing in the pool, and a few instances of crapping. I remember one day, the counselor, obviously fed up, told us that if anybody peed in the pool, all of their skin would turn red, their penis would fall off, and they would go blind. Imagine my horror when I took a leak in the pool (God knows why), and remember what the counselor told me. But, my skin is normal, my penis is very much intact, and my vision is fine.

Damn counselors.

At 11/16/06 10:16 PM, Sirockalot wrote: I remember when I was a little kid, I went to this camp called Landon Camp in Washington D.C and there was this pool there. We were young, so all of these kids were peeing in the pool, and a few instances of crapping. I remember one day, the counselor, obviously fed up, told us that if anybody peed in the pool, all of their skin would turn red, their penis would fall off, and they would go blind. Imagine my horror when I took a leak in the pool (God knows why), and remember what the counselor told me. But, my skin is normal, my penis is very much intact, and my vision is fine.

Damn counselors.

If anyone can honestly say that they have never peed in a pool then they are a better man than me. Last I checked I was all in one piece. In fact I believe it was the same Darren Mew that I mentioned in my last post that once bragged to the press that he had peed in every major pool that he had ever swum in, all around the world, so it isn't just little kids who do it!

At 11/16/06 10:56 PM, ShortMonkey wrote: I guess I'll join, we have a pool, summer is coming up in December here (Australia). I didn't take swimming lessons at a swimming gym or whatever, I just did it at home and I got the 2nd or 3rd certificate. Who cares, I can swim almost any style (except fricken butterfly). And like freestyle the most. I like to use goggles more than just going under water without, but I can do it and keep my eyes open underwater. I'm not a very fast/strong swimmer, but I still enjoy it.

Welcome to the club- it's nice to have a bit of a global feel to it, especially an Aussie as I still regard them as the best swimming nation in the world (even if the USA has probably overtaken them now). The idea of Summer seems a very long way off here, what with the snow and all- I knew I should have gone to Australia on placement instead of here! I certainly prefer to use goggles as well, as the chlorine really gets to my eyes after a while. That is especially important when I cycle down to the pool- I don't know if anyone has tried cycling whilst half blind, but it is NOT advised!

It's good to hear you enjoy swimming, I certainly do. As my first post said, your standard isn't important, it's the enjoyment of the sport/exercise that is the basis behind this club, and I hope you enjoy your time here.

At 11/16/06 06:39 PM, Donthurtme wrote:

At 11/16/06 02:12 PM, Sidorio wrote: Good news! We've been told that the swimming pool at my school will be opened in one week!

M yform doesn't go in until tuesday, girls in the morning, boys afternoon. They always seperate genders at my school for sports stuff.

At 11/16/06 06:01 PM, Raider-Ftw wrote: -Should I swim more in my free time (outside of swim team, that is)?

its really pretty personal since your practice is very tough try taking a rest too much isnt that good

-Should I do anything besides swimming?

thats what i used to do when i used to race (ive got oo much work now) work out your back alot and the pectorals they really give strength and of course biceps,triceps(arm muscles) and quadriceps(for the footwork)

-If I do swim in my free time, what strokes, and how many should I do?

dont give yourself much trouble with what you should do and how maybe 1.5 km to 2 km (not all at once) and try to balance between swim types

-Is there anything else I should know (about being on a swim team, advice, etc.)?

About being on the swim team never EVER sprint during practice only on race focus on technique and power application a balanced swim is a fast swim and dont underestimate the capability of accessoties(board, pullboy...) these are great when focusing on a certain bodypart

-In the event that I don't make the swim team, how often should I swim weekly, what strokes, and how many?

3 to 4 times a week as i said in the freetime swimming and youll improve at a nice rate

Anyway, thanks guys.

no problem and welcome to the club

My friend has a pool in his garden, but he said the novelty wears off. I've only been in it once. Whenever anybody comes to his house they never go in it because he's got bored of it. This why i'm never getting one.

