Paradigms

Part of my mission is to break two paradigms out there: #1) that it takes 10 years to learn a sport and #2) that a person is too old to do well after their mid 20s. How can someone set a number of years it will take to become proficient at a sport? Never box this, because it all depends on how hard the athlete works, what does the athlete think about during practice, does the athlete come up with excuses to get out of workout, or do they put their head down and work 100% with no excuses? Does the athlete understand his/her own body and take care of it with proper nutrition, rest, and stretching, strength work and massage?

Also, at age 38 I feel like I can perform as well as I did in my teens and twenties, even better. I have to work harder on strength and flexibility, but I can take advantage of the years of experience and the developed aerobic system. We are just now seeing athletes (men and women) compete later in life, partly because it is financially possible. Even in the 80's there were not nearly the same opportunities for athletes in sports like swimming as there are now. Each sport has a National Governing Body (NGB) that has a performance plan with health insurance and monthly stipends for national team members, and sports are organizing competitions with prize money. This is in addition to private sponsorships, so athletes who develop their talent into a business opportunity can afford to compete until they no longer feel the desire.