There's a story on swimswam (swimswam.com/.../) about Anthony Ervin swimming at USMS Nationals and the first comment states:
There is nothing better than going to a USMS meet and seeing swimmers like Anthony Ervin compete. It makes you feel like a 12 year old fan again!
In the same breath I will ask; what is the point of letting their times count as USMS records? They are professional two-a-day swimmers in the same age group categories as young professionals who might make a few practices per week. There is no way real Masters swimmers are able to train to be able to beat them. The professional swimmers wouldn’t be able to beat themselves with the same schedule afforded to the a real Masters swimmer. Thoughts?
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.
The comment about Ervin is not guaranteed to set any records is right on. I attended the 2007 SC Nationals in Federal Way and the big talk was that Ervin was there and he was going to demolish the record book. It did not happen and he got smoked in the 50 Free, 100 Free, and 100 IM. I am not saying that he is not capable of breaking them but a lot of swimmers like this come to these Nationals just to take in the fun and excitement and feel less pressure that the big USA National Meets that they attend. That was my feeling watching Ervin at this meet. He was with friends from New York and wanted to have a good time.
The same thing could be said when Gary Hall Jr came to Indy in 2004. If you would have told me based on his performances at that meet that he would again win the 50 Free at the Olympics, would you have had many people betting you because he was not even close to doing decent times that we are accustomed to seeing. In fact he was beaten by Sabir Muhammad and most of the Race Club in races and relay splits. In fact, I think he got a DQ in the 100 IM. My impression is that he was there to have a good time and support our organization.
I think if both of these 2000 50 Free gold medalists come to our meet and get records its great for our sport and organization. If they don't get records that is fine to. I really like Anthony Ervin because I really like that he donated his gold medal for a worth cause. And I like Gary Hall Jr a lot for all of his work with the Diabetes charities that he is involved with.
I think is great that we have some World Class swimmers at this meet. Darian Townsend and BJ Johnson are there and they have been swimming masters for the last 2 years. I was hoping that Eugene Godsoe would be swimming because he lives close to Santa Clara but he didn't enter. There will be a lot of records set and it will be swimmers that were really good from the past Olympics, NCAA Championships, and AAU/USA Nationals. And there will be records from swimmers that were still really good but never made the big meets.
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.
The comment about Ervin is not guaranteed to set any records is right on. I attended the 2007 SC Nationals in Federal Way and the big talk was that Ervin was there and he was going to demolish the record book. It did not happen and he got smoked in the 50 Free, 100 Free, and 100 IM. I am not saying that he is not capable of breaking them but a lot of swimmers like this come to these Nationals just to take in the fun and excitement and feel less pressure that the big USA National Meets that they attend. That was my feeling watching Ervin at this meet. He was with friends from New York and wanted to have a good time.
The same thing could be said when Gary Hall Jr came to Indy in 2004. If you would have told me based on his performances at that meet that he would again win the 50 Free at the Olympics, would you have had many people betting you because he was not even close to doing decent times that we are accustomed to seeing. In fact he was beaten by Sabir Muhammad and most of the Race Club in races and relay splits. In fact, I think he got a DQ in the 100 IM. My impression is that he was there to have a good time and support our organization.
I think if both of these 2000 50 Free gold medalists come to our meet and get records its great for our sport and organization. If they don't get records that is fine to. I really like Anthony Ervin because I really like that he donated his gold medal for a worth cause. And I like Gary Hall Jr a lot for all of his work with the Diabetes charities that he is involved with.
I think is great that we have some World Class swimmers at this meet. Darian Townsend and BJ Johnson are there and they have been swimming masters for the last 2 years. I was hoping that Eugene Godsoe would be swimming because he lives close to Santa Clara but he didn't enter. There will be a lot of records set and it will be swimmers that were really good from the past Olympics, NCAA Championships, and AAU/USA Nationals. And there will be records from swimmers that were still really good but never made the big meets.