At 11/17/06 10:44 AM, TheLebanese wrote: A load of good advice

Well that is much better advice than I could give- I guess water polo training is very different from swim training as it is all about short, sharp sprints, and much less about endurance (thanks to the rolling subs allowed). As such we do a lot of sprint work in training, which from what you say swimmers shouldn't do. We also use egg beater leg kick a lot to strengthen the legs, and obviously have a range of passing and shooting drills on top of the swimming. As far as swimming goes it actually ruins your conventional strokes as freestyle is swum head up, and backstroke is swum almost sitting in the water so that you can see the ball coming.

At 11/17/06 11:30 AM, Sidorio wrote: My friend has a pool in his garden, but he said the novelty wears off. I've only been in it once. Whenever anybody comes to his house they never go in it because he's got bored of it. This why i'm never getting one.

How anyone could ever get bored of a pool in their back garden I will never know :) Just think of all the pool parties!

How anyone could ever get bored of a pool in their back garden I will never know :) Just think of all the pool parties!

Well, he's hell of a rich. He's got a trampalen (sorry, can't spell), treehouse, huge garden, huge house and a bike ramp. Why he needs a bike ramp I will never know. But anyway, he plays with the other stuff more.
I wish I was him.

Hey everybody,
I got today for the first time long and tight swim trunks i usually go for short. but thats not the point of my post i need advice on a certain matter: Should i join back the swim team? i saw my former coach today and he told me he wanted to see me back on the team especially for the 400m.so ive been thinking, I havent stopped exercising yet school work is too much and i really loved the competitions and all

any advice? maybe a certain swim schedule different from the rest of the team?or just participate in comps? or the regular training + the work? would it over tire me so i wont get better at all or even would it make me less good?

At 11/18/06 02:05 PM, TheLebanese wrote: Hey everybody,

Why hello there...

I got today for the first time long and tight swim trunks i usually go for short. but thats not the point of my post i need advice on a certain matter: Should i join back the swim team?

Just remember, when it comes down to it, only you can make your own decisions...

i saw my former coach today and he told me he wanted to see me back on the team especially for the 400m.so ive been thinking, I havent stopped exercising yet school work is too much and i really loved the competitions and all

If you loved it, then I see no reason why you wouldn't go back to it

any advice? maybe a certain swim schedule different from the rest of the team?or just participate in comps? or the regular training + the work? would it over tire me so i wont get better at all or even would it make me less good?

Schedule wise, that depends on the flexibility of your coach. Otherwise, pick at least 3 days of the week and train.

Good luck with it, whatever your decision.

At 11/18/06 02:35 PM, Peregrinus wrote: read above

thanks Peregrinus. I mean youre right if i really love the competition why shouldnt i do it again? ill have to negotiate the schedules with my coach i have alot of catching up to do in studying hell be alright with it i am record breaker in 400 m. So im going to the pool tommorrow to try out them new trunks. in theory they should increase my speed by giving me more of an "aquadynamic" form. anywone ever tried those?

At 11/18/06 03:07 PM, TheLebanese wrote: "aquadynamic" form

Hydrodynamic actually...

:P

At 11/18/06 03:07 PM, TheLebanese wrote:

At 11/18/06 02:35 PM, Peregrinus wrote: read above

thanks Peregrinus. I mean youre right if i really love the competition why shouldnt i do it again? ill have to negotiate the schedules with my coach i have alot of catching up to do in studying hell be alright with it i am record breaker in 400 m. So im going to the pool tommorrow to try out them new trunks. in theory they should increase my speed by giving me more of an "aquadynamic" form. anywone ever tried those?

I'd agree- if you love it so much then I don't think you should give it up. I'm sure you're coach will understand that you have to balance it around school work- if you're as good as you sound he'll probably go to any length to get you back!

As for the trunks, we water polo players play in good old fashioned speedos, all be it usually two pairs (the top pair often get ripped off as a popular tactic is to grab the back of the trunks and drag the opposition under water). That is of course with a box as well, which doesn't exactly help with the streamlining, but does impress the ladies ;)

If you don't want to read a load of rubbish about my swimming experiences please skip to the bottom paragraph, where you will find a bit of a club announcement!

