New masters swim coach with different philosophy.

Denise, what you may be missing when GGS5T and Aquageek talk about ridicule and teasing is that no one is really being ridiculed at swim workouts. Any coach who truly ridiculed his/her swimmers would have zero team in a matter of weeks. If our coach is not teasing or needling us, we check his forehead for signs of fever. And our swimmers adore him. We grew from about a dozen swimmers to 160+ swimmers in about two years. Obviously our coach is not putting people off by his teasing. We have all ability levels from those who can barely swim and want to do a triathlon to world champions. All get the same level of attention (and teasing) during workout. I've been to masters workouts all over the country in the past 26 years. They've all be welcoming to all levels of ability. If you do, by some chance, find yourself at a program that is less than welcoming, it is the exception and not the rule.

If our coach is not teasing or needling us, we check his forehead for signs of fever. And our swimmers adore him. If you have been in a masters club for several years there is only so much you can be told by the coach that you haven’t heard dozens of times before. I want the coach to entertain us, to tease us, and also make fun of himself. We must remember that swimmers don’t have to attend - they have a choice. If they are not happy they will soon leave and go elsewhere. Life is too short to be miserable. If there is lots of innuendo, teasing, ridicule and name=calling during a workout, I want to be part of it.

I don't think you coach a masters team because if you did you'd know just how important the camaraderie and competition is between the coaches and swimmers and between the swimmers themselves. I've been swimming with some of my teammates for close to two decades and coached them as well for three years. If it wasn't for our almost constant humor, crabbing, ranting, and put downs my life as a swimmer would be far less enjoyable. Our current coach is great and tells it like it is and knows how to push us. And, as bad as it is in the pool, at our weekly Saturday post workout team breakfast it is even worse, and that's what we love. Most of these people I swim with are fantastic people and will drop whatever they are doing to help a fellow teammate in a second. The other few are triathletes and may or may not have time for anyone other than themselves. Well said, Aquageek. You have hit the nail on the head! Sadly, too many masters swimmers, who have never been part of a good set-up, don't know what they are missing.

I prefer the unwritten rule of this forum, KEEP IT REAL. I agree and that's why I said you were a breath of fresh air earlier. I will revise that, though, you are a breath of chlorine laden air. :) Every team is going to be different and there are going to be some teams that can't really accommodate novice swimmers. This isn't elitist, it's having one coach on deck and one coach can't devote all their time to a couple swimmers. So don't take it as a personal insult if a coach tells you that their team is targeted to swimmers interested in competing. And not to say there aren't jerks out there, but I really think they are few and far between. I think most elite swimmers think it's great that adults with no competitive swimming background are willing to wade into masters swimming.

I really love how this has become a great discussion with many viewpoints on the dynamics of some coaches and teams out there. I suppose like anything you invest in, you have to figure out what fits for you, your goals, and your personality types. Our team has a good core group who have been together for a long time. This new coach has been a big change and a good portion of the core group has stayed around despite the turmoil we've been through over the last year (how the previous coach left and more - not getting into that). In some ways, he's been a breath of fresh air and he's trying. Several of our swimmers have been seeing improvements in their times. As I read through the comments here, I appreciate all the feedback and insight. It does give HH and I some perspective. Coach and I have a pretty good relationship since I'm on the board and help him out with some stuff regularly. He did ask me this morning as we were stretching to get in, if I was working out more than the 1-2 times/week he's seeing me. I told him I was doing a lot on my own at another pool to work on the distance and more free work. It must have got him thinking a bit because afterwards, he offered to tweak things a bit on the IM days to help with my goals. I really appreciated that and need to get more time with him to chat through some other things that I'm hearing with some of the folks on the Team. He's a good guy, but it really is a drastic change. Neither HH nor I are whining (despite what Aquageek thinks), but both looking for thoughts/ideas (and maybe a little commiseration) since our only other Master's coaching experience was so vastly different. Thank you all! So glad to hear that your coach seems to be more amenable to adjustments! Hopefully with consistent open communication, things will continue to become smoother for you, HH and the entire team :)

