Ironman92;1234907 wrote:Hard to judge IMO....Phelps with the numbers but if Jesse Owens or Carl Lewis could've done the 100, 200, 4x1, 4x2, Backwards 100, Backwards 200, medley 200 and 400.....
How many swimming athletes are there compared to sprinting athletes. Swimming seems watered-down compared to track.
Laley23;1234929 wrote:I get what you mean, but on the flip side, how come more swimmers dont do what Spitz and Phelps have done. But the same token, seems a lot more runners do what Lewis and Owens did (minues the Long Jump).
EDIT: I dont know if thats true or not (Track athletes being close to Owens and Lewis versus swimmers close to Phelps and Spitz), but it seems to be.
Ironman92;1234973 wrote:Well...seems very similar in % difference in times of the places....just one is in the water and you can do twice as many events.
Which sport do you think has the better athletes participating?
Laley23;1234979 wrote:I meant, seems more track guys are winning the 100, 200 and a relay than swimmers who are winning free/fly/IM. Does that make more sense?
Didnt Bolt win the 100, 200, and the 4x1 relay last year? Michael Johnson win them all? I honestly dont know, but it seems like it.
I dont recall many swimmers winning Gold in 3 different strokes (2 and the IM).
gut;1235036 wrote:Track has a much bigger talent pool to draw from. Everyone runs growing up. Far smaller number have access to a pool regularly (if at all). I'm not saying the top swimmers aren't comparable athletically, but relatively speaking a dominant swimmer has fewer competitors on par to beat out. Strictly a numbers game - might be why Phelps can win 8 gold medals but you don't see anyone in track doing more than 4-5 events, much less wining all those.
So one of the big misconceptions is that people think that all the swimming events are related to each other which is far from the truth. Swimming is typically a highly specialized sport as in a person chooses one discipline, Butterfly, Freestyle, Backstroke, Breastroke OR IM, and trains for that specifically as their "Top" stroke. And yes, IM (Individual Medley) is considered a "Stroke" as the training for it is different as well. Then people usually have also what is considered a "Second" stroke, and they choose their second best from that pool and go.
For example a person has a top stroke of butterfly and a second stroke of backstroke. So that person can usually swim 100Fly, 200Fly, 100Back, 200Back.
Furthermore, a person has a main event, which is what you're trying to get to the top meet with whether it be in High School and that goal is the state meet or College with NCAA's, etc. Then a person will also have a second event. An event and stroke doesn't have to match up.
For example with the above mentioned strokes a person could be more of a sprinter and have a top event as 100Fly and a second event as 100Back which would be better than their 200Fly. Just like track the a person can be really good at the 100, but not equally good at the 200.
Then the different strokes themselves throws in a new twist, they aren't really comparable and you have relatively few people in the world who can make the Olympics in 2 different strokes.
What Phelps did is particularly remarkable because not only was he swimming a a huge meet schedule (very strenuous as previously mentioned) but he had to train for all the different disciplines and races. He was essentially doing 3 different disciplines. He was doing Butterfly (100, 200), IM (200, 400), and Freestyle (200), and relays (Butterfly and Free on those) which would be similar to doing something along the lines of the sprint events (100, 200), long jump, and then also Hurdles of 100/110 and 400 and then some relays.
Swimming is just like sprint events on the track as it is also very very attention to detail oriented. Great attention is paid to things like the start (just like track), stroke count (I'm assuming track athletes pay attention to their strides, I know hurdlers do at least), the mechanics of each stroke, breathing patterns, and finishes. Swimming the 100Fly is a different race than swimming the 200Fly.
The point is just because someone is good at one event, doesn't translate to success in another (even within the same stroke), different events and different strokes have to be specifically trained for. Even when Spitz got his 7 he only did 2 different strokes (Free and Fly). With as good as Ian Thorpe was at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, he only swam 1 stroke (Freestyle) but different lengths of it.
Laley23;1234979 wrote:I meant, seems more track guys are winning the 100, 200 and a relay than swimmers who are winning free/fly/IM. Does that make more sense?
Funny how the younger generation isn't mentioning Bruce Jenner. His victory in 1976 is probably second in the USA v. USSR Olympic debate.
like_that;1234901 wrote:+1 to both.
Ironman92;1234907 wrote:Swimming seems watered-down compared to track.
Ironman92;1234907 wrote:Hard to judge IMO....Phelps with the numbers but if Jesse Owens or Carl Lewis could've done the 100, 200, 4x1, 4x2, Backwards 100, Backwards 200, medley 200 and 400.....