I've just been down to the pool myself and done my standard Saturday afternoon 2.5km (100 lengths in a 25m pool). It took me about 45 minutes doing freestyle from start to finish, though my arms feel like jelly now. I'll be down there again tomorrow afternoon to do some leg work, as well as practice the other strokes.

I realised that everyone else has talked about their swimming experience, but I haven't myself! So here goes...

I started swimming when I was 5 years old, when my Mum taught me the three basic strokes down at the local pool (the same pool I later went on to work at in fact). This set me up to joining the local club at the age of 7, which I stayed at for the next 6 years. During that time I perfected the main three strokes, though y butterfly remained hopeless right up until the end. I participated in a number of galas and competitions, specialising in the 4x25m medley (despite my awful butterfly). By the age of 13 I was the fastest at the club on backstroke, and up there in the others (not bad considering it went up to the age of 16). Sadly two events caused me to leave earlier than I should have. Firstly the club was taken over by a new person, who favoured his daughter above everyone else. An example was on one of the rare occassions we had a chance to get badges. We were allowed to swim 50, 80, 125, or 150 lengths during the session and get a badge at the end for the distance we swam. Being an hour session nobody had time to reach 125, so we all got the 80. His daughter, however, was firstly allowed to stay on an extra half hour to get extra distance, and then allowed to finish it the week after. That just seemed stupid to me, as she didn't even do it in one go, and just did incredibly slow breastroke the whole distance. As such I became disillusioned with the club and thought about leaving. That decision was made final when I proceeded to break my left arm in a particularly brutal game of tag at school.

I didn't swim for quite a while after that, as my left arm was made very weak from so long in a cast, leading to difficulty swimming in a straight line. A few years of rugby soon solved that problem, and I began taking partin school competitions, all be it always within my own school. I was still the strongest on backstroke, but my breastroke was very slow. I could have swum for the school, but poor organisation and favouritism towards the more sporty students never allowed that (I was far more of an academic than a sports star, even though I was the schools top badminton player for a number of years).

At university I picked up water polo courtesy of one of my housemates, and it was one of the best decisions I have made. The sport is fantastic, and although I am far from the fastest, and very small for a polo player (5 foot 9, about 145 pounds last I checked) my tactics and passing got me a place on the fringe of the team. I even scored my first goal for the university last season whilst on tour, which was awesome.

On top of all that I took and passed the lifeguarding exam in the UK at the age of 18, and spent two summers working at the local pool, all be it doing very little as I've mentioned before. I love the job though- it feels great knowing you're there to save peoples lives, and I worked with a great bunchof people all about my age. I may go back to it next summer (I'll have to redo the exam first) once I have finished my work placement- it depends when I'm done here and how much of a holiday I want.

So there you have it, my not enormously unimpressive swimming career. I regret those years after I broke my arm now, as I would be a much better swimmer now if I had kept it up. Only in the last couple of weeks have I felt that my endurance is back to where it used to be, although obviously I'm a lot stronger and faster now.

Ok, enough of reminising- I'm thinking of introducing a weekly challenge for the club to attempt. It will be a bit of friendly competition (please be supportive of all times, no matter how slow- not everyone can be fast), and also an incentive to improve. Any suggestions for suitable challenges, bearing in mind we're catering for all standards, would be great. I'm thinking 50m of freestyle for this week- post you're fastest times here, plus include whether it was in a 25 or 50m pool, and if it had a diving start. I'll come up with 4 or 5 more challenges over the next few weeks, and then go back and start the cycle again and see if people are improving. You don't have to take part of course, but I'll be announcing the times in a table each Saturday to see where you're ranked.

wow, long post!

At 11/18/06 06:25 PM, ShortMonkey wrote: Long intelligent post! Keep up the good posting.

Thanks, I try me best :). Reading back over it I realise I need to start writing posts out in word first as I'm making a few typos, but other than that I like to think of myself as an intelligent poster on these forums- that is one of the reasons why I don't post very often as there are rarely topics in general that interest me. I've always been told I'm a good writer, plus I'm a bit older than you're average user so my spelling and grammar is better than most.

