This thread is a spin off from the "swimming against the young guns" thread. Many of us Masters compete in USA Swimming meets each year and have found these meets to be a very enjoyable....for many reasons. Tell us your favorite experience(s). I have been swimming USA meets for the past two years and have a bunch of them. I am 37. I'll start off with this one...
"Kids say the darndest things" (part 1):
I entered my first long course meters meet two summers ago. A group of 15+ year old boys were looking at the heat/lane posting on the wall. They said, "Wow, look at this old guy...he entered his yards time...he doesn't even know this is a meters meet...we're gonna whip his butt...this is gonna be great!" And they all high fived each other.
They were quite wrong.
Parents
Former Member
Another in the "kids say the darndest things" thread:
At the first USS meet I swam last year at age 38, I had a 17-yr old kid looking at me in the warm-up pool with a real strange look on his face. It was so strange it caught my attention (there I was, minding my own business...).
Anyway, he perks up and says, "Hey, are you the OLD guy in the 500?", making sure he emphasized the OLD part. I chuckled with him and signalled my agreement. It brought home that 'old' is a relative term and heavily dependent on perspective. He then goes on to say "Ha! I thought your age was a MISPRINT"! I guess he though I was supposed to be 18 or something. Perhaps wishful thinking?
As it turns out, we're seeded in lanes next to each other (2&3), and as we approach the blocks he gets a startled, funny look on his face and immediately asks the starter if he can switch lanes, and points beyond me toward lane 8. Hearing that I blurt out "No way - you stay right there. That's right where I want you". The starter, an old friend of mine, says between chuckles "Nope. Tim wants you there - you stay there".
Well by this time the whole pool deck is roaring with laughter. I felt a little too much on display and regretted saying what I did, but it was too late. The race eventually starts and an oversealous Young Gun Lane 2 takes it out way too hard, fades quickly, and I end up beating him by several seconds to the delight (surprise?) of many who watched.
After the race, the young gun and I had a good talk in the warm down lanes and he recognized his mistakes (and I apologized for what I said). He said that was the first time he raced an "older" swimmer. I tried to gently get the point across that older swimmers are still around and some are still quite capable. Although I may not be able to beat him any more, as he progresses up the ladder of swimming success I suspect he'll run into a lot more "older" swimmers who can. At least he shouldn't alter his race strategy by their presence.
I've seen the young man at a few meets since and he lets me know what he's swimming and asks if I've entered anything and looks truly dejected when I say "No, I'm just a parent this time". I make it a point to watch his races and offer encouragement and congratulations.
To me, that's the best of what we can offer!
Another in the "kids say the darndest things" thread:
At the first USS meet I swam last year at age 38, I had a 17-yr old kid looking at me in the warm-up pool with a real strange look on his face. It was so strange it caught my attention (there I was, minding my own business...).
Anyway, he perks up and says, "Hey, are you the OLD guy in the 500?", making sure he emphasized the OLD part. I chuckled with him and signalled my agreement. It brought home that 'old' is a relative term and heavily dependent on perspective. He then goes on to say "Ha! I thought your age was a MISPRINT"! I guess he though I was supposed to be 18 or something. Perhaps wishful thinking?
As it turns out, we're seeded in lanes next to each other (2&3), and as we approach the blocks he gets a startled, funny look on his face and immediately asks the starter if he can switch lanes, and points beyond me toward lane 8. Hearing that I blurt out "No way - you stay right there. That's right where I want you". The starter, an old friend of mine, says between chuckles "Nope. Tim wants you there - you stay there".
Well by this time the whole pool deck is roaring with laughter. I felt a little too much on display and regretted saying what I did, but it was too late. The race eventually starts and an oversealous Young Gun Lane 2 takes it out way too hard, fades quickly, and I end up beating him by several seconds to the delight (surprise?) of many who watched.
After the race, the young gun and I had a good talk in the warm down lanes and he recognized his mistakes (and I apologized for what I said). He said that was the first time he raced an "older" swimmer. I tried to gently get the point across that older swimmers are still around and some are still quite capable. Although I may not be able to beat him any more, as he progresses up the ladder of swimming success I suspect he'll run into a lot more "older" swimmers who can. At least he shouldn't alter his race strategy by their presence.
I've seen the young man at a few meets since and he lets me know what he's swimming and asks if I've entered anything and looks truly dejected when I say "No, I'm just a parent this time". I make it a point to watch his races and offer encouragement and congratulations.
To me, that's the best of what we can offer!
