Quote of the Day

Everything we do for our children that

they can do for themselves makes them

weaker.  Everything they do for

themselves makes them stronger.

John Leonard

Quote of the Day

Wisdom is knowing what to

do next;  virtue is doing it.

David Starr Jordan

Quote of the Day

You do your best work if you do

a job that makes you happy.

Robert Norman "Bob" Ross

Relays Still at Risk

The NFHS has made changes to Appendix B in the swimming rule book, but the folks at the UIL aren't budging.  Read more here.

The “suggested” protocol for the use of electronic relay take off pads in Appendix B has been altered. However, for the forthcoming competition season, the established UIL protocol will be used.

 

That's right, fans.  The mess created when we had Appendix B shoved down our throats a few years ago still hasn't been corrected here in Texas!

Pressured last year by high school coaches, the UIL (almost) met us in the middle.  Catch up here (Article II).

In her final letter to coaches as TISCA president (read it here), Lubbock ISD diving coach Penny DiPomazio let swim coaches know where they stand:

The NFHS has made some clarifications concerning rules. These clarifications will be posted on the TISCA website and are also available at the end of this letter. If you still have some questions concerning rules please contact Frank Swigon for swimming or me for diving.

Thank you for your support..

Quote of the Day

I am patient with stupidity but not

with those who are proud of it.

Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell

Quote of the Day

It was done with the intent of intimidating us.

But there are some guys you can intimidate and

some guys where it works the opposite way.

Anthony Wayne "Tony" Stewart

Quote of the Day

Science has not yet mastered prophecy.

We predict too much for the next year

and yet far too little for the next ten.

Neil Alden Armstrong

Quote of the Day

An opinion should be the result of

a thought, not a substitute for it.

Jef Mallett

Sharkin'

Catch-N-Release

Leon Bull:



Bobby Bull:



Leon Ray:

Title IX "Debate"

Isn't it great to live in a country where free speech is protected?

Any idiot can say any idiotic thing they'd like, right?

"We haven't seen men's teams dispropotionately cut."

Did she really say that? Does she honestly believe it?

 

 

Entire "debate" is here.



Vine Valley, New York

Nigel Kent took this shot of the Button farm a few days after the reunion.  Plenty of great pics at his site here.

Quote of the Day

You've gotta find a way to get out of your

own way, so you can progress in life.

Steven Norman "Steve" Carlton

Quote of the Day

Charm is a way of getting the answer

yes, without asking a clear question.
 

Albert Camus

Murphy & Flannery Win!

Kevin Murphy (Southlake Carroll HS) and Tim Flannery (Kutztown University) were the first to submit correct answers to yesterday's question.

Q. Who was the only non-American to win a men's swimming gold in the '76 Montreal Games? What event did he win? Which U.S. college did he attend?

A. David Wilkie, 200 meter breaststroke (2:15.11), University of Miami

Each will get a copy of The Underwater Window by Dan Stephenson.

Not up to speed on Dan's book?  Catch up here.

Quote of the Day

What would you attempt to do

if you knew you could not fail?

Dr. Robert Harold Schuller

Mixin' it up

TCU has added Andy Waeger to the staff.  Read more here.

Splash-O-Truth is back...sort of.  Link to their original site is no longer working, but they're now on Twitter and Facebook.

Time for a little contest (just for our readers in Canada, Texas, and The United States).  The first two (2) correct responses will win a copy of The Underwater Window by Dan Stephenson. 

Q.  Who was the only non-American to win a men's swimming gold in the '76 Montreal Games?  What event did he win?  Which U.S. college did he attend?

A.  Email answers to texasswimmingblog@yahoo.com

It took a couple of years, but the NFHS has fixed the Appendix B problem.  Not sure what that problem was?  Catch up here.  That was just one of several posts on the subject.

Does this mean the UIL will toss out Article II of last year's relay rules revision?  We shall see...

Competitive cheer is still not recognized as a sport.  Read an interesting piece on the subject by Joshua Thompson here.  Thanks for the heads up, BG!

Southlake Carroll's girls are the NISCA Power Points National Champs!  Results are here.  Kevin Murphy's boys' team earned runner-up honors.  Several other Texas high school squads cracked the top ten in their respective divisions.

A&M's Steve Bultman has been added to the ASCA World Clinic line-up.  Info on this year's clinic is here.

Flashback!

Oh no, it's not the good kind!!!

Had a warehouse job in college that was pretty crappy. Songs like this one blasting throughout the building made it even worse...

Quote of the Day

The reason women don't play football

is because eleven of them would never

wear the same outfit in public.

Phyllis Ada Driver, a.k.a. Phyllis Diller

That's right, son.

Remember all those times I said "Go out as fast as you can and negative split it!"?

It was just a joke!

Quote of the Day

It is necessary to try to surpass oneself always;

this occupation ought to last as long as life.

Christina Alexandra, a.k.a. Queen Christina

Two Weeks

Readers,

We've had a wonderful two weeks away from each other, haven't we?

Guess I'll ruin it with a few new posts.  Sorry.

We did a charity swim across the lake back home.  It wasn't supposed to be a race, but you know how that goes, right?  First three across the lake were Bobby, Leon, and myself.

Bobby's kayaker was Lloyd Peterson.  He's an ocean kayaker who used to paddle off the coast of California.  His was the only kayak with a "Holstein" theme.