I really love how this has become a great discussion with many viewpoints on the dynamics of some coaches and teams out there. I suppose like anything you invest in, you have to figure out what fits for you, your goals, and your personality types. Our team has a good core group who have been together for a long time. This new coach has been a big change and a good portion of the core group has stayed around despite the turmoil we've been through over the last year (how the previous coach left and more - not getting into that). In some ways, he's been a breath of fresh air and he's trying. Several of our swimmers have been seeing improvements in their times. As I read through the comments here, I appreciate all the feedback and insight. It does give HH and I some perspective. Coach and I have a pretty good relationship since I'm on the board and help him out with some stuff regularly. He did ask me this morning as we were stretching to get in, if I was working out more than the 1-2 times/week he's seeing me. I told him I was doing a lot on my own at another pool to work on the distance and more free work. It must have got him thinking a bit because afterwards, he offered to tweak things a bit on the IM days to help with my goals. I really appreciated that and need to get more time with him to chat through some other things that I'm hearing with some of the folks on the Team. He's a good guy, but it really is a drastic change. Neither HH nor I are whining (despite what Aquageek thinks), but both looking for thoughts/ideas (and maybe a little commiseration) since our only other Master's coaching experience was so vastly different. Thank you all!

I'd like to point out that Masters advertises itself as welcoming everyone who loves to swim, not just those who are competitive. Attitudes by people like GGS5T completely turn me off. I have no interest in being a competitive swimmer. If you do, good for you. But your belief that you're somehow representative of what a Masters team should be because you have an outstanding record of turning out competitive swimmers encapsulates the reason many, many adult swimmers refuse to join a Masters team. I've got friends who are great swimmers but hated being in Masters and just quit because what they found ran counter to what they'd been told the organization stood for. Swimming is not only for competition. It's for fitness and it's touted as one of the best exercises on the planet. If you want to get people into the pool, you need to be more inclusive in your philosophy and realize that what makes you happy doesn't work for everyone who sets foot on the deck. Either Masters is going to encourage and welcome swimmers at all levels of skill and interest, or it's going cater to the elitists who thumb their noses at the rest of us. In which case, you can be sure I won't ever be at your practice.

Either Masters is going to encourage and welcome swimmers at all levels of skill and interest, or it's going cater to the elitists who thumb their noses at the rest of us. In which case, you can be sure I won't ever be at your practice. I'd like to point out the hogwasheryiness of this post. It is people like you that perpetuate the myth that Masters is only about competition, not the competitive folks. Most successful teams know that you can very easily accommodate both the hyper elite competitors and the fitness/triathlete crew, and do it with ease. It's never been an either/or situation. I swim 3X/week with probably a dozen top 10 athletes alongside eager and inspiring fitness swimmers and we get along just fine. There can be and is a real team feeling when you have a mix of levels and abilities. There's no magic formula for how teams like this succeed. But, there is a poison pill - the rantings and complaints of a few people. If you want to watch a team implode, invite this kind of negative locker room talk onto your team.

Really, AquaGeek? "Suck it up buttercup" is the advice you give someone who feels disrespected by her coach, implying the only way to be in the Masters is to shut up and let the coach abuse you? If you want to see a poison pill, it's the coach who can't accommodate all levels. Or insults people and discourages them rather than motivating them. If you want to compete, go ahead. I admire anyone who does it. It's lovely to be that dedicated. But it's not for everyone, and criticizing Swimspire or anyone else for the way they responded to my post is just rude. She is right. There are some outstanding coaches out there and they know who to push and how far, and they do it without being insulting. I'd like to point out from a personal standpoint that I know what it's like to train hard. I just think the attitude here sometimes gets a little snooty. And for your information, I have not ever complained to a coach or ragged on a coach in the locker room, and when I get in the pool I swim and shut my mouth and do the best I can. I'm polite. But I'd never assume my team was a true shining example of a Masters team because of the number of elite athletes it trains, or that all Masters swimmers want and expect or accept the same type of coaching.

Either Masters is going to encourage and welcome swimmers at all levels of skill and interest, or it's going cater to the elitists who thumb their noses at the rest of us. In which case, you can be sure I won't ever be at your practice. At our club everyone is welcomed. We have some of the best masters swimmers in the world swimming alongside local triathletes and swimmers who come along just to keep fit. We have a swimmer with learning difficulties, a Downs syndrome girl and a handful of swimmers over the age of 75. We certainly don't cater for elitists, and nobody looks down on anyone else. Everyone is part of the team and many non-masters come along to watch and support our masters when they are competing. When we have social events away from the pool EVERYONE joins in. Denise, maybe you have had a bad experience at a masters club? All the masters I've met, even those who have achieved at the highest level, are genuinely nice people who find the time to help and advise those not as successful as themselves.