Rip,
As an ex-high school swimmer and current Starting Strength novice, I've been trying to do some research on the odd bedfellow combination of swimming and powerlifting after I've exhausted my linear progression. In the (google) search, I came across the remarkable powerliftingwatch.com story of Brian Boyle and thought I'd share it with with others.
"I died eight times while I was in the intensive care unit and even when I woke up from my coma, I couldn't talk or communicate. The doctors told me that the initial reason that I survived the impact of the collision was because of the large amount of muscle that my body had acquired over the years of lifting and working out."
With all of the amazing stories (see: Brian Jones) of how barbell training can improve or save someone's life, when will people wake up and realize the benefits of being strong? Running a marathon isn't going to prevent a heart attack, but larger muscles and a stronger skeleton can be the difference between a big hospital bill and a big bill from the funeral home.
Just something to think about and inspire our chosen lifestyle.
As a general rule, the funeral home bill is quite small in comparison. Interesting story. I wonder what his opinion of PT is?