Swimming is misunderstood

Originally posted by emmett The fact that the medical community is largely ignorant of an organization like Masters Swimming - an organization that is ready, willing and eager to accept fledgling fitness seekers, teach them skills, provide motivation and encouragement and basically pave a smooth road toward swimming like an athlete - is really OUR fault, not the medical community's fault. Denigrating doctors for this is pointless at best and potentially counterproductive. Rectifying this ignorance in the medical community would be a worthy organizational goal. So, how do we get doctors to say "Walk or, better yet, go to www.USMS.org, find a swimming program near you and sign up today!"? Emmett, That is a very good point! You need to repost these comments in the "Long Term Planning" thread! Maybe we could start an education drive to let the public know more about us? Have some Masters swimmers or a representative from USMS write a letter that can be mailed out to physicians? We could also mail it out to community newspapers, etc.

Originally posted by Scansy As someone born in the 'Burgh and raised in western PA, this discussion is making me hungry. Nothing is better than a Primanti Brothers sandwich!:cool: . Then you better take a brisk walk/swim/run/bike, whatever afterwards to burn those calories!!:D

The bottom line is that you'll get out of it what you put in. Perhaps the doctor would have a different take on the situation if he knew the amount of heart rate and the time spent keeping it up there. Maybe he conjures the image of the many lap swimmers who go on down and back and then just hang on the wall with their back on the water jets, waiting for the ripples to subside before doing it again. The fact is that you could get one heck of of workout doing almost anything, probably even badmitton!... as long as the effort becomes intense enough. There's a former Marine commander in my neighborhood (around 65 years young), who walks everyday (rain or shine) like a marching band leader on amphetamines. This guy could still kick somebody's ass in a heart beat. Tell him that walking doesn't amount to much.:eek: Aquaman, I think you have valid a point though. This country has gotten somewhat lax about fitness in general. And the fact that normal everyday activities are passed off as exercise is silly.

Aquageek, Only a misinterpretation of my words would leave the reader with the impression that I was calling this group ignorant. I applied that term to those who have a lack of knowledge about the type of swimming this group engages in. "Ignorant" is not a pejorative, it is simply an indication of a state of knowledge. I used it with the adjective "understandable". My point, specifically, was that doctors are being castigated for PRECISELY the same thing this group is doing to walking. I expressed SURPRISE at this, not deprecation. As such, it should be clear that I do not "look down" on anybody in this issue. The term "uneducated" was entirely yours. Your words do give me the impression that you "look down" on anyone who doesn't exercise at a level that meets with your approval. Are you really Ion in disguise? :) MOST people that say they "swim" DO NOT exercise vigorously or at length - they piddle paddle in dribs and drabs. A tiny minority of swimmers actually DO exercise vigorously. So, unless the doctor is made aware of the swimmer's membership in that tiny minority (and informed as to the type of training that tiny minority engages in), he is CORRECT to be suspicious of whether any great fitness benefit is being derived by his patient that professes to "swim". Common walking (as opposed to racewalking), even at moderate intensities, can elevate heart rates into aerobic training ranges and, if undertaken in sufficient duration, stimulates fat metabolism. As such, it most certainly IS beneficial exercise, as is well known by exercise physiologists. Just as there are "swimmers" who piddle paddle rather uselessly, there are "walkers" who stroll rather uselessly (but you'd have to admit that a daily stroll to the mailbox at the other end of the neighborhood is still better than a daily drive to the mailbox). Neither swimming nor walking is inherently an "exercise" or a highly fitness-inducing activity. What makes either a good fitness tool is the intent and action of the participant. Common walking requires no special skills for entry-level participants, is accessible to everyone at little or no cost, is much more convenient to most people, requires no special equipment, facilities or planning. As such it is more likely that a person would stay on a regular walking routine than a regular swimming routine. All told, for the AVERAGE person, the Doctor's instructions to "Walk instead of swim" probably serve as good advice. Now, would I prefer he said "Walk like an athlete or swim like an athlete"? Yes - but for the average person, unaided by specific programming, actual adoption of either of those options is FAR less likely than adoption of a more moderate fitness routine. And even the BEST routine is only beneficial if the patient sticks with it. The fact that the medical community is largely ignorant of an organization like Masters Swimming - an organization that is ready, willing and eager to accept fledgling fitness seekers, teach them skills, provide motivation and encouragement and basically pave a smooth road toward swimming like an athlete - is really OUR fault, not the medical community's fault. Denigrating doctors for this is pointless at best and potentially counterproductive. Rectifying this ignorance in the medical community would be a worthy organizational goal. So, how do we get doctors to say "Walk or, better yet, go to www.USMS.org, find a swimming program near you and sign up today!"?

