More "so and so shouldn't be allowed to set a record" babble

I look forward to watching him swim on Saturday! As for the comment you pasted...that's absurd. Edited to add: Somehow I have a hard time believing that the inability (due to job, family, etc) to swim two a day practices is what is holding many masters swimmers back from swimming at the level of Anthony Ervin, Josh Davis, Rowdy Gaines, etc..

There's a story on swimswam (swimswam.com/.../) about Anthony Ervin swimming at USMS Nationals and the first comment states: My thoughts are that this is ridiculous. Anyone who is registered in USMS has as much right to set a record as anyone else. Who exactly is the arbiter of what a "real masters swimmer" is? Besides the stupidity of the comment you pasted, Ervin is not guaranteed to set any records. The 50 free is held by Nick Brunelli at 19.65 and the 100 is 44.53 by Mike Picotte. Those are not soft records, even for a guy like Ervin. If he breaks the records and doesn't get disqualified, there is no reason that he shouldn't have his name in the usms record books.

And yet, on at least one occassion, US Open Nationals has been dual-sanctioned?? I've seen Linley Frame break the official W40-44 100BR and 50BR records over and over again: www.portal.aussi.org.au/.../results.php Her best times don't count for record purposes because she didn't swim them in Masters meets. Backstory: m.heraldsun.com.au/.../story-e6frf7jo-1225836735706

Yes he's a pro.So what.Masters Swimming is for everyone who fits the age requirement,period end of discussion.If we limit who can be a Masters Swimmer it diminishes us,and it diminishes our records. If he can beat 19.65,Wow.

I bet less than 1% of USMS members would rather the times not count.

I bet less than 1% of USMS members would rather the times not count. I think its more like 7.69% forums.usms.org/showthread.php

Frankly, it doesn't affect anybody except for those who come in second. The records should count. Otherwise, it's more of the mamby pamby BS of "we don't keep score because it might hurt someone's feelings." And in that case, the records would then mean absolutely nothing.

I have no problem with elite athletes swimming USMS and setting records. They raise the bar for all and have every right to be there. I have more of a problem with a situation such as Y-Nationals being recognized by USMS with results that will count towards the lists but excludes many USMS members from participation. USMS meets need to be open to all registered members and all members should be able to be recognized for their accomplishments. Period. Anything less would be uncivilized.

I have no problem with elite athletes swimming USMS and setting records. They raise the bar for all and have every right to be there. I have more of a problem with a situation such as Y-Nationals being recognized by USMS with results that will count towards the lists but excludes many USMS members from participation. USMS meets need to be open to all registered members and all members should be able to be recognized for their accomplishments. Period. Anything less would be uncivilized. I don't understand your second paragraph. The YMCA Nationals times count for all USMS members that have been entered in the meet. The reason its recognized and not sanctioned is that they cannot discriminate against YMCA members that don't belong to USMS. Those Y members times will not count because they are not members of USMS and this is similar to National Senior Games and those competitions are recognized also. The only reason that the YMCA would exclude any member of USMS from participation would be if you not a member of the YMCA. You have to join a YMCA 30 days before the meet starts. The YMCA has kind of cleaned up there act because a couple of years they did exclude YMCA members from setting a YMCA National Record unless you joined a full service YMCA. They also set YMCA Club fees at a minimum of $75.00 regardless of what kind of a YMCA you belonged to. I was a member of a YMCA that had only a house and had all of the programs done at schools and REC centers. I was told I had to pay $75 regardless of what services that I used and that if I set any YMCA Records they would not count because I was not a full service member paying $900 a year. The YMCA Nationals have currently cleaned up there act because they do not have the 90 day joining rule and scaled that down to 30 days before the meet. They also got rid of the minimum $75 dollar limit for YMCA's that are not full service and will allow any YMCA member to set a YMCA National Record and not discriminate against YMCA members that set records but were not full service members. These changes were instituted this year as I was told that there attendance figures were way down because swimmers were deserting them because of these ridiculous absurd rules.

Looking at Ervin's recent meet results, this will be nothing like what Frank is talking about in 2007. I'm thinking he's likely to take down the 50 and 100 Free records.