Quote of the Day

Sportsmanship for me is when a guy walks off

the court and you really can't tell whether

he won or lost, when he carries

himself with pride either way.

James Spencer "Jim" Courier, Jr.

Quote of the Day

Every man takes the limits of his own

field of vision for the limits of the world.

Arthur Schopenhauer

Quote of the Day

Concentration is the ability to think

of absolutely nothing when it is

absolutely necessary.

Charles Ray Knight

Quote of the Day

In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a

day's work.  It is invisible and remains

so, maybe for twenty years.

Jacques Martin Barzun

Quote of the Day

Some people are so busy learning

the tricks of the trade that they

never learn the trade.

Vernon Sanders "Vern" Law

Quote of the Day

Bureaucracy gives birth to itself and

then expects maternity benefits.

Dale Alan Dauten

Quote of the Day

If 'pro' is the opposite of 'con' what

is the opposite of 'progress'?

Paul Harvey Aurandt

Quote of the Day

One of the penalties for refusing to

participate in politics is that you end

up being governed by your inferiors.

Plato

Quote of the Day

A committee is a group that keeps

minutes and loses hours.

Milton Berlinger, a.k.a. Milton Berle

Missed it?

GWG clinic in El Campo was great!!!  Read about it here.
   
Line up a clinic for your team here.

Quote of the Day

People who have no weaknesses are terrible;

there is no way of taking advantage of them.

François-Anatole Thibault, a.k.a. Anatole France

Leapin' Leap Year!

Know a guy who wrote down he worked on February 30.  This must be a leap-leap year...

Fueling Up

Texas men bankrupting Ton's Mongolian Grill in Mansfield:

 

Southwest Collegiate Plunge (M)

Quote of the Day

To be one's self, and unafraid whether right

or wrong, is more admirable than the easy

cowardice of surrender to conformity.

Irving Wallace

Quote of the Day

You can pretend to be serious;

you can't pretend to be witty.

Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry

Advocate Article w/GWG

Unlike the past few weekends, baling cotton won't be the highlight in Wharton county this time around.  Read more here.

Quote of the Day

The worst loneliness is not to

be comfortable with yourself.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain

Quote of the Day

Some people make headlines

while others make history.

Philip Elmer-DeWitt

Quote of the Day

If you're sensitive, you will

have a hard time with me.

Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells

Quote of the Day

Time heals all wounds, unless you pick at them.

Shaun Edward Alexander

Piling On

Guest blogger, who wishes to remain anonymous:

SwimSwam Editorial Board

Quote of the Day

Democracy is being allowed to vote

for the candidate you dislike least.

Robert Leo Byrne

Quote of the Day

Toughness is in the soul and

spirit, not in muscles.

Alexander George "Alex" Karras

Based on the comments...

...this wasn't a popular story...

SwimSwam, our sport's version of the National Enquirer, dug a little deeper for a story yesterday. They pulled the post, but you may still be able to read the cached version here.

With tags like these...

abuse, Be Your Best Without the Stress, condoms, connection, incest, intercourse, Katrina Radke, love, molestation, Olympic Swimmer, Olympic Village, rape, sex, sexual assault, swim photo, swimming

...what could go wrong?

Dear Katrina,
Should I have sex or not? I feel pressure to have sex, but I am not sure that I am ready. What should I do?

1. seriously?! says:

   October 9, 2012 at 12:06 pm

   …and because it is best to wait until marriage! Thanks for posting the stupidest topic on a swimming site for my high school child to read! Thank goodness she has a strong foundation in God to know it us right to wait.
   

   Reply
2. Confused says:

   October 9, 2012 at 12:24 pm

   Why is this on my daily swimming news website? Why not this child ask his/her parents?
   Seriously not what i want to read about, bad image for SwimSwam in my opinion, minus 5 points for “questions for Katrina”
   

   Reply

Seriously, Braden, aren't you a little old to be asking for this kind of advice?

Towson University Cuts

Title IX issues (proportionality) at Towson University means tough times ahead for men's sports.  Read more here and here.

Tuesday morning, President Maravene Loeschke sent out an email informing students and faculty about a proposal made by Director of Athletics Mike Waddell that would cut the men’s soccer and baseball teams for the 2013-14 academic year.

