The FAF AFAP Digest

The Charmer needs to go to a meet to have his expectations and ego put in check. I swim with about a dozen former D1 swimmers and the only time they will mention their college times is when asked. And, when they do tell them, they laugh at how far they are from them now, even though they are all in fantastic and fast swim shape.

Same with Peter and Cheryl. They never volunteer their times from when they were elites. I have to do some hard digging to get Peter to talk. One time I found out that he had beaten Michael Gross in the 200 fly (just before the 84 games?), for chrissake, and then the subject changed.

I had to use Google to find out that Cheryl still holds an all-time top 5 time in the 200 free (and possibly other events) at Arkansas.

It's like pulling teeth with those two.

Maybe being satisfied with how far you made it has something to do with it?

he hasn't even asked what my name is.

It is not something that needs to be asked, it is just something that is known. I think it is one of the inate truths.

See if you can return The Charmer and get Cage Fighter back.

Beating Gross is truly impressive, jaw dropping actually.

One guy I swim with beat (I think) or, at the very least, was competitive with Joe Hudepohl in high school. He told me this and I almost cried. Hudepohl, in my opinion, is the greatest high school swimmer of all time, and one heck of an Olympian to boot.

his brother is going to beat Kirk Nelson in some OW swim with salmon in the name

What? Now I'm curious who this guy is!

Fat Salmon, by the way.

Originally Posted by aquageek

The Charmer needs to go to a meet to have his expectations and ego put in check. I swim with about a dozen former D1 swimmers and the only time they will mention their college times is when asked. And, when they do tell them, they laugh at how far they are from them now, even though they are all in fantastic and fast swim shape.

I rarely hear any elite masters swimmers mentioning their college times. Or even going on about their masters times. (Couple exceptions of people who like to talk about themselves.) And this guy is nowhere near, even remotely near, those kind of times.

Originally Posted by qbrain

It is not something that needs to be asked, it is just something that is known. I think it is one of the inate truths.

See if you can return The Charmer and get Cage Fighter back.

I usually ask the names of people in my lane if I don't know them. Seems rather rude to start criticizing someone you don't even know.

Cage Fighter has a lot more reason to have a big ego than The Charmer, and he doesn't.

You must be too nice. I think after about 2 minutes of that we would tell him to shut it and swim.

We are usually very happy to have another fool join us at 5:30 am and make a point to introduce ourselves. Right now all the college kiddies and kids headed to college are rejoining us and that hurts my fragile distance ego.

Originally Posted by Speedo

Same with Peter and Cheryl. They never volunteer their times from when they were elites. I have to do some hard digging to get Peter to talk. One time I found out that he had beaten Michael Gross in the 200 fly (just before the 84 games?), for chrissake, and then the subject changed.

I had to use Google to find out that Cheryl still holds an all-time top 5 time in the 200 free (and possibly other events) at Arkansas.

It's like pulling teeth with those two.

Maybe being satisfied with how far you made it has something to do with it?

Did you see the email Cheryl send out this am? I have to think that was on purpose, as she mentioned saying something similar if the moment arose last night. LOL!

Originally Posted by aquageek

You must be too nice. I think after about 2 minutes of that we would tell him to shut it and swim.

Speedo was much nicer to him than me, and in general is a nicer person than me. I got on his case several times during the practice, one time making Cheryl crack up.

Originally Posted by knelson

What? Now I'm curious who this guy is!

Fat Salmon, by the way.

I'll PM you his name. Only knew his first name, but think I saw his last name on a team email.

Is his name Mike Quinn, by chance?

I'm going to restart my blog. I have too much smack to talk and it's killing me.

Originally Posted by aquageek

Is his name Mike Quinn, by chance?

I'm going to restart my blog. I have too much smack to talk and it's killing me.

No, Mike doesn't talk admiringly about himself.

That is awesome news about your blog. I really enjoyed reading it. And smack talk is, of course, the best.

Despite swimming in the same lane, he hasn't even asked what my name is. Sheesh!

The worst is when you swim with someone a few times and never caught (or just forgot) their name. There's this point of no return after which asking their name would just be too embarrassing!

Originally Posted by knelson

The worst is when you swim with someone a few times and never caught (or just forgot) their name. There's this point of no return after which asking their name would just be too embarrassing!

In this case, I've asked the coach. If they don't know they have a good way of asking. We've had a few times where we'd chat about someone in the lane to see if anyone knew the new person.

What I really hate is people who think they're a super great swimmer and everyone will know them. As someone who didn't swim as a kid, and generally doesn't pay attention to sports at all, I usually know no one, except for a few locals and maybe a few from the forums. But I've also had the opposite happen. After an evening workout at ASU Mona Plummer a few years ago where Nick Brunelli joined us, he came up to me in the locker room and introduced himself. Of course I knew who he was, but evidently he didn't know me.

This guy sounds like a real prize, Fort! Somebody should order a cap with "Charmer" printed on it, and slip it into his bag or locker.

Suppose you could steer the Charmer to some new entries in the "Rosetta Stone" series:

"Why the only person who truly cares about your college swim times is your mother"

"When at swim practice and you're new you should generally shut up and swim"

or my personal fav for some folks

"I used to be a D-bag and now I'm not"

My wise-a comes out sometimes, not intended to offend anyone. --mike

The blog is back, on a trial basis.

Originally Posted by scyfreestyler

This guy sounds like a real prize, Fort! Somebody should order a cap with "Charmer" printed on it, and slip it into his bag or locker.

Good idea, Matt! Fortunately, I won't see him much over the summer since our team is not active for a couple months. I suspect after some drubbing, he might shut up more.

Originally Posted by mj_mcgrath

Suppose you could steer the Charmer to some new entries in the "Rosetta Stone" series:

"Why the only person who truly cares about your college swim times is your mother"

"When at swim practice and you're new you should generally shut up and swim"

or my personal fav for some folks

"I used to be a D-bag and now I'm not"

My wise-a comes out sometimes, not intended to offend anyone. --mike

Excellent list! I'm going to try one of those next time he starts.