Well, after a 2 year layoff from competition I donned the competitive swim suit again this summer for a couple of great meets; the Senior Games at Stanford and the Master’s Nationals at Indy. This time, putting on the competitive suit was more challenging as 3 or 4 people assisted me in squeezing into my new Speedo Lazer. Was all of that effort getting into today’s latest swim technology worth it? Of course; even if the suit developed a nice hole in it by the fourth day and even if the new suits will be banned by Jan 1 next year, it was fun while it lasted. The question is will they put an asterisk next to the three World records I set? Perhaps they should, but after 43 World records were set at the World Championship earlier, what is a World record worth these days anyway?
I don’t usually compete every year, saving those efforts for special occasions. This year, I had a compelling reason. Four of my former teammates from Indiana convinced me to help try to win a national championship for Doc Counsilman, our legendary coach who passed away a few years ago. Turns out, all four of them bailed out at the last minute for various reasons, leaving us with the formidable task of beating local rival Indy Y Swim fit. I don’t want to name names, but where the H____ were you Charlie, Brock, Bruce and Tommy? Without you we felt like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid attacking the Bolivian army!
Even without you we had a blast. The highlight for me was getting to see Marge Counsilman, Doc’s wife who was a surrogate Mother for all Indiana University swimmers for decades. In her mid 80′s, she still looks great and I’ll bet could still cook up a mean Lasagna dinner. But seeing so many old friends again was very cool. Swimming on relays was also great fun, except for the fact that they were trying out a new concept by putting all relays on one day and darned near killed us (some of us swam on four relays).
Seeing Big John Kinsella lean over and rip his new full-body suit right down the buttocks on the take off of the 800 free relay was worth the price of admission. The timers behind him in that lane might disagree. John, why didn’t you get the same media attention on this mishap as Ricky Behrens in Rome? You’d better hire a new PR agent.
The Senior Games was also very cool. It was kind of refreshing to see an over 50 crowd that was there to have a good time. The intensity of the competition was definitely not as great as Indy, but I think the Senior Games really got it right. A special moment for me was getting to do a 2 hr clinic at the end of the third day. About 100 or so people stuck around to get a taste of The Race Club camps and learn some of the fundamentals of fast swimming. I think they liked it.
I also gave the same talk this past weekend at the American Swim Coaches Association annual meeting to a crowd of 100 or so coaches from around the world. They also received it well. What I have discovered in the past 14 months of coaching and teaching at The Race Club is that all swimmers (and coaches), regardless of whether they are fitness swimmers or competitors of any level, are starving for good information on technique. Most coaches are busy coaching, yet few have or take the time to focus on individual techniques, other than an occasional comment or two.
Don’t get me wrong. Teaching great technique does not take the place of excellent training. That is essential. But now that these new high tech suits will only be seen at the Hall of Fame or old videos, we’d better get back to focusing on good technique. In swimming, little changes make BIG differences. See you down here soon!
Oh, by the way, the three world records were LC meters 26.8 50 fly, 30.0 50 back and 1:06.1 100 back … not too bad for an old fart … even with a Speedo Lazer on.
-Gary Hall Sr.
