Yes - separate programs. I’m sure though they’ll jump through hoops for KL to get what she needs. The direction the Stanford men are headed though doesn’t portend well for a challenge though.
Yes - separate programs. I’m sure though they’ll jump through hoops for KL to get what she needs. The direction the Stanford men are headed though doesn’t portend well for a challenge though.
Surely the men’s D swimmers could give her challenge, or not??? Maybe they’ll have to get relays to compete with KL in practice. 
They could prob hang with, but I don’t think beat, those times. Her 15:13 American Record in the 1650 is 2 years old, and the fastest swimmer on the Stanford men’s team was 14:53 last year…
They could prob hang with, but I don’t think beat, those times. Her 15:13 American Record in the 1650 is 2 years old, and the fastest swimmer on the Stanford men’s team was 14:53 last year…
Interesting…well, she will just have to lead the men’s D lane, espec since I’ve read that she is a faster practice swimmer than most guys.
I am a lifelong swimmer, and for almost all of these last 38 years, I’ve been exclusively a right-side breather. I’ve had some pretty decent success at that. I got serious about marathon (Boston q) in my 30s. The most interesting thing is that a few months before my Boston run, after I went back to swimming for USMS Nationals and FINA Worlds masters in 2006 and then got back to run training, I had TERRIBLE left-side hip and back issues that made it difficult for me to even walk. Initially, I was diagnosed with anatomical limb-length discrepancy by about 3 cm. I put lifts in one shoe, but it didn’t help. I got assessed again, only to find that it was a FUNCTIONAL limb-length discrepancy. A few days of an and core exercises fixed that right up.
In years snice, I found that the left heel on my shoes wore much quicker. Finally, it was suggested to me by a runner/employee at the local run store that it could be because I breathed only to the right. She’s a non-swimmer, but her conjecture wa spot-on. EUREKA! Because of the minor differences in flexibility and strength on each side of the long axis, my left lattisimus dorsi and my right obliques were more flexible bc of the longer reach with my left arm while breathing right, while my right lats and left obliques were stronger, but with less flexibility. This affected my running gait, and led to the terrible back pain until I did more Core strengthening.
I am a lifelong swimmer with literally millions of meters in training. I’m not saying that breathing one side will do that to you at your level of adult-onset swimming, but it’s interesting to see what a lifetime of right-side breathing did to my run gait. If Ledecky ever gets into running, she will definitely have to focus on some Core stabilization if she wants to do anything as a runner without back pain and heel-wearing.
Yes - separate programs. I’m sure though they’ll jump through hoops for KL to get what she needs. The direction the Stanford men are headed though doesn’t portend well for a challenge though.
On good authority from a Stanford swimmer, it is “technically prohibited” for her to swim with the men’s team, but there may be certain scenarios where they can get swims together. I did not ask what that meant exactly.
As for the hybrid swimming - it clearly works for her and many other very strong, power-type swimmers. More power to’em.
Steve
Yes - separate programs. I’m sure though they’ll jump through hoops for KL to get what she needs. The direction the Stanford men are headed though doesn’t portend well for a challenge though.
On good authority from a Stanford swimmer, it is “technically prohibited” for her to swim with the men’s team, but there may be certain scenarios where they can get swims together. I did not ask what that meant exactly.
As for the hybrid swimming - it clearly works for her and many other very strong, power-type swimmers. More power to’em.
Steve
Ah, thanks for the inside scoop. It does seem kind of weird though; it’s not like this is 1916 and the boys go to the YMCA and girls to YWCA. I wonder what the reasoning behind this rule is???
Ah, thanks for the inside scoop. It does seem kind of weird though; it’s not like this is 1916 and the boys go to the YMCA and girls to YWCA. I wonder what the reasoning behind this rule is???
Good question. Wouldn’t surprise me if this has something to do with NCAA/Federal regulations, and the ability to account for funding levels to the men’s and women’s sports as part of Title XI (??)
Ah, thanks for the inside scoop. It does seem kind of weird though; it’s not like this is 1916 and the boys go to the YMCA and girls to YWCA. I wonder what the reasoning behind this rule is???
Good question. Wouldn’t surprise me if this has something to do with NCAA/Federal regulations, and the ability to account for funding levels to the men’s and women’s sports as part of Title IX (??)
Ah, good point, I had not even thought of that angle. Maybe the Feds are afraid a school might say they have a women’s team but only have 5 or 6 girls training with 30 boys in one workout. OTOH, you’d think an investigator could just pop his head in the pool and count the number of guys vs number of girls. But, on the other other hand, the fed regs are not known for being straightforward.