To Elaine’s comment “What if, an aggressive coach were to go to an area where there isn't a team/club and start talking to doctors about the benefits…” What if, a committed swimmer already in the area did the same thing? There are very few clubs where the coach is the main source of outreach and education. While good coaching will keep them coming back, normally fellow club members are the ones who bring new folks in. Typically it is the club officers who should shoulder the responsibility of undertaking new member recruitment. The exception to this is in coach owned programs, where the coach will assume a greater responsibility for recruitment. In the cases of brand new clubs, it is usually a few motivated swimmers who get together to form the club and then find someone to coach them, rather than the other way around. You won’t normally find a top shelf coach moving into an area without a club just to start a new club. Emmett you can prove me wrong and move to Thomasville; that is if you’re man enough for the challenge:)

Having coaches contact doctors to educate them on the positive effects of swimming the kind of workouts USMS clubs do, would hopefully increase the number of doctors who recommend swimming as an aerobic activity to their patients... it follows that, that would increase participation in USMS in areas that have clubs and coaches. However, areas where there are no organized clubs would not have coaches to make contact with doctors.

Elaine, I didn’t mean to pick on you, well not too much at least. Having been lucky enough, in the past, to start up clubs in a couple of areas of the country, I realize the frustration there is in trying to get others to understand what we know about the value a coached Masters club brings to our aquatic community. And, I readily admit that we as an organization (USMS) don’t do a good enough job in helping our members organize and build clubs. We do have a couple of good club development handbooks on the web site, but we could definitely use some club mentoring.

Originally posted by Tom Ellison Don't forget the THRASHERS FRIES...over on the Shore.... I'm partial to the O in Oakland. Partied at Pitt more than a few times and topped it of with a basket of fries with gravy at 3:00 am.

Scansy--last time I was at CMU's pool (1/2003)--there was a branch of the "O" JUST outside the pool deck!!! If you have an opportunity to swim there--you can kill 2 birds with one stone!

Originally posted by laineybug Having coaches contact doctors to educate them on the positive effects of swimming the kind of workouts USMS clubs do, would hopefully increase the number of doctors who recommend swimming as an aerobic activity to their patients... it follows that, that would increase participation in USMS in areas that have clubs and coaches. However, areas where there are no organized clubs would not have coaches to make contact with doctors. Precisely. Thats why I said outreach is an entirely different topic - at least in areas where there are no coaches now. BUT by expanding the number of accepted marketing avenues for Masters also increases the liklihood that coaches will take an entrepreneurial stab at starting new programs - some in areas where none exist now. And I don't think that "having coaches contact doctors" is the way such contact will be initiated - it'll be because agressive coaches CHOOSE to make such contacts and nurture the relationships for purposes of building their own existing programs. And there will be particularly enterprising coaches that might choose to start a program targeted specifically (and perhaps exclusively) for serving referred patients, tayloring training according to medical input, providing feedback and results to suit the special requirements of such a client base. Of course such an operation may not fall within the scope of Masters organizational resources (ie insurance, which is, currently, the only real "binder" that USMS has to cause coaches to require their swimmers to enlist).