Hi all,
We're looking to get some input from Masters swimmers and coaches on the age old question whether someone who is a professional or post-grad swimmer belongs in U.S. Masters Swimming events going after Masters records.
Curious to get your thoughts!
We may ask you to be in a future issue of Swimming World.
Jason Marsteller
Swimming World
A meet where no one in the top ten can swim? That's just sad. Why not just put a speed limit on each event?
Think about it. You're telling someone about a meet. Would you rather say "there were a lot of nice people, I got lapped by a dude with a beer gut who was eight years older than me, and it was tons of fun" or "there were a lot of nice people, I got lapped by a dude with a beer gut who was eight years older than me, it was tons of fun, oh and Olympic gold medalist Misty Hyman (for example) swam too"?
And so what if they set records? They're age group records. If they are set by an Olympian, that makes masters swimming look better. Does Rowdy not deserve his records? And time limits are arbitrary. Can a one-time Olympian at age 18 set masters records when she's 29? Does Dara Torres have to wait until she's 52?
Any restriction you can think of "to level the playing field" will fall apart in practice because it's fundamentally unfair to exclude anyone based on achievement or ability. We either let everyone compete (and set records) or the competition is meaningless. I guess you would say "there were a lot of nice people, everyone swam the same speed because we don't allow fast people, yeah I don't know what the point is either."
A meet where no one in the top ten can swim? That's just sad. Why not just put a speed limit on each event?
Think about it. You're telling someone about a meet. Would you rather say "there were a lot of nice people, I got lapped by a dude with a beer gut who was eight years older than me, and it was tons of fun" or "there were a lot of nice people, I got lapped by a dude with a beer gut who was eight years older than me, it was tons of fun, oh and Olympic gold medalist Misty Hyman (for example) swam too"?
And so what if they set records? They're age group records. If they are set by an Olympian, that makes masters swimming look better. Does Rowdy not deserve his records? And time limits are arbitrary. Can a one-time Olympian at age 18 set masters records when she's 29? Does Dara Torres have to wait until she's 52?
Any restriction you can think of "to level the playing field" will fall apart in practice because it's fundamentally unfair to exclude anyone based on achievement or ability. We either let everyone compete (and set records) or the competition is meaningless. I guess you would say "there were a lot of nice people, everyone swam the same speed because we don't allow fast people, yeah I don't know what the point is either."
