Darian Townsend entered a masters meet in Mesa over the weekend and broke five world records in the 25-29 age group. This was Townsend's first masters meet. For those of you who are not familiar with him, Townend is a three-time Olympian and gold medalist from South Africa.
Swimswam.com posted a story about Townend's incredible meet. Here's the link: swimswam.com/.../
I found the comments quite interesting especially this one by "HMMM":
I have no problem with athletes making money off of Masters but why have a separate division called Masters if there are no rules or restrictions? None of the sponsored people you mention in their 50′s are training for Rio are they?. Most people in Masters believe they are swimming against recreational swimmers which is why there is a separate Masters division and those records are set by recreational/retired swimmers. If Phelps remains retired and wants to swim Masters, well there goes a few records in his age group but none of us in our club would have a problem with it. We discussed that very subject this morning after practice and Phelps, like Rowdy Gaines is retired and would welcome him. Many of us have swam against and met Rowdy and it is a true honor to share the pool with him in a Masters meet. But our entire team would have a huge problem if Lochte decides to swim a Masters meet while he is still fully training for the Olympics and blows all the records out of the water. If Lochte swims 12 events, he is going to walk away with 12 records. Why have a separate record book? If he can do that, you might as well just call us all USA swimmers and do away with the Masters division. There are meets where fully training pros swim and they are called Grand Prix’s, Nationals, and Worlds. Call us old fashioned, call us Masters swimmers, but we all think Masters should be separate from the training pros..
So I'm curious what the rest of you think. Should someone like Darian Townend or Ryan Lochte be allowed to swim in masters meets when they are professional swimmers who are training full-time? And maybe "allowed" is a poor choice or word. The bottom line is do you think they have any business swimming masters meets?
On a personal note, I'd avoid any meet where I knew someone of Olympic caliber was present, especially a very small meet with few heats of events.I'm kind of the other way on this. I won't go looking for events with elite swimmers but every year, I swim a meet (typically 150-200 swimmers) where there is the potential for elite swimmers to show up. I'm fast enough to end up in the "fast" heat for most of my swims but I'm certainly no TT threat (yet). I've been lapped multiple times in a 1650. I've been lapped in a 200 fly. I've been humbled by a certain forumite in the 200 br. And those aren't even by "elite" swimmers... at least by various current working definitions. I'll admit there's a certain enjoyment with winning the "not quite so fast" heat. But I also tend to put forth a little more effort in the "fast" heat in a vain attempt to prove I belong there. When it is all done, I'm looking at the clock because I figure that if I can keep beating myself, the TTs and records will work themselves out.
On a personal note, I'd avoid any meet where I knew someone of Olympic caliber was present, especially a very small meet with few heats of events.I'm kind of the other way on this. I won't go looking for events with elite swimmers but every year, I swim a meet (typically 150-200 swimmers) where there is the potential for elite swimmers to show up. I'm fast enough to end up in the "fast" heat for most of my swims but I'm certainly no TT threat (yet). I've been lapped multiple times in a 1650. I've been lapped in a 200 fly. I've been humbled by a certain forumite in the 200 br. And those aren't even by "elite" swimmers... at least by various current working definitions. I'll admit there's a certain enjoyment with winning the "not quite so fast" heat. But I also tend to put forth a little more effort in the "fast" heat in a vain attempt to prove I belong there. When it is all done, I'm looking at the clock because I figure that if I can keep beating myself, the TTs and records will work themselves out.
