When I was in 5th grade, in about 1970, there was a girl named Laura who sat across the aisle from me in class. She came to school one day just beaming. “My brother broke the four-minute mile!” We were impressed, to say the least. He was a student at the high school, perhaps a sophomore. Only 16 years prior, Roger Bannister (1929-2018) broke the four-minute mile for the first time in recorded history, while in his mid-twenties. It was considered impossible in the minds of most, until he did it. That opened the floodgates for hundreds of others to repeat his feat, including Laura’s brother, then just a high school kid. And I read today that a 10-year old boy named Clark Kent Apuada has broken Michael Phelps 100-meter butterfly swimming record, set in 1995. We’d have to ask this young man what he thinks of Phelps’ example, but certainly Phelps’ performance has inspired the achievement of many swimmers, as is the case in track. It just...(Read Full Article)