In what countries, besides USA, is Masters Swimming "big"? Now, it's very difficult to define excatly what I mean by masters swimming being "big" but let's define it like this:
1. An arbitrarily chosen city with a population of more than 100,000 in the particular country would be likely to have a masters team with at least 10 members.
2. Annually there should be at least 5 masters swim meet being held in the country.
So basically, if I reside in the particular country in a not too small city, I'd be likely to be able to join a masters team and compete without having to travel abroad.
it is difficult to compare any other country to the USA. Not because of size or activity, but the actual construct. All other countries' Masters programs are a committee of the national age group (FINA recognized) organization. In the USA, it is a wholly separate organization.
That being said, and using 27 year old information, Germany (yes, pre-unified) had a pretty well organized and active Masters program, but I can only say that they had a well run and well attended long distance Championship meet in 1986 in Berlin. If that was any indication of the rest of the country, they were (are?) pretty healthy.
it is difficult to compare any other country to the USA. Not because of size or activity, but the actual construct. All other countries' Masters programs are a committee of the national age group (FINA recognized) organization. In the USA, it is a wholly separate organization.
That being said, and using 27 year old information, Germany (yes, pre-unified) had a pretty well organized and active Masters program, but I can only say that they had a well run and well attended long distance Championship meet in 1986 in Berlin. If that was any indication of the rest of the country, they were (are?) pretty healthy.
