hardest sports

[Byron]

http://www.thetoptens.com/hardest-sports
97 submissions are made for the hardest sports on this website and no.2 is swimming.
Second paragraph by the writer speaks of something tight and painful and taking 20 minutes to put on so I guess he can't be talking about speedos.

[SwimTeamSpeedo]

He is referring to the now outlawed body suits. And yes, they take that long to put on.

[Byron]

Yes - I think I need to review my own post here - a correction to begin with as I should have said first paragraph and not second when quoting the time
of twenty minutes.
My first thought was that time must be about wearing the full body suit as the remark could not possibly apply to simple jammers. That brings me to the problem of a date for this blog - nowhere can I find it except there are comments from February and April 2012 as a clue.
I now wonder also whether I should have said she and not he for the author. In rereading "bathing suits" and "most unflattering bathing suit in the world"
(when emerging wet) I get the feeling that these are not words likely to have been written by a male swimmer.
There are extensive responses to assert the endurance required for intensive swim training and, although seeming to be mostly gender-neutral, one does specifically refer to talking to "the other girls".

[shaulis]

On the right side of the article it says the article was written almost 5 years ago (4 years 244 days) give or take some days. Supposedly the article was updated today (8/5/2013) I don't know how you would find out that claim to be true.

[kumu]

Its a little arbitrary to say what is the hardest sport. I would not like to run against the Chicago Bears defense or get towed into a 30 ft. wave at Peahi or Mavericks. I wouldn't be interested in swimming the English Channel or to Catalina from San Pedro. Climbing Everest or K2, no thanks. You would have a pretty good chance of surviving gymnastics or swimming or figure skating, but most of us would be in serious trouble with the Bears, Peahi, Everest, etc.

[Torchwatch]

The hardest sport is the sport that you personally cannot do.
To claim that the sport that you can do and enjoy training for is the hardest is disingenuous.
Many sports are easy at entry level and become increasingly difficult as you specialise; anyone can kick a ball around or dance about cheering.
Since I have never skied and now wear glasses that combination of cross country skiing and rifle shooting in the Winter Olympics seems to have a very high entry level difficulty. Harder even than ski jumping, which anyone could try once.

[Byron]

All good points raised - the "hardest" sport is a subject which has been and will be no doubt forever debated . I have to agree with cricket appearing in the list of the ten most boring however - but to be fair the one day events and tv sponsorship etc. have now changed the game out of all recognition and it is only test matches which might seem to go on forever (and my falling asleep at Lord's when New Zealand were visiting is a very distant memory).
Thanks Shaulis - if I borrowed Torchwatch's glasses I guess I would have spotted "list info" and noted that this list has been remixed 28 times and blogged 6 times.

[SwimTeamSpeedo]

I chuckled at Golf in the list above some other sports like Long Distance Triathlon. Seriously? Shocked to not see bowling on the list...lol. Guess it is all perspective.

[shaulis]

I was not aware there was competitive baton twirling but its #26 on this list. I guess getting hit on the head with a baton is hard. Bowling is #96

[sebbie]

I was most interested in the comments about rowing

[Torchwatch]

My niece rowed at university, and won the ladies section of her first triathlon the other week. Yet at her wedding last year she had beauty and grace.
Sport isn't about grinding ourselves into the ground and breaking our faces and limbs. It is about health, fitness and celebrating life.
As we train we gain endurance, strength and skill, so although our sport is always hard we are ready to progress a little further.

[kumu]

Triathlon: there is a tough sport! The original one in Kona, running a full marathon on hot lava flats, then a 100 mile bike race. The only event of the Kona triathlon I'd have a chance of finishing would be the 2 1/2 mile swim. There is even a Death Valley marathon. Ugh. Just walking in blazing 120 degree sun sounds fatal! These athletes must have body fat in the 2 % range.