[Leica] OT (Totally): Netherlands and swimming and the Olympics

[abridge at gmail.com (Adam Bridge)]

I'm thrilled to see the Netherlands continuing to gain ground as a
world swimming power.

Perhaps someone on this list can tell me how this came about? It's a
joy to watch the skill and technique and the excellent conditioning.

I follow swimming, not as a fan but as a swimming official in the US.
My interest in the sport isn't very nationally oriented - I just like
to watch people excel.

So if there's some insight you might add, I'd sure enjoy it. 

I'll add that I was priviledged to have one of this year's South
African gold-medal winning relay team in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay
share Thanksgiving at our house 4 years ago (before he was a power.)
It's fun to have that connection.

I also like watching the Olympics without the Cold War politics. I
only wish I saw more general competition and not so much a focus on
the US teams. Perhaps it works that way in every country though?

Adam