Don't know if everybody saw that Michael Phelps came within a whisker of getting the 100m backstroke World Record. It got me to thinking. It seems obvious Phelps will go in history as the greatest swimmer ever. And it's because of his breadth in the sport.
Of the five disciplines in competitive swimming, he holds World Records in three of them (freestyle, IM, fly)
Should he get a World Record in the backstroke, he would hold WR's in four of the five disciplines. I believe that's unprecedented, but maybe somebody could chime in as to whether anyone else has come close to that feat. Obviously people have held WR's in two strokes, but anybody out there hold WR's in three like Phelps, or even four?
Eric
PS I consider Thorpe holding freestyle records from 200m to 800m as equally impressive as holding WR's in two strokes.
It seems obvious Phelps will go in history as the greatest swimmer ever.
Duke Kahanamoku is the greatest swimmer ever, because he was inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame *and* the the Surfing Hall of Fame, and he is on a stamp. He is followed closely by Harald "whiteshoes" Johnson, who won the Manhattan Island Swim.
It seems obvious Phelps will go in history as the greatest swimmer ever.
Duke Kahanamoku is the greatest swimmer ever, because he was inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame *and* the the Surfing Hall of Fame, and he is on a stamp. He is followed closely by Harald "whiteshoes" Johnson, who won the Manhattan Island Swim.
You are right: two Hall of Fames ain't too shabby.
Did Harald wear his "whiteshoes" around Manhattan 🙂
It seems obvious Phelps will go in history as the greatest swimmer ever.
Duke Kahanamoku is the greatest swimmer ever, because he was inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame *and* the the Surfing Hall of Fame, and he is on a stamp. He is followed closely by Harald "whiteshoes" Johnson, who won the Manhattan Island Swim.
You are right: two Hall of Fames ain't too shabby.
Did Harald wear his "whiteshoes" around Manhattan 🙂
Smith is wrong, if you go by the results of the only organised poll to decide upon the greatest swimmers - Kahanamoku was a very,very distant fourth.
"ee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
On Aug 17, 5:50 am, _ <[email hidden]>
Quoted message said:
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:06:17 -0700, ee wrote: > Obviously people have held WR's in two strokes, but > anybody out there hold WR's in three like Phelps, or even four?
Gary Hall Sr.
Not so.
Two disciplines: IM and Butterly. (200/400 IM and 200 Fly)
So I'm still waiting for someone who has WR's in even three.
Eric
Dawn Fraser did - freestyle, butterfly and backstroke (by memory, but not breaststroke to my knowledge).
KF
I don't think so.
Fraser was mainly a freestyler - although she did swim some butterfly races (she was Australian Champion at both the 110 and 220), she didn't like to; I remember she said it made her stomach hurt.
Her name does not appear in the lists of World Record Holders for any of the following events:
100 Back LC metres 200 Back LC metres 100 Butterfly LC metres 200 Butterfly LC metres 100 Back SC metres 200 Back SC meters 100 Butterfly SC metres 200 Butterfly SC metres
I believe that she did break the 100 Butterfly WR for 110 yards in 1960.
"_" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
King Frog said:
"ee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
On Aug 17, 5:50 am, _ <[email hidden]> wrote: > On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:06:17 -0700, ee wrote: > > Obviously people have held WR's in two strokes, but > > anybody out there hold WR's in three like Phelps, or even four? > > Gary Hall Sr.
Not so.
Two disciplines: IM and Butterly. (200/400 IM and 200 Fly)
So I'm still waiting for someone who has WR's in even three.
Eric
Dawn Fraser did - freestyle, butterfly and backstroke (by memory, but not breaststroke to my knowledge).
KF
I don't think so.
Fraser was mainly a freestyler - although she did swim some butterfly races (she was Australian Champion at both the 110 and 220), she didn't like to; I remember she said it made her stomach hurt.
Her name does not appear in the lists of World Record Holders for any of the following events:
100 Back LC metres 200 Back LC metres 100 Butterfly LC metres 200 Butterfly LC metres 100 Back SC metres 200 Back SC meters 100 Butterfly SC metres 200 Butterfly SC metres
I believe that she did break the 100 Butterfly WR for 110 yards in 1960.
