Are Triathletes worth the dues they pay toward Masters Swimming?
I say we force all Triathletes to spend one day a week in the sprint lane, one day a week doing stroke (i.e. IM) work, and then make them focus on their starts and turns.
This invasion needs to be controlled.... :-)
John Smith
:)
Parents
Former Member
I love the triathletes on my team (on this as on many other teams, there would not be much of a team without the triathletes.) I find them fun, fast, and know the culture (but I also swim with the best swimmers of the triathletes.)
The reason a person going to a triathlon team would be "always welcome" is because that person wants to become a triathlete. However, a few triathletes join a swimming team because they want to be a triathlete, not a swimmer.
If I were to join a running team, but announced that I joined because I wanted to be a better swimmer, and because of that I would only do track repeats, no matter what the rest of the team was doing, I don't think I would be all that welcome, at least sometimes.
There is a swimming culture that needs to be learned, and some people take a little longer -- they need to be convinced, somehow, that strokes are worth doing, and sprints need rest, for example.
There is also a very irrational issue. It is, for some reason, very irritating for many swimmers when someone decides to, for example, use fins during a non fin set, or swim freestyle when everyone else is struggling with butterfly or an IM. This irritation is there even if the intervals are not affected. I'm not sure why, but I hear the comments fairly often.
I love the triathletes on my team (on this as on many other teams, there would not be much of a team without the triathletes.) I find them fun, fast, and know the culture (but I also swim with the best swimmers of the triathletes.)
The reason a person going to a triathlon team would be "always welcome" is because that person wants to become a triathlete. However, a few triathletes join a swimming team because they want to be a triathlete, not a swimmer.
If I were to join a running team, but announced that I joined because I wanted to be a better swimmer, and because of that I would only do track repeats, no matter what the rest of the team was doing, I don't think I would be all that welcome, at least sometimes.
There is a swimming culture that needs to be learned, and some people take a little longer -- they need to be convinced, somehow, that strokes are worth doing, and sprints need rest, for example.
There is also a very irrational issue. It is, for some reason, very irritating for many swimmers when someone decides to, for example, use fins during a non fin set, or swim freestyle when everyone else is struggling with butterfly or an IM. This irritation is there even if the intervals are not affected. I'm not sure why, but I hear the comments fairly often.
