The swimming being exposed as a joke thread is actually exposing the incompetence of most of the LRC community

disgraceful_admin wrote:

Letsrun reaches new low wrote:

That thread has become embarrassing for the reputation of the LRC message board. Not that the reputation is already very respectable by any sense, but come on people. 90% of the comments convey a complete lack of knowledge of the sport of swimming by most on here, and conveys bitterness that swimmers in the US are bigger names than US distance stars. I hear girls talk about Ryan Lochte or Phelps, but I never girls even knowing of the distance stars of US track and field.

I grew up in competitive swimming and my father was an all American at Stanford. I can say with 100% confidence that the training involved for the majority of events in swimming is far more time consuming, and generally tougher than distance running. It can be completely miserable sometimes during the heaviest phases of training. I would also say you're average collegiate swimmer has a much higher pain tolerance than your average collegiate runner. I've seen both sides, and the only reason I quit swimming was because I had much more potential in running. I was working hard for little in return while swimming.

Before someone responds questioning my running experience, yes I have run faster and competed at a higher level than the majority of you on this board. No, I will not expose my identity to the LRC board. Many of you are going to be pissed that I have just states some well known facts. Swimming is more appealing, and popular to many Americans. Unfortunately the body type that is necessary to running successfully is not physically appealing to American women. And thank God you don't have to read about male swimmers becoming anorexic.

PS refer to the strokes as back, breast, fly, and free. You'll appear somewhat more knowledgable about swimming the next time someone mentions the olympics in the office.

Swimming training is more arduous than running training, even marathon training.

At the top level swimmers spend 4-5+ hrs in the pool doing mostly interval work.

In the meantime guys qualify for the 5000m team running 70-100 mpw.

wejo wrote:

I need to read that other thread.

The fact Phelps has won so many medals and Spitz, etc shows that swimming is not as difficult to dominate as running. I think that is a combination of a) the events being similar and b) much of the world does not compete at it.

Imagine how much better the US would be at track if there were no Jamaicans or Africans competing?

Letsrun reaches new low wrote:

The only reason I quit swimming was because I didn't inherit the talent my dad possessed, and actually had it in running. Before I quit for a permanent commitment to running, the best I had gotten was making the final of the 100 fly and finishing 8th in our state championship. Years later after having completed the transition to running I won our footlocker region in the seeded race. I am just one of many examples of the athletes that end up running after their first passion was not a realistic dream.

I'm calling BS, but email me your identity and I'll confirm it is true. I won't publish your name but will say a FootLocker Regional Champ was the poster. email is

wejo@letsrun.com

Letsrun reaches new low wrote:

That thread has become embarrassing for the reputation of the LRC message board. Not that the reputation is already very respectable by any sense, but come on people. 90% of the comments convey a complete lack of knowledge of the sport of swimming by most on here, and conveys bitterness that swimmers in the US are bigger names than US distance stars. I hear girls talk about Ryan Lochte or Phelps, but I never girls even knowing of the distance stars of US track and field.

I grew up in competitive swimming and my father was an all American at Stanford. I can say with 100% confidence that the training involved for the majority of events in swimming is far more time consuming, and generally tougher than distance running. It can be completely miserable sometimes during the heaviest phases of training. I would also say you're average collegiate swimmer has a much higher pain tolerance than your average collegiate runner. I've seen both sides, and the only reason I quit swimming was because I had much more potential in running. I was working hard for little in return while swimming.

Before someone responds questioning my running experience, yes I have run faster and competed at a higher level than the majority of you on this board. No, I will not expose my identity to the LRC board. Many of you are going to be pissed that I have just states some well known facts. Swimming is more appealing, and popular to many Americans. Unfortunately the body type that is necessary to running successfully is not physically appealing to American women. And thank God you don't have to read about male swimmers becoming anorexic.

PS refer to the strokes as back, breast, fly, and free. You'll appear somewhat more knowledgable about swimming the next time someone mentions the olympics in the office.

wejo wrote:

I need to read that other thread.

The fact Phelps has won so many medals and Spitz, etc shows that swimming is not as difficult to dominate as running. I think that is a combination of a) the events being similar and b) much of the world does not compete at it.

Imagine how much better the US would be at track if there were no Jamaicans or Africans competing?

Letsrun reaches new low wrote:

The only reason I quit swimming was because I didn't inherit the talent my dad possessed, and actually had it in running. Before I quit for a permanent commitment to running, the best I had gotten was making the final of the 100 fly and finishing 8th in our state championship. Years later after having completed the transition to running I won our footlocker region in the seeded race. I am just one of many examples of the athletes that end up running after their first passion was not a realistic dream.

