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PaperclipPerfector  8mo ago (text post)   2753 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for August 9, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Breakdancing (or "breaking" as they call it) is new to the Olympics this year. The Australian contestant is Rachell Gunn, AKA Raygun, a communications professor who specializes in "the cultural politics of breaking". Lets see how she does.

How the hell did this happen?

Japan winning a gold medal in breakdancing is somehow more hilarious than breakdancing in olympics.

A Japanese guy went to a stone skipping competition in the UK and won. Japanese people are really good at anything fun and quirky (quirky in a good way). They've got moxie!

There's also Kobiyashi, the competitive eater. It wasn't just natural talent and determination, he studied competitive eating and found out that he could eat more hot dog buns if they were dipped in water.

And in the 1920 Olympics (or some year, I forget) Japan won a bunch of swimming medals because they built a glass-bottomed pool and set up film cameras along the sides to analyze different swimming techniques. And they apparently made some discoveries which were adopted by everyone four years later.

Etcetera etcetera. I'm surprised you're surprised!

Didn't they change the breaststroke rules because the Japanese found out a more efficient way to do it that wasn't spectator-friendly? Or was that something my swim coach made up/I made up my swim coach making up?

I suppose this is as good a place to ask as any: Why do non-freestyle swimming races exist (also, race-walking)?

Is there a reason why people would want to use a slower swimming style in everyday life, or what?

Is there a reason why people would want to use a slower swimming style in everyday life, or what?

I prefer backstroke because I tend to panic when my nose goes underwater.

(As an aside, while I can swim the Australian crawl - which is the actual name of the stroke universally used in freestyle swimming competitions - I can't swim breaststroke with the frog-kick; the last time I tried, one of my knees popped out of joint and I had to be rescued.)

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