What factors decide your favourite swimmer?

[Linny]

Considering all the great swimmers that there have been I ask myself, is it surprising that there are so few threads in this section OR is it surprising that there is not one clear choice?

So I’m gonna pose this question – what factors decide your favorite swimmer?

Looking at the threads and replies in this forum it would appear that, ignoring sexual attraction, we tend to choose someone the same sex as us and the same age or up to 10 years older. Even when we can see that in theory some modern swimmers must be better because they are faster we choose swimmers from our own era because of course they would have been faster but they were hampered by crap pools, costumes, lane ropes and goggles ;) or maybe it’s just because we like them more. I am wondering also if there is a tendency to choose swimmers who excel in our own specialist stroke/distance or who are from our own home or adopted countries.

So I’m guessing our favourite swimmer is actually determined during our “formative” years. Is this true for you?

To demonstrate this – my own favourite swimmer is without doubt Mary T Meagher and whilst I could talk about how far ahead of her time she was, how pretty she was, how she made everyone else look so ordinary and all that, without doubt the main reason that she is my favourite swimmer is because I wanted to be like her when I was growing up. My favourite British swimmer for similar reasons is Sharron Davies. Sharron comes in for a bit of stick here but there is no doubt in my mind that she is the best female British swimmer ever – well so far anyway. Her records lasted for years and she should have been an Olympic gold medal winner. Not only that but she has proved that she has other skills and assets and she continues to show them to us.

Do you fit in with my theories or are you an aberration? Please post below.

[NotVeryFast]

I am wondering also if there is a tendency to choose swimmers who excel in our own specialist stroke/distance
I certainly have tendencies in this direction, in that I'm pretty decent at all the strokes myself, and tend to like swimmers who are versatile. If a swimmer can do, say, the 200 Fly, not the 100, not the 50, no just the one event, the 200 Fly, I wouldn't find them very interesting. But I'm also fickle, and influenced by the way someone swims, I like swimmers to be elegant and stylish. Laszlo Cseh is one of my favourite swimmers of the moment, I strongly believe he'll have his day, and will beat Michael Phelps in the future. Of course, Ian Thorpe probably represented the ultimate in style and elegance in the past, but I've got bored with him, see I said I was fickle :devil:

Leisel Jones is another one of my favourites, I love the way she swims breaststroke. There, I've just contradicted myself when I said I like swimmers to be versatile, but she scores so highly on the "style and elegance" factor, I'll disregard the fact she only does breaststroke.

[matt]

This is a hard question but I'd say my favourite was Popov. I think mainly down to the following reasons:

Very successful swimming career over a good number of years
The fact that he had to go through a lot to get back up to where he was after the attack.
He seems like a very nice person who smiles a lot.


I think the one about their personality is a valid one as if they are a bit full of themselves then you might be put off of them a little.

[Tara]

I agree with Matt, Popov, because he was at his peak during my first years as a swimmer, as I progressed, and still recently.

His awesome technique, approach to training and racing, and his dominance over years sold him to me. I was lucky enough to be at the World Champs in Barcelona when he won 100 freestyle and I had tears!!!!

Current swimmer I would say Hackett. Again he has great technique, and dominates his events, has gone through a lot, and to top it is a really nice guy :)

Guess that I am going against what Linny says about picking someone of same sex! I can't think who my favourite would be...

I guess for me how they appear to be as people, so personality, technique and training and racing approach influence me....

[Vicki]

I guess for me how they appear to be as people, so personality, technique and training and racing approach influence me....

I think personality does have alot to do with it. No one would admire Popov so much if he was arrogant, full of himself or just generally horrible would they?

I think someone who can stay at the top and be gracious about what they've achieved and modest with it, will be high on the rankings. Mark Foster has been one of the top sprinters for years but, for me, he moans too much when interviewed and doesn't seem to be with the whole team sprint of things.

There is no one who truly sticks out for me. I think Thorpe is fantastically talented and will be around for many more years, he has great technique and Grant Hackett is just in a league of his own! :)

[Pete]

One factor is achieving something ground-breaking or should I say water-breaking. The one British swimmer who achieved this is David Wilkie winning Olympic Gold in the 200 Breast in 1976 by breaking the world record by 3 seconds. Others: Mark Spitz for his seven Olympic golds. Dawn Fraser for the first sub-minute 100 Free. Janet Evans for her amazing 800 Free world record, still intact after all these years.

[Bazza]

For me it is mainly about achievements whether that is doing a Spitz or a Popov. I really like Phelps for his unprecedented versatility and it's probably fair to say I mostly would choose someone of the same sex as me, also in my events eg over the years I have enjoyed watching the likes of De Beurghgrave, Warnecke and Kitajima.