I'm calling BS, but email me your identity and I'll confirm it is true. I won't publish your name but will say a FootLocker Regional Champ was the poster. email is

wejo@letsrun.com

Letsrun reaches new low wrote:

That thread has become embarrassing for the reputation of the LRC message board. Not that the reputation is already very respectable by any sense, but come on people. 90% of the comments convey a complete lack of knowledge of the sport of swimming by most on here, and conveys bitterness that swimmers in the US are bigger names than US distance stars. I hear girls talk about Ryan Lochte or Phelps, but I never girls even knowing of the distance stars of US track and field.

I grew up in competitive swimming and my father was an all American at Stanford. I can say with 100% confidence that the training involved for the majority of events in swimming is far more time consuming, and generally tougher than distance running. It can be completely miserable sometimes during the heaviest phases of training. I would also say you're average collegiate swimmer has a much higher pain tolerance than your average collegiate runner. I've seen both sides, and the only reason I quit swimming was because I had much more potential in running. I was working hard for little in return while swimming.

Before someone responds questioning my running experience, yes I have run faster and competed at a higher level than the majority of you on this board. No, I will not expose my identity to the LRC board. Many of you are going to be pissed that I have just states some well known facts. Swimming is more appealing, and popular to many Americans. Unfortunately the body type that is necessary to running successfully is not physically appealing to American women. And thank God you don't have to read about male swimmers becoming anorexic.

PS refer to the strokes as back, breast, fly, and free. You'll appear somewhat more knowledgable about swimming the next time someone mentions the olympics in the office.

Letsrun reaches new low wrote:

That thread has become embarrassing for the reputation of the LRC message board. Not that the reputation is already very respectable by any sense, but come on people. 90% of the comments convey a complete lack of knowledge of the sport of swimming by most on here, and conveys bitterness that swimmers in the US are bigger names than US distance stars. I hear girls talk about Ryan Lochte or Phelps, but I never girls even knowing of the distance stars of US track and field.

I grew up in competitive swimming and my father was an all American at Stanford. I can say with 100% confidence that the training involved for the majority of events in swimming is far more time consuming, and generally tougher than distance running. It can be completely miserable sometimes during the heaviest phases of training. I would also say you're average collegiate swimmer has a much higher pain tolerance than your average collegiate runner. I've seen both sides, and the only reason I quit swimming was because I had much more potential in running. I was working hard for little in return while swimming.

Before someone responds questioning my running experience, yes I have run faster and competed at a higher level than the majority of you on this board. No, I will not expose my identity to the LRC board. Many of you are going to be pissed that I have just states some well known facts. Swimming is more appealing, and popular to many Americans. Unfortunately the body type that is necessary to running successfully is not physically appealing to American women. And thank God you don't have to read about male swimmers becoming anorexic.

PS refer to the strokes as back, breast, fly, and free. You'll appear somewhat more knowledgable about swimming the next time someone mentions the olympics in the office.

purist wrote:

Letsrun reaches new low wrote:

That thread has become embarrassing for the reputation of the LRC message board. Not that the reputation is already very respectable by any sense, but come on people. 90% of the comments convey a complete lack of knowledge of the sport of swimming by most on here, and conveys bitterness that swimmers in the US are bigger names than US distance stars. I hear girls talk about Ryan Lochte or Phelps, but I never girls even knowing of the distance stars of US track and field.

I grew up in competitive swimming and my father was an all American at Stanford. I can say with 100% confidence that the training involved for the majority of events in swimming is far more time consuming, and generally tougher than distance running. It can be completely miserable sometimes during the heaviest phases of training. I would also say you're average collegiate swimmer has a much higher pain tolerance than your average collegiate runner. I've seen both sides, and the only reason I quit swimming was because I had much more potential in running. I was working hard for little in return while swimming.

Before someone responds questioning my running experience, yes I have run faster and competed at a higher level than the majority of you on this board. No, I will not expose my identity to the LRC board. Many of you are going to be pissed that I have just states some well known facts. Swimming is more appealing, and popular to many Americans. Unfortunately the body type that is necessary to running successfully is not physically appealing to American women. And thank God you don't have to read about male swimmers becoming anorexic.

PS refer to the strokes as back, breast, fly, and free. You'll appear somewhat more knowledgable about swimming the next time someone mentions the olympics in the office.

The main problem with swiming is that having rules that restrict the way in which your body can move in order to race from point A to point B so that you are not able to move as fast as possible is too contrived for a pure athletic contest. Nothing swimmers can say will change this even though I respect the work that swimmers put into their training which must be horrendously tough swimming up and down a pool for hours on end. It would break me mentally as would running on treadmill or around a track all the time.

Freestyle swimming events are valid atheltic competitions however.

In case you feel that runners are picking on swimming only I would say that the speedwalking contests in track and field are also guilty of the same problems that you have in non-freestyle swimming events.

Another endurance sport in which you have this problem is Cross Country skiing in the Ski athlon event where you have to go over half the course moving your legs a certain way (classic style) and then moving your legs in a free style. This is just as contrived as the swimming strokes because the classic style is slower than the free style. It makes the event no longer a pure race but a style of movement event as well.