During these meetings, members of both the soccer and baseball teams showed frustration toward the proposal, Waddell said.

“The way they reacted was about how I would expect them to react,” he said. “If I was 18-22 years old and was told what they were told today, I would be upset, I’d be hurt, I’d be frustrated and I’d be looking for definitive answers.”

Men's swimming survived this round of cuts, but will likely suffer under roster caps.  The Tigers' swim rosters show forty (40) men and thirty-seven (37) women.

You and I would say that's pretty good balance, right?  Plenty of opportunities for both genders over at the Burdick Cement Pond, right?

Unfortunately, gender quotas aren't based on equity within each sport.  Entire athletic departments are subject to this high-wire act.  When football is part of the equation, balancing the numbers means other men's sports/male athletes must be sacrificed.

What?  You didn't think they'd cut back on a program that plays in Johnny Unitas Stadium, now, did you?  Can't possibly get through a foosball season without that 6th string QB...

Quote of the Day

Judge each day not by the harvest you

reap but by the seeds you plant.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Quote of the Day

I try to make the good days great and

take something positive from the days

I'm not feeling so good - work on

technique or something like that.

Kathleen Genevieve "Katie" Ledecky

-athon Wrap-Ups

Kayaking multiple lines/baits hundreds of yards out paid off for Leon and Steven.  Of the four sharks they landed, the 6'10" bull shark was the second largest in the 2012 Sharkathon tourney.

Bobby was one of many swimmers taking part in the annual Marathon Kids event at UT.

Quote of the Day

I define fear as standing across the

ring from Joe Louis and knowing

he wants to go home early.

Maximilian Adelbert "Max" Baer

Quote of the Day

My favorite thing is to go where I've never been.

Diane Nemerov, a.k.a. Diane Arbus

Quote of the Day

I am impelled, not to squeak like a

grateful and apologetic mouse,

but to roar like a lion out of

pride in my profession.

John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr.

Missed it by that much!

Leon's shark huntín' parder, Steven, missed first place by just a quarter of an inch.  Here he is with the 6'10"bull they landed at the 2012 Sharkathon:

Quote of the Day

Ideas are like rabbits.  You get a couple

and learn how to handle them, and

pretty soon you have a dozen.

John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr.

Merrimack Signs Peace Treaty

The Merrimack College Warriors have settled their Title IX issues...for now.

Read the agreement here.

As you know, Title IX was originally all about equal opportunities, funding, facilities, etc.  It has instead become a quota system.  Attacks from proportionality advocates (lawyers) often push schools to dump men's programs.

While it's great that more opportunities will be available to Merrimack's female student/athletes, the men's programs are still not out of the woods.

Check out I.8.:

The College agrees that if, upon commencing the 2013-14 season, it has not met eighty-five percent (85%) of its recruiting goal for women's intercollegiate sports at that time, it will halt its recruitment for men's tier II and III sports until such time as its recruitment for women's intercollegiate sports reaches at least 85% fo the level outlined in this Agreement and/or the College can show that is is otherwise curing teh disparity fount during OCR's review at or before the timelines set forth in this agreement.

Anyone care to guess which men's sports could be on the chopping block in a couple of years?  Hint:  Foosball ain't likely a tier II or III sport.

Another Winner

John Dissinger (Summer Creek HS) was the first to correctly answer yesterday's question:

Q.  Using his "Berkoff Blastoff", where did David Berkoff first break the men's 100 LCM back world record?

A.  Austin ('88 Olympic Trials)

John will get a copy of Chuck Warner's ...And Then They Won Gold

Quote of the Day

Praise the bridge that carried you over.

George Colman, the Younger

More "Gold"

Below is a second excerpt from Chuck Warner's "recipe book".  Great stuff!

Author’s Note:

The book …And Then They Won Gold: Stepping Stones To Swimming Excellence Volume I was inspired by a conversation with Coach Eddie Reese suggesting that swimmers, coaches and parents could use a “recipe book” for how to reach their potential. The book contains eight short stories, about eight great swimmers that collectively won 28 Olympic gold medals. Each story reveals the experience that the athlete had from their very first swimming experiences to progressing to the Olympic gold medal. Each story also has inserted training programs that they used for each step in the swimmers’ development.