Leon's kayaker was Eddie Saeger (84 years young).  Ed's son, Rich (SMU/'86), won gold as a member of the 800 free relay in the '84 Los Angeles Games.

Check out Ed's ultra-cool wooden "boat".  The coolest kayak on Canandaigua Lake:

Quote of the Day

Everybody has talent, it's just a

matter of moving around until

you've discovered what it is.

George Walton Lucas, Jr.

Would USA Swimming ever use...

...the NCAA/PSU model for penalizing a club program?

Penn State University football has forfeited wins, been banned from the post season, agreed to pay a steep fine, been slapped with recruiting restrictions, and their players have become (to use the pro sports term) unrestricted free agents.

If a USA Swimming club program covered up abuse by one of its coaches, could/would USA Swimming take similar steps to penalize a team?

Wins - Could/would USA Swimming attempt to take away national, junior national, sectional, etc. team championships?

Doubt it.

Post Season

Could/would USA Swimming ban a program from Grand Prix, Sectional, National, etc. competitions?

Maybe.

Fines

Could/would USA Swimming hit an offending club with a big fine?

Doubt it.

Recruiting (in)

Could/would USA Swimming put a "hold" on a team's new & transfer swimmer registrations?

Maybe.

Recruiting (out)

Could/would USA Swimming allow transfers from an offending swim club to be immediately eligible to swim for another club?

Could/would USA Swimming allow other swim clubs to openly recruit athletes from an offending club?

Hope so.

Catch up on swimming's latest black eye here.

Quote of the Day

Routine is not organization, any

more than paralysis is order.

Sir Arthur Helps

Quote of the Day

I got a woman that's mean as

she can be, sometimes I think

she's almost as mean as me.

Roy Kelton Orbison

Quote of the Day

I'm old enough and cranky enough now

that if someone tried to tell me what to

do, I'd tell them where to put it.

Dolly Rebecca Parton

The Underwater Window

From Dan Stephenson's new book, The Underwater Window:

From the author:

In Chapter 4 of THE UNDERWATER WINDOW, readers get to meet Molly, a second potential love interest for Doyle Wilson. Doyle is not smooth with women. Swimming contributes to his awkwardness. It looms like a chaperone over all his potential romances. It also pushes him outside the social norms. The introduction to Chapter 4 talks about some of the counter-cultural aspects of swimming.

---Dan Stephenson, author of THE UNDERWATER WINDOW.

Swimming is counter-cultural. Swimmers are misfits in the world at large. Our culture says “if it feels good, do it.” Swimming does not feel good. The very purpose of swim practice is to make it hurt. Races are largely about pain management.

Our culture says “gratify yourself now.” Swimming involves delayed gratification. You peak for two meets a year. Every practice is geared toward the next big meet, which may be months away. Swimmers know they have to do the work today, day after day, in order to reap the reward tomorrow. For Olympic swimmers, the training strategy may have a two-to-three-year timeline.

Our culture says “make things easier on yourself”—buy fast food at drive-throughs; use the remote control so you don’t have to get off the couch. Swimming is inconvenient. Swimmers take the hard road. We wear baggy suits and paddles to increase resistance. We do no-breathers. We swim butterfly.

Our culture says “entertain yourself constantly.” Entertainment is a huge industry; being bored is a drag. Swimming is institutionalized boredom. It numbs the mind. You force yourself to do hard, boring things over and over. There is no scenery. There’s no chance to socialize with your head underwater.

Our culture says “it doesn’t matter who you are, it’s how you look.” Swimmers have hair that gets bleached and frizzed, then they shave it all off and look like cancer patients. Their teeth get discolored by the chemicals in the water. Swimmers develop monstrous shoulders, which is okay for guys, but female swimmers think the shoulders make them look unfeminine. Swimmers don’t have time to make themselves look pretty.

Our culture says “celebrity is everything.” We’re fascinated by celebrities. We want to know what they do in private, what’s in their trash cans. In swimming, there is maybe one celebrity per generation. It’s not enough to win an Olympic gold medal. You have to win more than four gold medals to be remembered by anyone outside of swimming circles by the time of the next Olympics. Do any non-swimmers remember Matt Biondi? Five golds, a silver and a bronze at the 1988 Olympics. Or John Naber? Four golds and a silver in 1976. If you want to be famous, swimming is not the most rational route. And celebrities don’t attend swim meets.

Our culture says “show me the money.” There’s hardly any money in swimming. The rare swimmer may make some money in endorsements, but there is no professional league and little prize money. Swimming takes up so much time, most swimmers can’t hold regular jobs while they train. In almost every swimming family, it costs a lot of money to swim when you add up swim club dues and travel expenses, not to mention the extra food.

The countercultural aspect of swimming is one of the things I dig about it.

Excerpted from THE UNDERWATER WINDOW © 2012 by Dan Stephenson. Excerpted with permission from the author. All Rights Reserved.

Interested?  Of course you are!  Learn more:

Swimmer/Author Dan Stephenson bio here

More on Dan's book, The Underwater Winder Window is here.

Quote of the Day

Growing up is not being so dead-set

on making everybody happy.

Reba Nell McEntire

Quote of the Day

Style is knowing who you are, what you

want to say, and not giving a damn.

Eugene Luther "Gore" Vidal Jr.