Pages 315 and 316 of Sedaris' book "Engulfed in Flames" are descriptions
of his secret races at the Y pool. A must read for swimmers. The
obese,old,woman with Down's is no match for author Sedaris, nor are the
women in their 80's. Sundry other people have no idea that this young,
seemingly fit, man is struggling to stay ahead of them for 25 yards. He
also devotes a few paragraphs to good manners in the locker room.

rtk

On Jul 22, 6:45 pm, exk7 <e...@psu.edu> wrote:
> Pages 315 and 316 of Sedaris' book "Engulfed in Flames" are descriptions
> of his secret races at the Y pool. A must read for swimmers. The
> obese,old,woman with Down's is no match for author Sedaris, nor are the
> women in their 80's. Sundry other people have no idea that this young,
> seemingly fit, man is struggling to stay ahead of them for 25 yards. He
> also devotes a few paragraphs to good manners in the locker room.
>
> rtk

I got chewed out today by a lady swimming breaststroke, who kicks me
every time I pass her. She isn't aware that she swims breaststroke out
in the middle of the lane. She told me I should swim on the other side
of the lane to pass her instead of down the middle. She seemed to
think I could see past the turbulence of her too wide frog kick and
wait for a clear patch on the other side of the lane.

I didn't say anything. I must be mellowing in my dotage. I will,
however, continue passing her in the middle, which is correct.

MW Smith wrote:

> On Jul 22, 6:45 pm, exk7 <e...@psu.edu> wrote:
>
>>Pages 315 and 316 of Sedaris' book "Engulfed in Flames" are descriptions
>>of his secret races at the Y pool. A must read for swimmers. The
>>obese,old,woman with Down's is no match for author Sedaris, nor are the
>>women in their 80's. Sundry other people have no idea that this young,
>>seemingly fit, man is struggling to stay ahead of them for 25 yards. He
>>also devotes a few paragraphs to good manners in the locker room.
>>
>>rtk
>
>
> I got chewed out today by a lady swimming breaststroke, who kicks me
> every time I pass her. She isn't aware that she swims breaststroke out
> in the middle of the lane. She told me I should swim on the other side
> of the lane to pass her instead of down the middle. She seemed to
> think I could see past the turbulence of her too wide frog kick and
> wait for a clear patch on the other side of the lane.
>
> I didn't say anything. I must be mellowing in my dotage. I will,
> however, continue passing her in the middle, which is correct.

Awww, little ol' ladies in flowery caps and skirt suits doing heads up
breaststroke while chatting with their co-swimmers are always getting
such a bum rap on this newsgroup of champions. Give them a break.
They're in the water and they're moving. Where's your grandmother and
what is she doing? Hogging the road at 20 mph in a 35 mph zone? Better
she be in the pool.

rtk

exk7 wrote:
> MW Smith wrote:
>
>> On Jul 22, 6:45 pm, exk7 <e...@psu.edu> wrote:
>>
>>> Pages 315 and 316 of Sedaris' book "Engulfed in Flames" are descriptions
>>> of his secret races at the Y pool. A must read for swimmers. The
>>> obese,old,woman with Down's is no match for author Sedaris, nor are the
>>> women in their 80's. Sundry other people have no idea that this young,
>>> seemingly fit, man is struggling to stay ahead of them for 25 yards. He
>>> also devotes a few paragraphs to good manners in the locker room.
>>>
>>> rtk
>>
>>
>> I got chewed out today by a lady swimming breaststroke, who kicks me
>> every time I pass her. She isn't aware that she swims breaststroke out
>> in the middle of the lane. She told me I should swim on the other side
>> of the lane to pass her instead of down the middle. She seemed to
>> think I could see past the turbulence of her too wide frog kick and
>> wait for a clear patch on the other side of the lane.
>>
>> I didn't say anything. I must be mellowing in my dotage. I will,
>> however, continue passing her in the middle, which is correct.
>
> Awww, little ol' ladies in flowery caps and skirt suits doing heads up
> breaststroke while chatting with their co-swimmers are always getting
> such a bum rap on this newsgroup of champions. Give them a break.
> They're in the water and they're moving. Where's your grandmother and
> what is she doing? Hogging the road at 20 mph in a 35 mph zone? Better
> she be in the pool.
>
> rtk

I recently shared a lane with a non-swimmer who complimented me on my
strokes. I'll take it where I can get it. He was also young, handsome
and French.