A second Volume is planned to tell the story of great women swimmers. The remaining athletes in Volume I are Matt Biondi (sprint free), Mike Barrowman (breaststroke), Josh Davis ( mid-distance free), Lenny Krayzelburg (backstroke), Ian Crocker and Grant Hackett.

Dave Berkoff excerpt and authors note: Dave Berkoff changed backstroke as we know it, extended underwater dolphin kick to more than 30 meters on his start. He improved his best time by more than two seconds in 1988 and broke the world record.

The younger swimmers’ practice at the cavernous Germantown Academy pool started precisely at 6:30 pm, and Head Coach Dick Shoulberg patrolled the pool deck. It was his domain, his classroom—every inch of it. His beard shielded his face from his swimmers’ eyes. He could stare you down when he looked out of his glasses, but it was difficult for a swimmer to catch a clear look into his eyes. His voice could sound like a growl when he wanted it to. He let you know who was in charge, and when it was time to start practice, you were in the water or you heard his growl.

Hmmm … let’s see … yes, the large red fiberglass starting block behind lane six was a perfect spot. David had used such a hiding place before at times just like now when he wasn’t yet ready to take the plunge into the cool water. Even Coach Shoulberg couldn’t outsmart him. David tucked himself into a small ball and cuddled up behind the side of the starting block near the corner of the pool.

“I want a 300 individual medley in reverse order,” the coach barked. “First length is drill, second is swim and the third is kick. Go on the 57.” Shoulberg liked innovation too. Why start on a round number? Anybody could do that.

The swimmers entered the water precisely on the 57 and every five seconds thereafter—that is all except for 11-year-old David Berkoff. David pressed his cheek and shoulder flat against the fiberglass block. His heart raced. He heard all the other swimmers turning and stroking but didn’t move a muscle for fear it might expose him to the sight of his new coach. Beyond the normal sounds that accompanied a collective of swimmers moving through the water, David sensed a stillness, a silence-like sensation that roared in his ears.

Where was Coach Shoulberg?

Shoulberg saw a foot sticking out from the side of the red block number six? Quietly, he bent over and picked up two hard Styrofoam kickboards and then tiptoed over near the block. He slapped the two boards together with all his might. “WHAACK!” The crack sounded like lightning had struck the very spot David was hiding. David scrambled to his feet and raced down the pool deck in the opposite direction as fast he could.

“BERKOOOFF!!!” the coach screamed in his loudest growl. Underneath the beard he couldn’t help but smile as he watched the chubby little boy scoot down the deck. “Berkoff, in the water noooow!!” David made a leaping dive into the pool and slithered into the group of swimmers.

Later that night Shoulberg met Judge Elaine Berkoff in the hall after her son’s first session at Germantown. The coach relayed the events of the evening.

“He’s a pistol,” Elaine said.

“We’ll look after him.” And Dick Shoulberg did.

Charles and Elaine Berkoff had every right to smile at the thought of their 11-year-old running on the pool deck. There was a time they worried about him running at all. In kindergarten David had such trouble coordinating his limbs in such simple activities as skipping that the school suggested he stay back to develop some coordination. It wasn’t that he was tall and gangly; as a matter of fact, he was short and quite chubby. At just a year old he weighed 17 pounds. The Berkoffs were a cerebral couple and David was a bright child. Charles had a Ph.D. and was an organic chemist who worked for a pharmaceutical company. Elaine had been an attorney and a district judge for 20 years. David seemed too bright to stay back in school just to gain some coordination.

 Win a copy of ...and Then They Won Gold: Stepping Stones to Swimming Excellence, Volume 1* by being the first to email me the correct answer to this question:

Using his "Berkoff Blastoff", where did David Berkoff first break the men's 100 LCM back world record?

*Only if you've not won in the past seven (7) years.

Yesterday's Winner

Mike Waldmann (Andrews HS) was the first to correctly answer yesterday's question:

Q.  Who is the only swimmer, other than Peirsol, to hold the men's 100 LCM back world record since August 21, 2004?
A. Spain's Aschwin Wildeboer held the 100 LCM back record (:51.94) for one week in July, 2009.

Mike will get a copy of Chuck Warner's ...And Then They Won Gold

Another chance to win in coming up...

Quote of the Day

The reason there are two senators for each state

is so that one can be the designated driver.

James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno