The devil might be in the details because i am sure Matt is not making up what he reported but Thomas is correct, the talent disparity would be too great for that to be true.

A guy who has never broke 1:00 for a single 100 can be who they want to be if they have the hunger and drive.

I think you're getting it backwards: I am the one saying the 53 sec guy is NOT going to get beaten out of the water by the 1:00 guy. And, this is totally tangential to Matt's discussion, hence the separate thread:)

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Right, I cannot edit my post. I agree with you, the talent disparity between someone who could hold :53 / 100 and 1:00 on one of them is too large.

The fact is there is no one in traithlon who can hold 20 x 100s on 1:30 @ :53

The forum guy OptimalAdrian could probably have done something like that "back in the day" (15 years ago) and now he swims a couple of thousand a week and is the fastest - pros included - at every race he goes to.

Right, that's what I thought, i.e. prob even Potts himself could not do hold 53s for 10 x 100 scy, not now anyway, but maybe back in his pure swimmer days. In addition to Adrian, you know Bruce Gennari went 15:20 for the 1650 in college, so he might could've done 53s on 1:30 back then.

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Ah, but here is where the qualifiers come in on genetic talent. What my quote really means is anyone can be a dedicated athlete if they want to be. What kind of times they will achieve in any given event is a separate issue, but they can always work as hard as possible:)

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I love you man! :-)

But your quote/tag line - as written, drives me a little nuts.

That said, world peace is not at stake; and, I don't loose sleep over it. -_-

Do you like my tag line??? (I think you have to be "old" like me, to "get" it)

---

I saw this on a white board in a window box at my daughters middle school...
List of what life owes you:
1. __________
2. __________
3. __________

A 15:20 guy would be able to do that set.
That guy being beat in OWS by a guy who can't break a minute is less likely.
Some really fast pool swimmers are crap OWS swimmers.

It's slightly possible, but not generally not likely.

Ya, i have had to explain my tag line a few times but i just think it is a really cool concept. I used to be a very literal kind of guy but i've gotten past that point. As a sidebar, there is an interesting story about where that quote came from as i can not take the credit myself. The quote comes from the girl who was the first woman ever to win the world billiards championship, back around 1999-ish, and not only was she a she but she was also only around 4'11" tall, so she was literally dwarfed by all of competitors, yet she stayed focused and made history. I don't normally follow pool tournaments per se but this was just some random Sports Illustrated article that i ran across, and that quote has stuck in my mind ever since. For many years I had it printed in giant letters on my refrigerator door:)

As for your tag line, certainly i've seen Caddyshack but TBH I don't remember that line from the movie. I thought it was pretty good but it isn't a movie that i've ever felt the desire to see a 2nd time. Sorry:)

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Thanks, that's what I thought too.

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

In my experience that doesn't seem plausible. The other thing is for that athlete to be going right now :53/100 for 10x100 @ 1:30 he'd have to be swimming twice a day and putting in huge volume/time in the water. I know first hand what the training looks like to swim like that and it's 20+ hours a week in the water.

---

http://www.magnoliamasters.com
http://www.snappingtortuga.com
http://www.swimeasyspeed.com

Back in the day I would have been close. My best 400 training time was ~ 4.04 scm. I have my doubts on the story. Name names and show splits is what I would like to see.

---

___________________________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

Ya, that is some seriously fast swimming:)

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Perhaps Thomas Gerlach will chime in; he's the one who swears this happened.

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I thought more about this and decided it just simply isn't true. Thomas has his signals crossed somehow.

Both my own personal experience and knowing guys that fast tells me it is inaccurate. Plus I stand by the statement that no triathlete could actually do that set. More or less the set of a 15:20 1650 swimmer - who is not running and cycling everyday.

I pretty much agree with the majority. While anything is theoretically possible (including breaking the course record) this falls into the have to see it to believe it category.

Holding 53 on the 1:30 is some really elite level swimming and if you can't bust 1:00 period, sorry, but you just aren't very good. Open water and the good swimmer got really confused and did 2.9. Maybe.

I have yet to encounter one of these mythical "good in the pool, bad in open water" creatures

I am not sure why you insist on re-posting this in another thread and debating this. This story is 100% true. How much experience do you have in pro race swimming? Look at Jordan Rapp on here, he swam ~5300 yards in an hour TT, swam more yards in the hour TT than some decent ITU swimmers, yet he doesn't make the front back at an Ironman. It happens countless times that someone who is a good pool swimmer, for whatever reason, does not do so hot in an open water swim. For one they are grabbing completely different water, then there is the violent nature of the Male pro swim start and some people just can't get their head wrapped on that.

Another story, I once swam with a gal going for Olympic qualifications in the 50m swim before the 2012 Olympics. We swam 100 (LCM) on the 125 or 120 I think and we went at least 5 seconds, maybe 10 seconds apart. After about 10 she turned to me said how many more are we going to do. I started to lead then and then she was done at maybe 5 more. I was just thinking, here is a girl that can absolutely light up a 50m swim, yet she was really struggling with this set. For the record she was burying me from the get go but each one become easier and easier for me until there was a cross-over point where I was faster than her and she was struggling to hang on.

Getting back to Matt Hanson. I was told by Matt's swim coach that he was swimming side-by-side with Blaz in the pool. Now Blaz swam on the hungarian national team, is swimmer tall, and I can imagine has perfect flip turns. So if Matt Hanson is swimming side-by-side Blaz in the pool, it is reasonable to expect that Matt is actually swimming faster or with more force in the straights and losing some time on the turns. If that was the case we should have see Matt Hanson right up front with a 48 minute swim but it didn't happen.