In the remarkable sights at the pool category, there is a young, slim
woman who swims head-up, hair-dry breast stroke at a pretty good clip.
I think this is just remarkable. She also swims for a half-hour or more.
Madelaine

Madelaine wrote:
> exk7 wrote:
>
>>MW Smith wrote:
>>
>>
>>>On Jul 22, 6:45 pm, exk7 <e...@psu.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Pages 315 and 316 of Sedaris' book "Engulfed in Flames" are descriptions
>>>>of his secret races at the Y pool. A must read for swimmers. The
>>>>obese,old,woman with Down's is no match for author Sedaris, nor are the
>>>>women in their 80's. Sundry other people have no idea that this young,
>>>>seemingly fit, man is struggling to stay ahead of them for 25 yards. He
>>>>also devotes a few paragraphs to good manners in the locker room.
>>>>
>>>>rtk
>>>
>>>
>>>I got chewed out today by a lady swimming breaststroke, who kicks me
>>>every time I pass her. She isn't aware that she swims breaststroke out
>>>in the middle of the lane. She told me I should swim on the other side
>>>of the lane to pass her instead of down the middle. She seemed to
>>>think I could see past the turbulence of her too wide frog kick and
>>>wait for a clear patch on the other side of the lane.
>>>
>>>I didn't say anything. I must be mellowing in my dotage. I will,
>>>however, continue passing her in the middle, which is correct.
>>
>>Awww, little ol' ladies in flowery caps and skirt suits doing heads up
>>breaststroke while chatting with their co-swimmers are always getting
>>such a bum rap on this newsgroup of champions. Give them a break.
>>They're in the water and they're moving. Where's your grandmother and
>>what is she doing? Hogging the road at 20 mph in a 35 mph zone? Better
>>she be in the pool.
>>
>>rtk
>
>
> I recently shared a lane with a non-swimmer who complimented me on my
> strokes. I'll take it where I can get it. He was also young, handsome
> and French.
>
> In the remarkable sights at the pool category, there is a young, slim
> woman who swims head-up, hair-dry breast stroke at a pretty good clip.
> I think this is just remarkable. She also swims for a half-hour or more.
> Madelaine

I just received a note from my swim mate who is in Germany, lamenting
about the heads up hair-dry breast strokers who he then goes on to
describe as not so young and slim. He's looking for suggestions about
where to swim in Berlin. If anyone here has a suggestion, he'll be very
grateful.

(Madelaine: young, handsome, French? Watch out for fake accents!)

rtk

On Jul 26, 9:43 pm, exk7 <e...@psu.edu> wrote:

> Awww, little ol' ladies in flowery caps and skirt suits doing heads up
> breaststroke while chatting with their co-swimmers are always getting
> such a bum rap on this newsgroup of champions. Give them a break.
> They're in the water and they're moving. Where's your grandmother and
> what is she doing? Hogging the road at 20 mph in a 35 mph zone? Better
> she be in the pool.

This wasn't a shower cap chatting lady. This was a lap swimmer. My
impression is (since she kicks me every time she swims) is that she
deliberately swims breaststroke in the fast lane (there are two other
lanes, where she would fit right in), and she deliberately swims out
in the middle of the lane. When you're swimming with faster swimmers,
it doesn't take long to figure out how to do it. Everyone else does,
except for the Japanese lady who swims into the right hand side of the
wall like she means to stop but does a turn and pushes off right in
your face. But at least she hasn't complained about my face being in
her way yet.

On Jul 30, 9:37 am, MW Smith <clipper.sm...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jul 26, 9:43 pm, exk7 <e...@psu.edu> wrote:
>
> > Awww, little ol' ladies in flowery caps and skirt suits doing heads up
> > breaststroke while chatting with their co-swimmers are always getting
> > such a bum rap on this newsgroup of champions. Give them a break.
> > They're in the water and they're moving. Where's your grandmother and
> > what is she doing? Hogging the road at 20 mph in a 35 mph zone? Better
> > she be in the pool.
>
> This wasn't a shower cap chatting lady. This was a lap swimmer. My
> impression is (since she kicks me every time she swims) is that she
> deliberately swims breaststroke in the fast lane (there are two other
> lanes, where she would fit right in), and she deliberately swims out
> in the middle of the lane. When you're swimming with faster swimmers,
> it doesn't take long to figure out how to do it. Everyone else does,
> except for the Japanese lady who swims into the right hand side of the
> wall like she means to stop but does a turn and pushes off right in
> your face. But at least she hasn't complained about my face being in
> her way yet.

Such a simple and obvious solution. I do it all the time. If you've
ever told yourself that there's no reason to learn butterfly, that
it's only for specialists, now you know the secret for doing fly sets.
As soon as you see the breaststroker who clearly understands the power
of the kick, do your own power move. You will be sole possessor of
your lane.

rtk

Such a simple and obvious solution. I do it all the time. If you've
ever told yourself that there's no reason to learn butterfly, that
it's only for specialists, now you know the secret for doing fly sets.
As soon as you see the breaststroker who clearly understands the power
of the kick, do your own power move. You will be sole possessor of
your lane.

rtk

I can't get a visual on this. Please explain.

Pat in TX