The award for the most ridiculous, self-absorbed, overzealous all sports entertainment network in the world goes to...
ESPN, for the 10th year running.
They have once again proven that outside the 4 major sports, Tiger Woods, and the Williams sisters, you're really not much of an athlete. Unless you count token consideration of Cael Sanderson and -ahem- Sarah Hughes (don't even get me started on figure skating).
No offense to college athlete of the year Sue Bird (UConn BB) but a certain swimmer from Cal who set at least 6 AR and 1 WR over the short course season would have had my vote.
Anyone else? Natalie Coughlin, female college athlete of the year as awarded by the USMS discussion crew?
-RM
Two weeks ago at a meet in AZ I met a masters swimmer who recently moved there from the east coast and is in the media industry. This gentleman has been involved with producing tv "specials" in the past and his recent return to masters swimming had prompted his interest in posibly doing something in that area.
What we discussed was how you would package and market such a feature, he made it clear that he felt there would be no problems getting someone from Fox or ESPN on board if the show focused on some of the incredible things that people such as Laura Val, Rich Abrahams, Jim McConica, etc. etc are doing. The key would be making it more of a general human interest story and not showing endless hours (seconds?) of actually racing.
The challenge for something like this is finacing, something that our sport has very little of. That's why my interest is not in promoting Masters, rather I would like to see more cooperation between USS, FINA, USOC, etc. in builing "the sport". Our challenges are not how many people can masters nationals support, our challenge is whether swimming can survive at the age group, high school, college, Olympic levels.
Several more ideas:
Idea one:
Once a year, towards the end of the college competitive swim season, we send out a mass mailing to EVERY college swim coach in the country (all NCAA divisions, NAIA, etc). The mailing would contain copies of an invitation for graduating seniors to join USMS (maybe at a sharply discounted rate for the first year or for the first few years ???) and outlining the benefits of being in USMS. It also would contain a list of masters teams/facilities that they could join.
In the cover letter to the coach, we explain that due to the serious problems with declining numbers of programs, etc, that we are trying a grassroots approach to keeping people in the sport (read: alums with money to donate to their favorite college swim team program) and also to be the swimming parents in the bleachers for the next generation.
Idea two:
A mass mailing to every YMCA/YWCA/YMHA/etc with a flyer and membership apps for USMS. There are many people who swim at the local YMCA who don't even know about USMS. Most Y's have a bulletin board where they will put up things like this if asked nicely. Again, the same spiel in the cover letter about the grassroots approach/benefits/etc applies.
Idea three:
Put together a "How to Start a Master's Swim Team/Program" brochure and mail it to all the aquatic directors at all the Y's. (Maybe this brochure already exists???)
Idea four:
If possible, buy the membership mailing list of the US Triathlon Federation (or whatever they go by) and mass mail them similar to idea two, above. The pitch here is improved times through organized practices/competitions. Most of the run-of-the-mill triathletes I know are, at best, mediocre swimmers.
Finally:
Commit to do this for, say, three years (one year is too short a period), and assess and track the impact in terms of # of people/clubs/programs gained every year. This will allow you to decide if it is worth continuing.
OK, kill me.
Paul -
I agree that survival of the sport at the younger levels is the true goal/target. However, robustness of the sport at other levels helps the target group.
I agree that getting all the parties to work together is the solution, but realistically, have they ever been able to work together on something of this magnitude? Herding cats might be easier.
Increasing master's participation is something that we could try and could potentially:
a) Provide $ to the target groups through donations to colleges, local programs and the like. The upper age groups actually have the most money/influence/connections.
b) Provide a larger base of kids who get funneled into swimming through their parents who are kept in the sport as participants and don't just "drift away" after college. The wider the base, the taller the peak.
c) Provides a larger base of volunteers to work at meets for the target groups.