I hope its warm enough to swim this week, and I can time it with my SAS watch that has a stop watch, it was my dads watch when he was in the army and gave it to me for my birthday, they cost thousands of dollars. They're also waterproof, but I like swimming without it on anyway.

Excellent- I'm glad to see a bit of support for my idea :). I realise that one thing this club may struggle with is staying active as swimming isn't exactly a rapidly evolving subject. As such I want to include little things like this to keep people posting and increase activity and hopefully members. Plus as I stated in my opening post the whole point of this club is to encourage fitness and health through swimming, plus helping people improve, and I think this is a great way to do it.

At 11/18/06 07:00 PM, ShortMonkey wrote: It's a good idea, but people may say that they were faster than another person so we should PM you coz someone says, "I swam 10 laps in 2 minutes" So the other person knows what to say to beat him, if they PM you, no one will know how long it took them, and you can tell if they are lying or not if they say something way over the top.

I had thought about that, and people are of course welcome to PM me as an alternative- it would certainly make the end of week results more interesting. Having said that I was hoping I could rely on everyone being honest about how they did- after all this is just a bit of fun, and is more about improving your own times than beating other peoples. After all there are no prizes being handed out here. Plus there is no way I can stop people lying about it if they want to, even if they PM me- it's easy just to knock 5-10 seconds off your time.

So please, BE HONEST. Some of you will be quick, and some of you won't. IT DOESN'T MATTER! After all there are quite big age differences between us, so there is no way an accurate comparison can be made. Just do your best and when the same challenges come round again see if you can go a bit quicker.

Cool a contest! Thattl put me back in shape for the sprints though i dont think i can make the 32.6 time i made last year :P. i had a question i usually know the strokes by their frensh name(crawl, brasse,dos ,papillon) can anyone explain the strokes in english xept for buterfly its obvious...

At 11/19/06 01:39 AM, TheLebanese wrote: Cool a contest! Thattl put me back in shape for the sprints though i dont think i can make the 32.6 time i made last year :P. i had a question i usually know the strokes by their frensh name(crawl, brasse,dos ,papillon) can anyone explain the strokes in english xept for buterfly its obvious...

You pull anything near that time off and you'll certainly beat me. I'll be happy getting close to 40 secs, though I can't dive in the pool I swim in, which is a bit of a disadvantage.

As for the strokes- crawl is pretty much the same in English. In the UK it is called front crawl, and in America it is called freestyle. Brasse I'm guessing is the same as breaststroke. Dos (literal translation 'back') is backstroke, so again pretty much the same, and as you said papillon is butterfly.

At 11/19/06 01:51 AM, Donthurtme wrote: You pull anything near that time off and you'll certainly beat me. I'll be happy getting close to 40 secs, though I can't dive in the pool I swim in, which is a bit of a disadvantage.

As for the strokes- crawl is pretty much the same in English. In the UK it is called front crawl, and in America it is called freestyle. Brasse I'm guessing is the same as breaststroke. Dos (literal translation 'back') is backstroke, so again pretty much the same, and as you said papillon is butterfly.

thanks for the translation. Now as for the diving why cant you?anyway heres a nice trick:
while inside the pool dive underwater then push your feet aginst the wall while executing a breaststroke hand movement then extend your hands straight in front of like when your in the water after a dive from outside the pool, it should give that same effect

At 11/19/06 02:07 AM, TheLebanese wrote:

thanks for the translation. Now as for the diving why cant you?anyway heres a nice trick:
while inside the pool dive underwater then push your feet aginst the wall while executing a breaststroke hand movement then extend your hands straight in front of like when your in the water after a dive from outside the pool, it should give that same effect

It's against the pool rules to dive as a) it isn't very deep (about 5 foot) and b) there are no lifeguards on duty. The depth doesn't bother me as I've dived into shallower water than that over the years, but I'd rather not be thrown out for breaking the rules. As for your advice when pushing off, consider it noted :)- although you don't get the same momentum or distance off a push as you do a dive even with little tricks like that. Depending how I'm feeling tomorrow (my legs are a bit sore from the swim today as I cycle to and from the pool on top of the swim) I'll be giving it a shot then, and posting my time tomorrow afternoon/evening.

