Swimming World Championships

[Firebird]

I am probably the only one on the board who bothers to keep up with swimming outside of the Olympics, but as a former swimmer I am posting this anway.(By the way, I defy anyone to claim that it isn't a sport).

The American team made an assault on the pool on Tuesday in Melbourne, winning 4 of 5 gold medals and setting a few world records.

Michael Phelps, who you may remember as a star from Athens, broke the 200M mark set by former Aussie great Ian Thorpe. For some perspective on that, it is roughly equivalent to someone breaking Michael Johnson's blistering 200M track record.

Anyway, here is the link to read about some of American's best athletes:

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/swimming/news/story?id=2814128

[wide-e-wide]

Is Mexico competing in these events?
Wait all of their best swimmers are already over here.

[gtown04]

I am probably the only one on the board who bothers to keep up with swimming outside of the Olympics, but as a former swimmer I am posting this anway.(By the way, I defy anyone to claim that it isn't a sport).

The American team made an assault on the pool on Tuesday in Melbourne, winning 4 of 5 gold medals and setting a few world records.

Michael Phelps, who you may remember as a star from Athens, broke the 200M mark set by former Aussie great Ian Thorpe. For some perspective on that, it is roughly equivalent to someone breaking Michael Johnson's blistering 200M track record.

Anyway, here is the link to read about some of American's best athletes:

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/swimming/news/story?id=2814128

I was only able to catch a few races here and there.

So your a swimmer huh?
What team were ya on/ events did you compete in?

[Firebird]

I did compete in age group for a while, by the time I got to HS I had dropped that and swam only for my school as one of my sports...Harlingen High.

I swam the freestyle relays, the 200 Medley, and the 100 Breaststroke. My senior year I swam the 200 Freestyle, but its safe to say I was no Phelps.

[gtown04]

Nice.
I swam for Garland High.
200 freestyle relays, 100 Breaststroke, 200 Freestyle and sometimes the 400 relay and 500 freestyle.

[Firebird]

Micheal Phelps breaks his own world record by over a second in the butterfly:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=swimming&id=2815436

[Dds115]

I used to swim, I love watching it still too!! The American's are eating everyone this meet! I swam for Southlake for a bit and then on a club team for a number of years...

[CyFallsMom]

Firebird, this may get some hairs up, but Swimming is FAR more of a sport than NASCAR is:). I love watching Olympic swimming and diving most of all. I did see the article on Phelps too - he is something else.

[Firebird]

Firebird, this may get some hairs up, but Swimming is FAR more of a sport than NASCAR is:). I love watching Olympic swimming and diving most of all. I did see the article on Phelps too - he is something else.


Shoot yeah, it is. I consider almost all of the traditional Olympic sports to be the most pure form of athletic competition there is. Swifter, Higher, Stronger...that is what sport is about.

Track and field, swimming, weightlifting, wrestling, boxing......these types of sport are the "essence" of sports.

[twcpfan1]

It's amazing how well Australia has done in swimming when you consider that their population is less than the L.A. Basin.

[Favpack]

It's amazing how well Australia has done in swimming when you consider that their population is less than the L.A. Basin.

I believe something like 90% of all Australians live very near the ocean - within a few miles. I competed in a few triathlons - and hated the swimming the most. I got decent at it - but never enjoyed those workouts.

[Firebird]

I believe something like 90% of all Australians live very near the ocean - within a few miles. I competed in a few triathlons - and hated the swimming the most. I got decent at it - but never enjoyed those workouts.

Australia has the best aquatic culture in the world. Aussies love the water and anything to do with it. Swimmers are national heroes in Australia, and their "Surf Lifeguard" competition is one of the biggest national events. When a country is that dedicated to a sport, it comes as no surprise that they do well at it. Australia and outdoors and water sports are naturally linked. They have some fantastic surfers also.

Favpack, your response to swimming is the same as most other athletes who try to take it up. I was formerly a Red Cross Lifeguard Instructor, and I had to give the preliminary tests to people before I let them take the class.

Part of it was a 500 yard continous swim. No time limit, you just had to complete the whole dang thing without stopping for a break. We would get all sorts of guys--- football players, basketball players, soccer players-- and it would just kill them. No matter what kind of shape they were in, if they finished at all, they would end up laying on the deck of the pool huffing for air. We had a bunch who would just walk away after that. We had a whole bunch who just couldn't finish.

[twcpfan1]

Australia has the best aquatic culture in the world. Aussies love the water and anything to do with it. Swimmers are national heroes in Australia, and their "Surf Lifeguard" competition is one of the biggest national events. When a country is that dedicated to a sport, it comes as no surprise that they do well at it. Australia and outdoors and water sports are naturally linked. They have some fantastic surfers also.

Favpack, your response to swimming is the same as most other athletes who try to take it up. I was formerly a Red Cross Lifeguard Instructor, and I had to give the preliminary tests to people before I let them take the class.

Part of it was a 500 yard continous swim. No time limit, you just had to complete the whole dang thing without stopping for a break. We would get all sorts of guys--- football players, basketball players, soccer players-- and it would just kill them. No matter what kind of shape they were in, if they finished at all, they would end up laying on the deck of the pool huffing for air. We had a bunch who would just walk away after that. We had a whole bunch who just couldn't finish.

The recent race riots (and this one got pretty bad) in Sydney was a direct result of a random attack on a Surf Lifesaver by a group of ethnic Arabs. It was bad on so many levels, not the least of which, Sydneysiders took it like a spit to the face of one of the country's most valued traditions. And the fact that the perpetrators were Arabs, made it a lot worse given the particular climate the Western World is in at the moment.

[AZTiger]

I'm into track and field kinda like how you are with swimming Firebird.

[Firebird]

I'm into track and field kinda like how you are with swimming Firebird.

I love to watch track and field. I have a lot of respect for the sport. I never got into it like I did swimming, but I viewed the track guys as my land-loving bretheren in athletics arms.

I appreciate the simply beauty of a race, whether on foot or in the water. It's the best form of competition there is...who gets from point A to B fastest. Only boxing (who can pound who) matches the simple elegance.

[Firebird]

Phelps won 7 gold medals, including 5 individual medals in which he set world records. That means, that in every single individual event he competed in (you can only do 5 in int'l comp), he competed better than anyone else ever. Simply. Amazing.

If you want to find one person who dominates a sport on every level, Phelps is your man. The crazy thing is, he could have taken home gold in the last relay had his teammate not disqualified in the pre-lims.

Side note, the US dominated, winning 36 medals and 20 golds.

[DragonBand06]

Phelps won 7 gold medals, including 5 individual medals in which he set world records. That means, that in every single individual event he competed in (you can only do 5 in int'l comp), he competed better than anyone else ever. Simply. Amazing.

If you want to find one person who dominates a sport on every level, Phelps is your man. The crazy thing is, he could have taken home gold in the last relay had his teammate not disqualified in the pre-lims.

Side note, the US dominated, winning 36 medals and 20 golds.
Glad to know that if the world floods again for 40 days & nights at least the US will be safe. :D