hungry monkey wrote:
your kit can’t go wrong in swimming

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1196792/Top-Italian-swimmers-horror-bathing-costume-bursts-open-unfortunate-place-championship-meet.html

you can’t slipstream in swimming

Well, you can. They don’t in the pool though, granted.

it really is a dull sport to watch.

A lot of sports are quite repetitive and dull if you are not into them. Fencing? Table tennis?

Swimming demands a massive amount of technique and all over strength. I think that is why Beccy said it was a hard sport. But yeh, trying to measure how ‘hard’ a sport is compared to other sports is not worth the bother IMHO.

I do like the 1500m freestyle. Sun Yang is a hero.

Did Rebecca Romero not swap from Rowing to cycling and Gold in both?

When I was at uni we had a competition at the freshers’ fayre each year. The person who could get the fastest speed on the turbo trainer got a free membership: Invariably a rower.

I think that is why Beccy said it was a hard sport

She didn’t say it was a hard sport, she said it was harder than the others. The second quote was something like:

“Anyone who says silver or bronze is a failure has never tried my sport”

Appreciate what she meant, but it’s not that clear cut. I imagine Cav would have been pretty gutted with Bronze. Not to say that the road race is easier than swimming. In fact, making wild extrapolations and assuming a completely even skill base there is about 1/100 chance of winning the road race, and about 1/2* of winning a swimming medal.

Did Rebecca Romero not swap from Rowing to cycling and Gold in both?

I went for a road ride with a world champion sprint kayaker a few years back, he was bloody strong!

*total guess, you get the point.

Diving, diving from a bit higher, diving from a bit higher in pairs, etc.

LMFAO

I thought I heard Adlington say something along the lines of ‘our sport is so much harder…’ but honestly I thought it was such a fatuous thing to say that I thought I must have miss heard her. Of course I’m sure she’s trained in all other sports and so is very qualified to comment.

As an aside, can anyone suggest a sporting event that combines the physical and mental demands of the Tour?

I thought I heard Adlington say something along the lines of ‘our sport is so much harder…’

Yes that sounds familiar! Certainly I thought it was an ill conceived comment, and then she said something similar the next time she didn’t win when expected.

Then again, Cav’s response in his post-race interview to a question was “what a stupid question, do you know anything about cycling”, so perhaps her diplomacy should be commended!

What I can’t understand about swimming is how teenagers can be so successful in both the short power events and the longer endurance events. I mean how can a 15 year old beat an adult in 800m? They might be naturally a bit more talented but surely the adult has better technique, experience, physique and likely bigger feet/hands to. I can understand why teenagers can do well in women’s gymnastics but not swimming. Can you imagine a 15 year old winning gold in the velodrome?

I have to admit though a lot of cycling is boring to watch (like 120 & 56 laps in the points/scratch races in the omnium…), I’m glad MTB is in but I just know it’s going to be pretty boring unless Annie Last is at the front in the women’s. DH would be better if TV-friendliness is a major part of deciding on Olympic sports. The BMX should be pretty good at least although I don’t like the argy bargy randomness of it when you have a favourite in the running :p The individual pursuit is a decent watch though. I guess the other issue the IOC has to contend with is the sheer number of athletes, the opening ceremony will become a two-day event before long if they allowed more events + more riders per nation per event (although I agree the 1 rider rule in cycling sucks, look at the 100m final yesterday, 3 Jamaicans and 3 yanks – all deservedly there (well, apart from Gaitlin)).

obviously swimming 800 m is easier than riding the tour. what makes the 800 m hard is the training required to reach the top.

I doubt any elite sport is easier than the next though. there will always be someone who will put in more work to win

What I can’t understand about swimming is how teenagers can be so successful

We’ve been having that debate at home all week. I don’t get it either. The only suggestion we’ve come up with is that technique plays a big part.

We were also trying to find any other sport where you see the same thing. In gymnastics the female competitors are very young whereas the men tend to be early 20s. Our answer to that is that the power to weight ratio of women peaks at a young age, they then get heavier but not as a result of muscle mass in the way the men do.

What does it say about a sport then when someone so young can be so competitive?

What does it say about a sport then when someone so young can be so competitive?

Not just that, but they’re done so early as well.

I forget who it was in reference to (could have been Becky), but I heard Mark Foster say “good to see that at 24 she’s showing that it’s not just the young who can remain competitive” 😯

I guess it’s something to do with being carted around by Mum and Dad and not having any of the usual responsibilities that adult athletes have. Apart from school, they can be full time athletes?

I forget who it was in reference to (could have been Becky), but I heard Mark Foster say “good to see that at 24 she’s showing that it’s not just the young who can remain competitive”

It was Addlington (who is just 23) who was saying that one of the reasons she struggles is that now she is a bit old she can’t recover from the training as quickly as she used to when she was young. At the time I was thinking – you think its bad now, just wait until you hit 40 for how long it can take to recover!

One of the best things about swimming is the lack of impact related injury issues so its surprising how quickly they burn out at the top level. Maybe it’s as much about the lifestyle and mental burn out as it is physical side.

One of the best things about swimming is the lack of impact related injury issues

Aha, that might explain why you can be so competitive at such a young age.

Am I right in thinking that the muscle system develops faster than the bones and ligature system; or something like that? I remember being told that weight training at a young age was dangerous because while the muscles can cope, the bones and joints are still growing and susceptible to damage.

Since swimming is zero impact, it should in theory allow a young athlete to train as hard as an adult.

Aside from that, I also thought that endurance events favoured older competitors compared to events where absolute muscle mass is the principle determining factor.

