Olympic Swimming Thoughts
as i previously noted, i believe that "sports" can be categorized nicely into 4 categories, and that the olympics should be primarily about what i call "athletic feats" rather than "sports". as such, i believe that swimming is a perfect event for the olympics.
what i don't quite understand, though, is why the breast stroke and butterfly are separate events from the freestyle. shouldn't swimming simply be "swim from here to there" first one there wins. whether you choose crawl stroke (which most people mistakenly believe to called "freestyle"), breast stroke, side stroke, or butterfly is up to you.
why do you need a separate breast stroke or butterfly event? seems strange to me. you don't have a 100m sprint and 100m skip and 100m trot and 100m powerwalk. why not a side stroke event?
in addition, running has the marathon but swimming doesn't have something analogous to that. while swimming does have its longer events, there isn't something as extended as the marathon. here's my proposal:
olympic water treading - chin touches the water and you're out
i think this would be highly entertaining and certainly less ridiculous than synchronized swimming. how long do you suppose a world class athlete could tread water? 8 hours? 12 hours? longer?
what i don't quite understand, though, is why the breast stroke and butterfly are separate events from the freestyle. shouldn't swimming simply be "swim from here to there" first one there wins. whether you choose crawl stroke (which most people mistakenly believe to called "freestyle"), breast stroke, side stroke, or butterfly is up to you.
why do you need a separate breast stroke or butterfly event? seems strange to me. you don't have a 100m sprint and 100m skip and 100m trot and 100m powerwalk. why not a side stroke event?
in addition, running has the marathon but swimming doesn't have something analogous to that. while swimming does have its longer events, there isn't something as extended as the marathon. here's my proposal:
olympic water treading - chin touches the water and you're out
i think this would be highly entertaining and certainly less ridiculous than synchronized swimming. how long do you suppose a world class athlete could tread water? 8 hours? 12 hours? longer?
Labels: olympics
posted by The Mean Guy at 9:58 AM
3 Comments:
Welcome back.
Swimming does have longer events, just not in the olymics. My bro-in-law rows support for swimmers that swim around AC (not done anymore) and Manhattan. Takes them like all day to do it. Not sure why it's not in the Olympics.
MG, did you see that they actually have olympic speed walking? You always have to have one foot on the ground or you're disqualified. How freaking ridiculous is that?
- Joe
there was a swimming marathon this year. 6.2 miles at the rowing venue.
Post a Comment
<< Home