Okay, I stand corrected if I'm wrong. It's just that I witnessed her swimming a backstroke record in the Adelaide pool around about 1960, which was 55 yards in length, so it may have been only a national record, but it did receive quite a bit of publicity at the time. Most of her records at that time would have been in 55yard pools.
ee wrote: > It seems obvious Phelps will go in history as the greatest swimmer > ever.
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
Duke Kahanamoku is the greatest swimmer ever, because he was inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame *and* the the Surfing Hall of Fame, and he is on a stamp. He is followed closely by Harald "whiteshoes" Johnson, who won the Manhattan Island Swim.
Quoted message said:
You are right: two Hall of Fames ain't too shabby.
Quoted message said:
Did Harald wear his "whiteshoes" around Manhattan 🙂
Smith is wrong, if you go by the results of the only organised poll to decide upon the greatest swimmers - Kahanamoku was a very,very distant fourth.
Yes, I've seen some of those. Don't know how international they were. I believe Mark Spitz won for most influential swimmer of the 20th century, with Johnny Weissmuller a close second. Maybe it's a dumb question: "every generation throws a hero up the pop charts".
On Aug 17, 6:19 am, mwsmith <[email hidden]> wrote: > ee wrote: >> It seems obvious Phelps will go in history as the greatest swimmer >> ever.
Quoted message said:
> Duke Kahanamoku is the greatest swimmer ever, because he was inducted > into the Swimming Hall of Fame *and* the the Surfing Hall of Fame, and > he is on a stamp. He is followed closely by Harald "whiteshoes" Johnson, > who won the Manhattan Island Swim.
Quoted message said:
You are right: two Hall of Fames ain't too shabby.
Quoted message said:
Did Harald wear his "whiteshoes" around Manhattan 🙂
Smith is wrong, if you go by the results of the only organised poll to decide upon the greatest swimmers - Kahanamoku was a very,very distant fourth.
Yes, I've seen some of those. Don't know how international they were. I believe Mark Spitz won for most influential swimmer of the 20th century, with Johnny Weissmuller a close second. Maybe it's a dumb question: "every generation throws a hero up the pop charts".
I think Smith attempting to inflate Kahanamoku's reputation has something to do with his (Smith's) using "Duke Kahanamoku" as one of his sock-puppets (attempting to sneak around kill-files) following one of the times he had announced he was "leaving the newsgroup".
On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 14:45:26 -0700, ee wrote: > On Aug 17, 6:19 am, mwsmith <[email hidden]> wrote: >> ee wrote: >>> It seems obvious Phelps will go in history as the greatest swimmer >>> ever. >> Duke Kahanamoku is the greatest swimmer ever, because he was inducted >> into the Swimming Hall of Fame *and* the the Surfing Hall of Fame, and >> he is on a stamp. He is followed closely by Harald "whiteshoes" Johnson, >> who won the Manhattan Island Swim. > You are right: two Hall of Fames ain't too shabby. > Did Harald wear his "whiteshoes" around Manhattan 🙂 Smith is wrong, if you go by the results of the only organised poll to decide upon the greatest swimmers - Kahanamoku was a very,very distant fourth.
Yes, I've seen some of those. Don't know how international they were. I believe Mark Spitz won for most influential swimmer of the 20th century, with Johnny Weissmuller a close second. Maybe it's a dumb question: "every generation throws a hero up the pop charts".
I think Smith attempting to inflate Kahanamoku's reputation has something to do with his (Smith's) using "Duke Kahanamoku" as one of his sock-puppets (attempting to sneak around kill-files) following one of the times he had announced he was "leaving the newsgroup".
My use of the Duke's name as mine was because he *is* the greatest swimmer of all time. No need to inflate his reputation. Phelps has had the advantage of three extra generations of eugenics, plus all that research on stroke mechanics, diet, and training techniques the Duke didn't have. And they didn't have goggles back in the Duke's day. Or Speedos. Plus the Duke was a surfer. He had spend all those tiresome hours draining his sinuses.
My changes of name have always been associated with changes in news client, news service, or ISP. They have nothing to do with avoiding killfiles. Please add my name to yours.
On the other hand, your name changes have been for what reason, exactly?