It is hard toi understand how a 15 year old girl can have peaked at 800 m

GT your arguments sounds plausible in general

However if it was all technique age would not matter

Surley 800 requires some stamina so you would expect it with age?

Phleps is past it at 28 😯

I think they should ditch the sprint event from track cycling… or make riders race it from the start.

Imagine the same ‘tactics’ in any other sprint race… ridiculous.

TSY you don’t enjoy the tactics? I’ve heard your comments a lot from other people so there must be something in it, but I love to see them figuring each other out.

geetee I’m echoing those other people more than expressing my view. For outsiders to the sport it’s more difficult to understand…

‘Why aren’t they racing?’

Ah I see – you were being ironic. Not like you, are you feeling OK?

explain drafting to them and show them the time difference between the lkm solo sprint and the team one

about 40 secs v 60 secs roughly to explain why they do cat and mouse

Maybe drafting is the general problem with track cycling then.

So the sprint should be dropped from the time table.

I was under the impression that the widely agreed ‘hardest’ sport was biathlon.

apparently cross country skiing is about as aerobically soul destroying as it can get, mixed in with having to remain bonkers still/focussed to shoot things a million miles away.

tricky

explain drafting to them and show them the time difference between the lkm solo sprint and the team one

about 40 secs v 60 secs roughly to explain why they do cat and mouse

The team sprint is 3 laps, the 1km 4 laps 🙂

I used to find swimming a bit dull, then my kids did it competitively. After spending hours and hours poolside watching training and travelling to events, now I understand it I find it fascinating to watch. I’ve been involved in a few sports at a reasonably high level and swimming has by far the hardest training schedule, even the sprinters spend hours in the pool every day.

In terms of the “youth” thing, look at tennis, particularly women can be successful at the top levels of the game in their mid teens.

Phelps is past it at 28, he’s the same age as Lockte. Whatever he says it’s his ability to stay focused on and committed to the training which is the deciding factor.

The swimming goes on for a week, as does the sailing and the cycling and the athletics. I would argue they all have the same amount of focus from the IOC.

I think they should ditch the sprint event from track cycling… or make riders race it from the start.

they do it’s called the Keirin.

Tennis is a great example where skill and technique play a big part overall and in the women’s game, where outright power is lower, might be more of a factor than in the men’s game?

I’m asking not telling.

So maybe women are able to attain high levels of competitiveness earlier than men because the differential in muscle mass/strength – whatever is the right term for it – are lower between a 15 year old girl versus a 25 year old woman (for example) than they are between two men of the same age and this is especially so in sports where skill and technique play a bigger role in being competitive than just pure physical ability.

crikey – Member
I guess it’s something to do with being carted around by Mum and Dad and not having any of the usual responsibilities that adult athletes have. Apart from school, they can be full time athletes?

1-3 hours training 5 days a week, if you are lucky after school rather than before. Competitions 1-3 a month and once you are quite good these involve travelling half the length of the country. This level of intensity kicks in about 12 years of age. It only gets tougher from there.

Almost all Olympic level athletes are full time, even the ladies hockey squad collectively agreed to stop working and just train for 12 months. One of the big things lottery funding has done is mean more athletes can be full time.

they do it’s called the Keirin

Why don’t they just turn that into a 600 mtr sprint?

How about swimming where you get towed behind a boat for 3/4’s of the distance then swim the last bit?

Almost all Olympic level athletes are full time, even the ladies hockey squad collectively agreed to stop working and just train for 12 months.

It’s kind of how it should be really and the money should be made available for them to do this.

On the other hand, there was always something about the Olympics being the pinnacle of ‘amateur’ achievement.

I never quite understood this, or even if it ever was this way and if it was, what happened to that ethos?

Since swimming is zero impact, it should in theory allow a young athlete to train as hard as an adult.

Not strictly true, I blame crappy front crawl tecnique in my late teens/early 20’s for my bollocksed triceps in my right arm, I can’t do a set of shoulder press’ in the gym to save my life. I can do 1 rep at a mediochre weight, then that’s it, something in there is knotted/torn/rubbing and it wont do it again.

@geetee – women mature physically sooner so a 15yr old women is going to be more competitive than a 15yr old guy. I’m not sure it’s about power to weight as such in swimming (whilst it certainly is in gymnastics) it’s just the young kids can burst onto the scene as soon as they are ready.

On the other hand, there was always something about the Olympics being the pinnacle of ‘amateur’ achievement.

I never quite understood this, or even if it ever was this way and if it was, what happened to that ethos?

They dropped that a while ago. It’s a historical thing which came from the gentlemen and professionals thing, where the gentlemen were deemed to be higher beings than those lower class professionals who had to make money from their sport. It really got quite stupid towards the end before they dropped it regarding how athletes could earn money. Also gave a significant advantage to countries who funded their athletes to train full time whilst they remained “amateur”. Far better now without such silly rules.

Not strictly true, I blame crappy front crawl tecnique in my late teens/early 20’s for my bollocksed triceps in my right arm, I can’t do a set of shoulder press’ in the gym to save my life. I can do 1 rep at a mediochre weight, then that’s it, something in there is knotted/torn/rubbing and it wont do it again.

There is of course plenty of opportunity to injure yourself with swimming but what you have there is not an impact related injury – like the damage your knees take from pounding the pavement road running for year after year.

Evidence of the pointlessness of having different strokes

Should be in the pool at one end, first person to cover the distance wins.

World cycling boss Pat McQuaid tells BBC Radio 5 live that he will lobby the International Olympic Committee [IOC] to add more cycling to the Olympic programme.

“Team GB have shown the link between road success and track success, and bringing good road cyclists onto the track,” he said. “I want the IOC to expand the track programme and add an extra endurance event, one for men and one for women.”