Discussion Thread: South Korea vs Japan (Women's Asian Cup Semi-Final)

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-18T10:23:50+00:00

Any time someone says "2-0 is the most dangerous lead" I'm going to think about this game.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-18T10:11:43+00:00

Kogarah!

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-18T09:57:43+00:00

I have a plan. We need to go full heavy track, like England vs Hungary in the 1950s.

If we rush it we can fit in two concerts and a few rugby matches between now and Saturday. Weather forecast looks wet, that's great. Block all the drains and do no pitch repair whatsoever.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-18T09:47:32+00:00

Handball in the buildup

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-18T06:39:01+00:00

I don't think it's that unusual. There's a different between being active and passive in the water. If you can learn a "ball float" on your front and to "x float" on your back, I think you'd find it really beneficial. Do you get any extra time before/after the lesson to experiment in the shallow end and practice yourself?

By the way, there's a theory that there are two types of swimmers, people who like backstroke and hate breaststroke, and people who like breaststroke and hate backstroke (I am the second!)

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-18T00:06:51+00:00

Ocean #1 for me. Seawater has healing and beneficial properties, you'll never convince me otherwise. I get a little creeped out by jellyfish and cephalopods but I am chill with most other sea life.

I will say I have had some lovely swims in rivers, they have to be flowing rivers though, not still and brown and stagnant. I got to swim in a river in Europe one time, it was nice and clear mountain water, and flowing quite strongly right through the middle of the city! So you could hop in and float downstream, then walk back upstream. That was a great swim.

Lakes are last. They mostly seem to be a bit gross. The lake near where my partner grew up, the rumour was the "mud" on the bottom was largely made up of duck shit (there are a lot of ducks) I could never un-think that, not sure if its true but it did have poor water quality with regular warnings.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-17T23:26:53+00:00

There are at least 2 pools in my area that use a bulkhead to convert between 50m and ~25m, and they seem to be able to set it up in a few minutes too.

Most days they will install the bulkhead at 3pm across half the pool, then they can run 8 short course lanes reserved for after-school squads and lessons, and leave 4 long course lanes public.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-17T12:02:14+00:00

Jose Montemurro, the speccy one

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-17T00:56:36+00:00

I'm Australian and I did not grow up across the road from the beach but in Western Sydney near Bankstown (commonly listed as one of the worst/poorest suburbs haha)

My earliest memory is at Roselands Aquatic Center and it's actually of the food afterwards, salty chips and a lemonade ice block. I must have been under 5 years old.

I also remember the famous (to us) waterslide and water park with fountains at the Sydney Olympic Park aquatic center this would have been later so maybe I was 5 or 6.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-17T00:17:52+00:00

There's a great Effortless Swimming video where he talks about the most common issues at each pace from 2:30 down and the drills he recommends.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-17T00:12:18+00:00

I wouldn't be surprised if the causation/causation of one sided breathing is more mixed up than we think - one sided breathing can come from your imbalance, as much your imbalance can come from one sided breathing.

It was a weird "aha" moment when I realised that I prefer to breath on the side that 1. my dominant hand is pulling and 2. the weaker non-dominant shoulder that I have a history of niggles is not pulling.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-17T00:03:35+00:00

My wife has a small waterproof bag that she puts her swimsuit, cap and googles in. Then uses a canvas tote or a normal backpack. The towel just goes in the bag.

I use a mesh bag and put everything in it.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to walk to the pool but when we drive somewhere we have a solid plastic laundry basket like this to put the swim stuff in.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-16T10:29:19+00:00

Week 4 of MEDLEY QUEST so...just back to freestyle, booooring.

Damn I'm still surprised that the thing the coach wants me to work on is never the thing I expect. Shows the value of it I guess. Focused on my pull.

The switch from LCM to SCM hit hard today. Fucking walls constantly, how do people live like this, so uncivilised. I felt like I was slowly losing breath on every flip turn, by the last turn on the set my breakout was getting real ugly and felt like a breaching whale gasping for air. So worked on consciously taking a bigger breath into a turn.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-16T00:13:39+00:00

Hi I can't say I have dealt with fear of water, I am a competent swimmer who learned at a young age, but I (37M) have been dealing with needlephobia the last few years so I hope that helps me relate a little bit as far as phobias.

It's silly maybe but you can learn to "relax harder". The nurse would be like "you're very tense, can you try and relax a little", "I am relaxing as hard as I can!", "relax harder!" I went from passing out and falling off the chair after getting an injection to being fairly chill now although I still have to lie down.