No problems on the translation- gave me a little test of my French skills, which are more than a little rusty. Oh, and before I forget a belated happy birthday - I bumped into the thread yesterday, but forgot to post.

Well I've just come back from my second swim of the weekend, and had a crack at my little challenge while I was there. To be honest I was a little surprised at how fast I was able to go- it was much better than the times I was posting last season in the 50m pool at university, although I realise that extra push off the wall half way through is a big advantage. Anyway, my time for 50m freestyle:

33secs, no dive, 25m pool.

It's kind of an estimated time as I had to use the clock on the wall, but I think it is about right. I may give it a second try next Saturday before I post the results, just to see if I can knock a little bit more off.

As for the rest of my session I did a lot of leg work as I walked down to the pool today rather than cycling- when on my bike I'm reluctant to push my legs too hard so that I don't cramp up on the rise home. I didn't swim very far- about 1k, but almost all of it was legs only, with a variation of normal kicking, breastroke legs and egg beater. Legs are crucial when training for water polo as a great deal of time is spent treading water, and when shooting you need to be able to get your shoulders right out of the water with a series of powerful kicks.

At 11/19/06 06:31 PM, Donthurtme wrote: 33secs, no dive, 25m pool.

WOW! just wow... thats an awesome time you got there...
So I had my first swim practice today. I had an awesome welcome by the team and then i trained normally It was so cool they showed a video of me winning the gold medal in 400 m. anyway the coach recorded my time on 50m 35.8 seconds 25m pool it felt great it was my first real sprint in a long time.

guess ill beat you next time Donthurtme...

At 11/20/06 09:13 AM, TheLebanese wrote:

At 11/19/06 06:31 PM, Donthurtme wrote: 33secs, no dive, 25m pool.

WOW! just wow... thats an awesome time you got there...
So I had my first swim practice today. I had an awesome welcome by the team and then i trained normally It was so cool they showed a video of me winning the gold medal in 400 m. anyway the coach recorded my time on 50m 35.8 seconds 25m pool it felt great it was my first real sprint in a long time.

guess ill beat you next time Donthurtme...

Hehe, you most likely will- I can't help but feel my time was a fluke that I only pulled off because a particularly attractive girl happened to be watching at the time :D. Amazing what that little bit of extra adrenaline can do! Plus I remind you that I am a full 6 years older than you, so I do have the advantage (I hope!!) in strength.

Keep up the training and I'm sure you're time will be dropping down. Although that time is pretty damn good if you ask me- way faster than I could ever have gone at your age. Maybe I'll hire a group of models to watch me swim next week...

Normally the world of professional swimming doesn't interest me, but I must say the announcement of Ian 'the Thorpedo' Thorpe's retirement last night came as a huge shock to me. I've always considered him one of the greatest swimmers of all time, if not the greatest, and was greatly looking forward to future showdowns with Michael Phelps.

It's a great shame that he has had to quit the sport at such a young age (just 24) due to a combination of illness and injury. The news isn't getting much coverage over here (or atleast not that I have seen), but to those who live there what is it like in Australia now?

On a happier note, I've got two days off this week for Thanksgiving, so I should be able to squeeze an extra swim session in on Friday (the pool is shut on Thursday). Yeay!

At 11/21/06 12:11 PM, Donthurtme wrote: On a happier note, I've got two days off this week for Thanksgiving, so I should be able to squeeze an extra swim session in on Friday (the pool is shut on Thursday). Yeay!

On a bad note, the pool I work at is closing down for most of December. And since they don't want to pay us holiday pay (for christmas), they found a wonderful solution:

We're all layed off.

They'll re-hire us when they don't have to pay us as much money.

What sucks is that December is when I need the money the most...fugging holidays.

That and it means I won't be able to swim as much...