Quote of the Day

I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me.

All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.

via NOT EVEN PAST

Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson

It's That Time Again



via digital operative

Edited 2:13 p.m.:

If'n ya done snoozed, ya done losed.  League is now full.


The Texas Swimming Fantasy Foosball draft is just around the corner.

Our fourteen-team league has just one opening for the 2016 season.


It's free to join and play.  League champion get a trophy.

Sign up to manage a team here

Draft is one week from today.

Past winners:

2005 - Hill (dirtybuttcrackheads)

2006 - Hill (dirtybuttcrackheads)

2007 - Montoya (The Slum Lords)

2008 - Button, Jr. (YouAllSuck-JustQuit)

2009 - Button, Jr. (YouAllSuck-JustQuit)

2010 - Tonya S. (sugar hiccups)

2011 - Button, Sr. (Mansfield Maulers)

2012 - Katie (Smack&Cheese)

2013 - Katie (Smack&Cheese)

2014 - Button, Sr. (Bait Campers)

2015 -  Pa-Check-OH (Shock-taws)

Quote of the Day

No president who performs his duties faithfully

and conscientiously can have any leisure.

via HISTORY

James Knox Polk

Quote of the Day

Call us the future from your past.

Frederick William "Fred" Schneider III

Simone Manuel

via Daily Mail

Phil Whitten wrote on the significance of Sugar Land's Simone Manuel's Rio performance here

via OpenWaterSwimming

Austin's Sandy Neilson-Bell commented on the Manuel's historic 100 free: 

“Who would have imagined that 44 years and 13 Olympiads would pass before another American female sprinter would stand proudly atop the Olympic podium?” asked Neilson. Now Sandra Neilson-Bell, the 1972 gold medalist said she was thrilled with Manuel’s victory in Rio.

 “She is a classy young woman,” Neilson-Bell said. “I’m especially impressed with her modesty about her achievements. I believe Simone would be a superb spokesperson for our sport, not only for the African-American community, but for all Americans. After all, what parent would not like to have a daughter like Simone?”

Allison Beebe Featured

via fortbendstar

Yesterday's 20 Questions on USA Swimming featured former FCST coach Allison Beebe.  Read it all here

11. How did you react to that swim as a coach?
Allison: I think my biggest focus was I knew I had this really talented swimmer and I wanted to be protective of her. I wanted to make sure she wasn’t that fast age-grouper that we didn’t see in five years. I would only let her do five workouts a week at most then and she had to take a day off in the middle of the week. And we never had her lift weights in high school. 

12. Why not?
Allison: She was breaking records without ever touching a weight. So we were going to let her keep improving and see where it went. My biggest focus in her career was to keep challenging her but not using all the tools in the tool box.

Quote of the Day

I never wanted to get out of a place as much

as I did to get out of the presidency.

via Wikipedia Commons

Hiram Ulysses Grant

This Explains It!

After viewing this, you'll understand:


Isn't it crystal clear now?  The Rio pool water quality was so poor, the guys had to "go" elsewhere...




p.s.  I hope Ryan is able to put this all behind him soon and get back to being his old fun-loving self.

p.p.s.  A guy named Mikey screwed up several times and is now labeled as the GOAT, right?

Quote of the Day

I left home looking for a grand adventure

and spent five months staring at mud.

via CBC books

Robert Moor

Vintage Bee-Fitty-Two's

I'll give you fish,
I'll give you candy,
I'll give you everything I have in my hand.

Quote of the Day

Your present circumstances don't

determine where you can go, they

merely determine where you start.

via Randy Gage

Nido Qubein

Family

My folks and I have known Steve & Ike for nearly forty years.  They're great people who did great things for me.

Just want to get that out there.  I fear the media won't stop at "just" tearing their son apart for what's happened in Rio.  They'll likely target the rest of the Lochte clan and that's a sad thing.

They deserve better.

via SuccessStory

Quote of the Day

My body has certainly wandered a good

deal, but I have an uneasy suspicion that

my mind has not wandered enough.

via aCurator

Sir Noël Peirce Coward

Quote of the Day

...but it's a sad man, my friend, who's livin' in

his own skin, and can't stand the company.

via popMATTERS

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen

Quote of the Day

Man is free at the instant he wants to be.

via Wikipedia

François-Marie Arouet, a.k.a. Voltaire

Quote of the Day

If you think adventure is dangerous,

try routine - it is lethal.

via The Talks

Paulo Coelho de Souza

Worth more...

...than a thousand words!

via Hindustan Times

A Doper, a Texan, and a Hoosier.

PHAT* has got to be proud of Katie Meili!





*That'd be Patrick Henry Aquatic Team

Quote of the Day

Do I think someone who has been caught for

doping should be on the team?  No, I don't.

via The Guardian

Lilly King

Quote of the Day

The stupid neither forgive nor forget;

the naive forgive and forget;  the
wise forgive but do not forget.

via Clare Spark Blog

Thomas Stephen Szasz

Quote of the Day

I'm a study of a man in chaos

in search of a frenzy.

via LIVEJOURNAL

Oscar Levant

Just No Kitchen Sink

via NBC NEWS

Rio '16 links:

Pool Events

Open Water

High school coaches can take care of TISCA membership here.  Austin clinic info:

Clinic Brochure

Hotel Reservations

Real-time results:

US Open

Austin Futures

Junior Nationals (next week)

Eliza Cummings will attempt a 20 mile crossing of Cape Cod Bay tomorrow.  Her blog (read at least the last few posts) is here

1. Remember how easy it is
2. Honor how hard it is

The first part is about remembering that at the end of the day it is just swimming. It is just stroke by stroke, kick by kick, moving through water—something that I have done since I was a child and something that I have been intensely training at for months/years. Compared to all the training and preparation I have done, the swim itself is easy. It is moving from point A to point B and then it is done. Easy.

The second part is about not dismissing the incredible feat of the crossing and training that I have already completed. It is also about recognizing that it is hard—it is a mental and physical challenge that at times will make me want to say “I don’t want to do this anymore.” BUT, I will honor the struggle of the swim and move through it, appreciating it for what it is but not letting myself become overwhelmed by the difficulty.

Tracking Map

Eliza Cummings Facebook

Like a challenge?  Start training for the tenth annual Highland Lakes Challenge in October.  Five lakes in five days.  I've done two ('07 & '11) and am considering trying a third.  Info is here

Lake Travis HS just re-posted their opening for a head swim coach

via Swimming World

Rice University is hosting a Mutual of Omaha Breakout Clinic on the 11th with San Antonio's Josh Davis.  Info is here

Clare got to experience a little of Mt. Moosilauke last month.  Found a short video someone shot of one of the many steep parts.  Probably shouldn't take Rover:

Quote of the Day

What the world needs is more geniuses with

humility;  there are so few of us left.

Oscar Levant

Quote of the Day

Well, when did this become a monarchy?

We are the people.  The president works

for us and we need to remember that.

via IAF

Dr. Benjamin Solomon "Ben" Carson, Sr.

Quote of the Day

Often we have no time for our friends but

all the time in the world for our enemies.

via The Globe and Mail

Leon Marcus Uris

The Last Gold

You can catch The Last Gold on NBCSN tonight at 7:30 central.  More info at USA Swimming is here

Quote of the Day

Books have the same enemies as

people:  fire, humidity, animals,

weather, and their own content.

via AMOEBLOG

Ambroise-Paul-Toussaint-Jules Valéry