I think the people who really stand out are the ones who appear to do the impossible, whether that is achieving something at one meet like Spitz or Phelps, whether it is consistently being at the top over a long period like Popov or whether it's just swimming incredibly fast (recent examples being Schoeman and Crocker).

Another interesting thing is that in sport it always seems like todays 'players' are better than previously, but I guess in swimming you can quantify that improvement in terms of time far more easily than in a sport like football. I think my favourite British swimmer in the past has been Steve Parry because he is such a likeable guy, and currently maybe Simon Burnett maybe because it is exciting to have a British swimmer who is that good in more than one event, and events where British swimming has not been strong over the 10 years or so I have been following the sport.

Finally I would be interested to know why Linny thinks Sharron should have been an Olympic gold medal winner?

[Linny]

Finally I would be interested to know why Linny thinks Sharron should have been an Olympic gold medal winner?Because taking performance enhancing drugs is cheating and as far as I am aware there is little doubt that the only person that beat her in 1980 did.
Do you not agree?
OK if the American's hadn't boycotted Moscow things would have been different anyway but they did.

[Chris]

Finally I would be interested to know why Linny thinks Sharron should have been an Olympic gold medal winner?

Wasn't Petra Schneider of East Germany later found to be a drugs cheat? In fact didn't she admit to it to Sharron herself?

Chris

[Gina]

The main factor has to be versitility. Yeah Foster was WR holder in the 50 free, but that was it. I like people who take on a variety of events, short and long. Swimmers who are not afraid to challenge others in there number 2 or 3 stroke even if they do come 2nd to the best in that event. That sounds like Phelps!

[Steve]

Wasn't Petra Schneider of East Germany later found to be a drugs cheat? In fact didn't she admit to it to Sharron herself?

Chris
Although like many GDR swimmers of the time she was <i>unknowingly</i> taking banned substances. Not that that means it wasn't cheating of course or that Sharron shouldn't have gotten the gold, just that it makes it harder for someone to admit doing something they didn't know they were doing. If you see what I mean :confused:

[icelolly]

hmm well heres jens answer

i asked her the above question expecting Phelps Thorpe Hackett type answers she is 8 and we watch these guys on tv a lot but you know what she said ella !
who is ella you ask ella is a 10 year old girl from the club who has just moved up to the county club in our area she is an alll rounder but particularly good at backstroke and jenni worships the ground she walks on ! so who knows ?? :love:

[Bazza]

Because taking performance enhancing drugs is cheating and as far as I am aware there is little doubt that the only person that beat her in 1980 did.
Do you not agree?
OK if the American's hadn't boycotted Moscow things would have been different anyway but they did.

Yes my point was that the USA weren't there, so obviously whilst I don't agree with cheating, I also felt you made it sound like Sharron should have been Olympic champion because she was the best clean athlete in the world, yet this was probably not the case.

[Linny]

Yes my point was that the USA weren't there, so obviously whilst I don't agree with cheating, I also felt you made it sound like Sharron should have been Olympic champion because she was the best clean athlete in the world, yet this was probably not the case.I think that's a bit unfair Bazza, I didn't say that at all. I hadn't actually even realised that you had made a point when you asked why I thought that Sharron should have been an Olympic gold medallist, I was just answering your question.

It is not necessarily "the best clean athlete in the world" that will win the gold medal. There are so many other factors to take into consideration (we've done that one on these forums plenty times). Taking part is one of those factors - you have to be in it to win it.

Sharron should have won the gold medal because on the day she was the fastest there - apart from the cheat. That's all I said.

[lane4]

Sharron should have won the gold medal because on the day she was the fastest there - apart from the cheat. That's all I said.

I think it is important to point out that individual East German swimmers were not cheats themselves. They were part of a system in which they were given pills by their team doctors and coaches that they thought were vitamins. The country and its system was the cheat, the swimmers themselves had no idea until much later.

[Linny]

You are right, it has been accepted that there was no deceit on the part of the East German athletes themselves so to call the athlete the "cheat" is wrong.

I was more careful when I originally made the reference to the cheating.Because taking performance enhancing drugs is cheating and as far as I am aware there is little doubt that the only person that beat her in 1980 did.

Even this may still be a little harsh on the athlete.

It would still be fair however to say that Sharron was cheated out of her Gold.

[aswim]

I feel that i decide my favourite swimmer/swimmers on how techniqually correct their stroke looks, how super fast they are and also how they pick theirselves up when had a down. A great example of this for me is michael phelphs at the world championships after his 400fc. Probably one of the most amazing swimmers ever!