I spawn this thread off the "illegal drugs" thread because this is not really a discussion on illegal drugs in masters meet.
To be honest to you guys, the thread really broke my heart. I'm a newbie in masters swimming and I've been working my a** off to improve my strokes and time, so that I can eventually win something in a masters swim meet. I will never ever cheat, it's against my principle.
Well ... if people are cheating in masters meet, then I start to wonder what's the point of working so hard on improving my stroke and time. Swimming is not my career, I love doing it and it's a healthy hobby for me. What's the point of entering a master's swim meet? Isn't it stupid to be so hard headed? Maybe you guys can give me some reasons why I should continue to work hard and having "winning a masters swim meet" as a goal.
Thank You!
Parents
Former Member
I don't know about Masters Rules in the US (or Internationally). In Canada, our Masters Swimming, Canada has a rule that says
CMGR 2.05. Drug Testing
a) There shall be no drug testing at sanctioned Masters swim meets in Canada.
Therefore it's not illegal to use drugs (in Masters swimming in Canada).
However my point is that we swim against ourselves and against the clock.
It's only an illusory win if I'm in lane 4 and the other six or seven swimmers
in my heat are way older and way slower than me. I might touch the wall first in my heat but then find my name at the bottom of the list of the meet's age group result sheet. Even that "seemingly-poor" result is not bad -for me- if my time this year is faster than last year's. For that matter, if it's the same as last year's, this "standing still" is really a 1% improvement (due to aging. I'm 64)
That's my $0.03 (Canadian) worth
I don't know about Masters Rules in the US (or Internationally). In Canada, our Masters Swimming, Canada has a rule that says
CMGR 2.05. Drug Testing
a) There shall be no drug testing at sanctioned Masters swim meets in Canada.
Therefore it's not illegal to use drugs (in Masters swimming in Canada).
However my point is that we swim against ourselves and against the clock.
It's only an illusory win if I'm in lane 4 and the other six or seven swimmers
in my heat are way older and way slower than me. I might touch the wall first in my heat but then find my name at the bottom of the list of the meet's age group result sheet. Even that "seemingly-poor" result is not bad -for me- if my time this year is faster than last year's. For that matter, if it's the same as last year's, this "standing still" is really a 1% improvement (due to aging. I'm 64)
That's my $0.03 (Canadian) worth
