The future of Men's Swimming in the US

Former Member
Former Member
I think I'm going to have to disagree a bit with my Longhorn teamates Mr. Commings and The Raz on this subject. It's not good to rely on someone coming out of the woodwork in years to come or simply counting on cycles of ebb and flow over years in the sport. I have been to many age group meets with my kids the last 4 years. In Georgia, Colorado.... and my home the Great state of Ohio, and enrollment of young boys (ages 8-14) is down further than at any time I can remember in the sport. Gone are the days when I grew up and boys ALWAYS outnumber girls in the sport, and its not merely because more girls are swimming now. It's because boys are interested in other sports..... many of which are easier training sports in my opinion. This is NOT good for the future of men's swimming. I have a bad feeling the next Michael Phelps will be lured into Soccer or some other sport over the coming years... if not already. Swimming.... particularly the governing body USS.... does NOT do an adequate job marketing the sport to the general public during non Olympic years. We ride too heavily on the success of our Olympic performances in hopes of expanding enrollment, and then every 4 years it dies out quickly. With the added cuts of men's swimming programs in the NCAA Div. I level the growth and continued success of US mens swimming in my opinion is in jeopardy over the next 8-12 years. Michael Phelps is a lucky find for the US. I strongly suggest you take a look at some heat sheets for age group meets in your area. You will likely find that there are about 1/2 to 2/3rds the number of boys heats compared to girls heats in the younger age groups. It's shocking. You're looking at the future of our Olympic team in these reduced heats. You can't rely on a Rowdy Gaines to come into the sport late (like age 13) and dominate especially when the numbers are down so much. USS needs to find money for a larger national campaign with TV time. Why is it I have NEVER been contacted by USS swimming to donate money?! Why is there NO marketing campaign to solicit funds from ex US swimmers from the past 40 years ?! In my opinion, this is an all out war against soccer and the evil Big 3 sports. For example...... Australia is hurtin' if you take away their 2 big guns Hacket and Thorpe, there is virtually no one in the pipeline that will take over. The US is in a similar but lessor position. It was truly embarassing that the US had absolutely NO ONE in the 100 free at the Olympics. Let me say it again.... IT WAS TRULY EMBARASSING THAT THE US HAD ABSOLUTELY NO ONE IN THE 100 FREE IN THE FINALS AT THE OLYMPICS ! We should OWN that event ! The 100 free IS United States Swimming. It is our history! Our 400m free relay should NEVER lose at the Olympics or World Games as it is a reflection of depth and speed in our programs. Face it, our volume of great sprinters are pretty bad right now and thats a reflection of basic athleticism and talent by taking (stealing) "athletes" from other sports with raw speed. Gary Hall saved his butt and the US in the 50 free at Greece, but let's face it, he's an archeology find and not a reflection of up an coming talent. We're relying on someone that probably peaked 2 Olympics ago in the sprints. The picture is not good for the growth of US men's swimming, and we definitely need to do something about it. John Smith
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Au contraire, Kirk. I have a fair number of parents of the local swim teams who shop at my store (& know of my swimming habit) & all I hear is how expensive it is becoming (both of money & parental time) esp. the new suits. Now Nanaimo is hardly an affluent area, so maybe that contrasts with your experience.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    I agree about the expense of suits, I went the cheap way and just bought an Aquablade Jammer(50.00) as opposed to the FSII (150.00). Just the same, it is still cheaper than many other popular sports such as cycling, surfing, snowskiing, snowboarding, water skiing, etc..
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Better television coverage would help draw in more potential future swimmers by more exposure to the sport. The problem is that swimming isn't as widely viewed as most people would think...Bob Costas stated that not many people want to watch it other than swimmers themselves. Sponsorship is the fuel to getting exposure and air time...which in turn lures in the kids at a younger age. Back in the seventies, ABC's Wide World of Sports had swimming events televised almost every other weekend. Interestingly enough...people like Gary Hall have the right idea in getting sponsors by all means possible. That Everlast robe of his at the 50 free last summer is good example.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Originally posted by valhallan Better television coverage would help draw in more potential future swimmers by more exposure to the sport. The problem is that swimming isn't as widely viewed as most people would think...Bob Costas stated that not many people want to watch it other than swimmers themselves. Sponsorship is the fuel to getting exposure and air time...which in turn lures in the kids at a younger age. Back in the seventies, ABC's Wide World of Sports had swimming events televised almost every other weekend. Interestingly enough...people like Gary Hall have the right idea in getting sponsors by all means possible. That Everlast robe of his at the 50 free last summer is good example. I hear what you are saying about sponsorship and Gary Hall. I guess it boils down to whether or not that is the image that USS wants to portray.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    I think Blue Horn is onto something. Has anyone watched Fear Factor? They have scantily-clad young people doing all manner of stupid things in the water and somehow lots of people watch! I think we have the wrong idea going for more body coverage with full body suits (and not just because it's expensive).
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    haha ... I have a friend that called me during the Olympics to ask me where the skimpy speedos went ... I would have thought swimming was cheap too ... but it's really not ... championship suits are a good $200 and up ... then you have your meet suit about $70 (if you are a girl) ... warmups, caps, goggles, etc. It might not seem like a lot but it adds up ... A local age group team pays close to $200/mo (if I remember correctly) ... then you have meet costs ... and the time factor ... There aren't many sports that require getting out of bed at 5am to practice then going to practice again after school ... you have to love it ... and the kids that are talented swimmers are probably talented at other sports, too ... I had a friend in high school that played football, basketball, and water polo ... he could have jumped into the pool at any point and qualified for the high school state meet, too ... he went to Michigan and played football there ... he probably could have swum there if he wanted to ... he was that talented ... The sport needs to be marketed better ... it needs more TV time ... the stars need to be in the spotlight more ... I've read all about all these sponsors they all have but other than Speedo ads I never see any of them ...
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Even the "inexpensive" sports aren't getting the kids. How many kids want to do distance running? All you need is the odd pair of shoes 2-3 x's a year and some basic shorts/t-shirts. Even so, it's not the $$ (although that doesn't help), it's the fact that the difficult sports are tough sells to an inactive population. All together now: "You kids don't know what hard is: When I was a kid, we used to run 53 miles to school - each way and it snowed every day and the mountain lions would kill 10% of the class each month. But we were happy to do it." Etc. -LBJ
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    I'll throw this one out there ... swimming is more painful than some of the other sports ... how painful are baseball and basketball? Football my hurt but it's also all over TV all the time ... Simply put it is painful to swim a 200 fly ... who wants to sign up for that? Plus you always smell kinda funny ... my teammate tells me all the time, "well swimmers are a bit weird."
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Keather- none of us smell kinda funny; must be something in all that Special K cereal...
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    While I agree that expense is a barrier, at the same time I see parents putting their kids into baseball, basketball, and football "select" teams/leagues, summer camps, clinics, and even these "performance improvement" programs to improve speed and power. These things are all very expensive. I'm sure others are thinking it, so I'll say it. I think a big factor is that age group (USA swimming) swim meets are boring. They are boring for the parents and also for the kids, who sit around most of the day only to swim once every hour or so. There's got to be a way to make these things more exciting and fun for the kids. I think more of them would be willing to put in the work at practice if the reward (meets) were better.
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