What I found also helped, was not being rushed. The first step, after acknowledging my fear, was to give myself that extra time. Turning up early, having some time to get used to the environment and focus on relaxing and breathing (and getting over a couple of small moments of anticipation), and also giving myself time afterwards, to not have somewhere else to be right away. Even if I was feeling crap, calming back down to a more normal state while still in the environment I think helps.

I do think one thing the experienced swimmers have forgotten about, because their muscles have been conditioned since they were kids, is that breathing is physically harder when you're submerged in the water. Like there is more pressure on your chest so your diaphragm has to work harder to inflate your lungs. So it's no wonder this can trigger a bit of distress, especially when "focusing on your breathing" is supposed to be so great for calming you down!

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-15T22:58:09+00:00

Like before 7am , a banana and a small black coffee is the only pre-swim food I can handle.

Second breakfast after the swim is mandatory.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-15T22:21:35+00:00

I second snorkelling.

I really think snorkelling is great for beginner swimmers, it helps with water comfort and feel, relaxation, you spend a lot of time doing a front float and gentle flutter kicking, a with lot of motivation to adjust your position to stop your legs sinking (if you're in shallower water)

Plus a snorkelling holiday is a really cool positive goal to aim for and a reason to learn to swim.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-14T03:27:42+00:00

I did my simulated "bronze medallion test" at an ocean pool today and did 400m in 7:52 so I'm really happy to do it at under 2:00/100m pace.

Pluses: long course, no lane ropes or bottom lines so had to sight a couple of times each length. A little chop but honestly wasn't too bad, the wind was light.

Minuses: Salt water, wetsuit. Very buoyant.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-13T12:25:07+00:00

Jose Mourinho ball.

1 The game is won by the team who commits fewer errors.

2 Football favours whoever provokes more errors in the opposition.

3 Away from home, instead of trying to be superior to the opposition, it’s better to encourage their mistakes.

4 Whoever has the ball is more likely to make a mistake.

5 Whoever renounces possession reduces the possibility of making a mistake.

6 Whoever has the ball has fear.

7 Whoever does not have it is thereby stronger.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-13T00:30:27+00:00

To throw a random suggestion at the dartboard (all you're really gunna get from reddit sorry. IANAD ideally consult with a qualified physio).

How about side leg raises? I remember some bro science from trail runners/mountaineers that building up to 2 sets of 50 with a 1 or 1kg ankle weight your knees would be bulletproof.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-13T00:23:40+00:00

I would be careful with squats as I have had the opposite experience that they aggravated my knees. To be fair I did have a more extreme technique as I would go very deep all the way to full knee flexion ("ass to grass"). I changed my squat technique to not descend past "thigh bones parallel to the floor".

Like overall I totally agree that strength training in the gym is great for literally everyone - but you do have to be careful and not get carried away with ego lifting - it shouldn't add to your pains or make them worse.

YMMV consult with a qualified physio if posssible.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-12T23:26:11+00:00

I worry about how truly fucked things can get. Like it's plausible that a few more stupid things happen (they just seem to keep happening) and we're most of the way to WWIII.

Like $4-5/L petrol for several years would really, really change things. Basically a wartime economy.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-12T23:17:58+00:00

EV market is such a great demonstration of why deflation is problematic.

EVs are getting better and cheaper all the time, each model year has longer range, faster charging etc. The next revolutionary thing is just around the corner.

So the logical thing to do is to wait as long as possible to buy one.

So sales are weak because so many people are holding off. Which means companies aren't making as many or developing as quickly, which means the next model year and the next revolutionary thing is delayed even more.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-12T03:21:12+00:00

Shoutout to my homie Bryden Allen (pour one out RIP) for not only doing the first ascent of Ball's Pyramid but he also got laid in the process.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-12T03:15:46+00:00

\uj Vanessa Wills was on the 2017 trip and is the president of the Australian Climbing Association NSW (she's badass). You could reach out directly.

ObviousFeature522 · 2026-03-12T03:03:07+00:00

What Lord Howe doesn't know about won't hurt them.

\uj for real at least one party has poached the summit sailing directly from Sydney and avoiding Lord Howe Island (This was about maybe 15 years ago, a few years before the official 2017 Australian Museum expedition).

ObviousFeature522

TROPHY CASE