---

---

Save: $50 on Speed Hound Recovery Boots | $20 on Air Relax| $100 on Normatec| 15% on Most Absorbable Magnesium

Blogs: Best CHEAP Zwift / Bike Trainer Desk | Theragun G3 vs $140 Bivi Percussive Massager | Normatec Pulse 2.0 vs Normatec Pulse | Speed Hound vs Normatec | Air Relax vs Normatec | Q1 2018 Blood Test Results | | Why HED JET+ Is The BEST value wheelset

Eric, please quote me right if you are going to quote me. I didn't say I saw the person do the said set, please see how I worded it in the thread. To expand however, he told me after the swam that day the he didn't understand his swim that he was swiming xyz in the pool. But for reference this isn't the first time I beat this guy out of the swim. And yes he is clearly a sprint swimmer. The person I saw do xyz I said was TJ and I swim with Maik quite frequently. Maik can't swim a 200 under 2:10, in fact I have never seen Maik swim a sub 2:20, yet he comes out with TJ. With that being said Maik is the single best racer I have ever met. Some people do nothing spectacular in a training day and then blow it out on race day.

Also, I am not sure why you are so obsessed with this story. As you told me last week personally in Knoxville, you took on a swim challenge two years in a row. I asked you if you were faster at the beginning or the end of the challenge. You said you were faster at the beginning. I don't understand this logic. Any pro triathlete who got worse and worse day after day would change something. Training is meant to prepare you for a race, not break you down to a point where you are continually worse. So it bothers me when you try to discredit me on here, you are far from an authority on swimming.

Am I an authority on swimming, no, but anyone that has ever met me knows that I ask a ton of questions. Any one that has ever trained with me knows that I have tremendous heart and I am fighter. Again, I learned to swim at 26, I never had a coach to teach me. There my be examples of people who have taken their swimming further all things considered, but with the resources I have had the number would be quite small. It didn't get that way by pure luck.

---

---

Save: $50 on Speed Hound Recovery Boots | $20 on Air Relax| $100 on Normatec| 15% on Most Absorbable Magnesium

Blogs: Best CHEAP Zwift / Bike Trainer Desk | Theragun G3 vs $140 Bivi Percussive Massager | Normatec Pulse 2.0 vs Normatec Pulse | Speed Hound vs Normatec | Air Relax vs Normatec | Q1 2018 Blood Test Results | | Why HED JET+ Is The BEST value wheelset

In college a teammate went 9:35 for 1000 scy , my best was 10:12.
We would do occasional (like monthly) OWS days in the ocean.
He never beat me.
He would freak out about the cold (high 50's to mid 60's) water, could not dolphin in or out of waves well and swam very vertically trying to sight all the time.
It does happen.

Well I am an authority on swimming the story was not relayed to you accurately. The talent needed to accomplish a set like that does not exist in the triathlete world. I think Potts would do that set at :56-57 / 100. Actually Andy is old school and wears mesh drag suits in practice so more :57s than :56s.

I don't know if you two have a personal grudge, but I didn't interpret Eric's story as a discredit to you. Eric is an eccentric guy, a kind hearted version of H2Ofun.

I am a pretty terrible open water swimmer. So i agree that the correlation is not quite as high between pool and opencwater as some might expect. So in an effort to extract some value and postivity from this thread - what would you attribute the "lack" of correlatin to? I can tell you that I think you probably have some good insight into that, and keep in mind that statement is coming from an authority ; )

I am thinking Potts is faster than that. Here we have Matt Hanson going 1:01-1:02 for the set, he went 55+ at IMTX, the front guys have to be moving faster than that using the logic of everyone else in these two threads. From what I hear, Potts is just a whole other animal in the pool. I know a guy who swam with Potts in college, I will ask him when I get a chance. And no beef with Eric, but the fact the he called in to question my anecdote, then misquoted me and started another thread is a little irritating. But yes, after meeting him in person and asking him some questions, I have to question anyone that does not stop/change/back off when they are getting slower not faster. I just don't operate that way.

---

---

Save: $50 on Speed Hound Recovery Boots | $20 on Air Relax| $100 on Normatec| 15% on Most Absorbable Magnesium

Blogs: Best CHEAP Zwift / Bike Trainer Desk | Theragun G3 vs $140 Bivi Percussive Massager | Normatec Pulse 2.0 vs Normatec Pulse | Speed Hound vs Normatec | Air Relax vs Normatec | Q1 2018 Blood Test Results | | Why HED JET+ Is The BEST value wheelset

I know at least one of the front guys that didn't go faster than that in the pool.

---

http://www.magnoliamasters.com
http://www.snappingtortuga.com
http://www.swimeasyspeed.com

Always been a huge fan of your swimming comments. I can barely hold 1:30 in the pool but grew up swimming in the Mississippi waves and currents can can make it to the first buoy in first place open water. I think some people get too good at the controlled nature of a pool. Think track running to trail running esp when you factor in the typical sets people do. Seems like comparing a 400 runner off their workouts to a good xc guy on a tough course. There are a lot of triathletes that swim like this. I used to cringe when I would walk into the pool in Missoula and watch Linsey Corbin knocking out ridiculous times and I swam about 500 yards a week to her 25K and we would come out near the same over an iron distance.