An object lesson here would be racewalking, the event I came from. About 18 years ago, there was a shift towards focusing on the "elite" and making the sport less egalitarian. Since that time there has been a marked decline in older participation and, with it, a decline in volunteerism, real races (as opposed to local unjudged walks, power walks, and that sort of crap), participation in the nationals, coaching, and $ into the event. Consequently, although we have a very few good athletes, we have no depth whatsoever behind them. Things look BAD.
Yes, if you have a limited pool of development money, as do we, spend it carefully. Within the mandate of USMS as it currently stands, that means promoting masters and "cheerleading" the other groups to do their part.
- Leonard (Last in the 100 free, but first in your heart)
I known about Masters swimming since the 1970's. But when I finished community college swimming back then, the age started at 25 years old and I went out to get a job like everyone else. I started lap swimming for a few years now but didn't join masters until I wanted to compete again. I know that masters allows you to be unattached and not apart of a team which is advantage for someone like myself since I'm not close to the nearest masters team and working out on my own works out better with my hours at work. But many lap people probably think you have to belong to a masters team to particapate. Maybe, Master can get the word out that you don't have to belong to a club.
Originally posted by Paul Smith
...
What we discussed was how you would package and market such a feature, he made it clear that he felt there would be no problems getting someone from Fox or ESPN on board if the show focused on some of the incredible things that people such as Laura Val, Rich Abrahams, Jim McConica, etc. etc are doing. The key would be making it more of a general human interest story and not showing endless hours (seconds?) of actually racing.
The challenge for something like this is finacing, something that our sport has very little of.
...
1) Finance-wise, I see Emmett and Leonard's posts addressing cheap production of a TV program about swimming;
input money flowing in between USMS, USS Swimming, USOC is also conceivable.
2) Content-wise, I would put the "...human interest story..." in the backgroung of showing the thrill and pain of racing, not on the foreground.
The reason for that, is to educate the public on racing and the process of bettering oneself through fitness effort.
Examples of lack of education on fitness racing are when last Saturday, The San Diego Union Tribune newspaper reported that an ESPN commentator stated that marathon runners are idiots, when ESPN and NBC reported in 2000 the swimming in NCAA and the US Olympic Trials with a few swimming strokes of some winners and lenghty generic syrupy stories, but no sport thrilling races, so the public still doesn't get it about the sport.
Originally posted by Paul Smith
...
That's why my interest is not in promoting Masters, rather I would like to see more cooperation between USS, FINA, USOC, etc. in builing "the sport". Our challenges are not how many people can masters nationals support, our challenge is whether swimming can survive at the age group, high school, college, Olympic levels.
Alternative media like www.swiminfo.com reported yesterday that USMS swimmer Paul Carter (US), age 45, swam 100 meter fly Long Course in 56.4x, next to news from the European Championships and the Common Wealth Games.
It's a small step in intermingling USMS, USOC and US Swimming, and it needs expanding into more co-operation, including financial.
Ion - Great quote from George Bernard Shaw !!
How about -
"He who endeavors to serve, to benefit, and improve the world, is like a swimmer, who struggles against a rapid current, in a river lashed into angry waves by the winds. Often they roar over his head, often they beat him back and baffle him. Most men yield to the stress of the current... Only here and there the stout, strong heart and vigorous arms struggle on toward ultimate success."
from Albert Pike
Ion, continue to be strong of heart and vigorous...
And, good luck in Cleveland!!
I read that the writer George Bernard Shaw wrote:
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.
Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.".
I agree with the quote.
Let's work together now on the latest of this thread 'unreasonable' in US ideas, which is to have a cheap production of a TV coverage of Masters Swimming Nationals, or any other Masters Swimming program, and which unreasonably I say is not boring and can be distributed locally in many states.
Great ideas here. But, from a "public image" point of view, why not refer to "cheap production" as a low-budget production? It might raise the public's perception of us a notch or two. Just a thought here. Of course, I'll wager that this might get resolved (a little humor here) in Cleveland at the Saturday night's get-together. :p
All the best.
Mark
