Is there really a division between masters swimmers? i.e. one camp allied to a more low key fitness oriented approach with low membership growth vs. a meet oriented competitive (elite) camp?
This sounds ridiculous to me. I don't think I've ever run into anyone that acknowledged this debate on a pool deck.
What spawns this rift in Masters swimming? Is this an old guard vs. younger member phenonmenon?
Are there different motivations that exist that create this conflict in terms of the future of USMS? Why can't both coexist?
I say we poll some people out there and find out what they support.
John Smith
Parents
Former Member
Mike,
We seem to be in violent agreement on the use of pools!
And for you National NQT advocates (really, I've been extremely restrained about holding my fire; are you trying to goad me?): what is wrong with Nationals the way we do 'em right now? Everyone who wants to swim gets to swim, at least a little bit. We're usually done by 5 or 6ish. The meet hosts have enough people entered and paying entry fees that they can come close to breaking even. We have enough teams wanting to host that we can have two National meets with an occasional World Championship Meet replacing the LCM that year. What's the problem?
The only grousing I hear is from a few people who think the "slower" swimmers are wasting their valuable time. They have a solution, but curiously, it only calls for sacrifice by everyone else since they all figure they will still be fast enough to make the new NQTs.
Be careful going down this road, because some other geek will want to gore your ox the next time around. Are you regularly in the top 10 in one of the older age groups? Look out, the next suggestion by NQT crowd is that we should not have so many old and slow heats in the distance events (because hey, who wants to watch an 80 year old take half an hour to finnish and 800, even if she is going to take third place?) Or, that we should do fast heats first, and let the old and slow heats get those undesirable 4 pm start times, because you know, when you're in your 30s and top ten, your precious time to go have a beer is more valuable than other peoples'.
We're Masters, not the FINA World Cup. Faster does not mean more meaningful or valuable. To reuse a term from an earlier post, we all need to show due regard for other swimmers' use of the pool.
Matt
Mike,
We seem to be in violent agreement on the use of pools!
And for you National NQT advocates (really, I've been extremely restrained about holding my fire; are you trying to goad me?): what is wrong with Nationals the way we do 'em right now? Everyone who wants to swim gets to swim, at least a little bit. We're usually done by 5 or 6ish. The meet hosts have enough people entered and paying entry fees that they can come close to breaking even. We have enough teams wanting to host that we can have two National meets with an occasional World Championship Meet replacing the LCM that year. What's the problem?
The only grousing I hear is from a few people who think the "slower" swimmers are wasting their valuable time. They have a solution, but curiously, it only calls for sacrifice by everyone else since they all figure they will still be fast enough to make the new NQTs.
Be careful going down this road, because some other geek will want to gore your ox the next time around. Are you regularly in the top 10 in one of the older age groups? Look out, the next suggestion by NQT crowd is that we should not have so many old and slow heats in the distance events (because hey, who wants to watch an 80 year old take half an hour to finnish and 800, even if she is going to take third place?) Or, that we should do fast heats first, and let the old and slow heats get those undesirable 4 pm start times, because you know, when you're in your 30s and top ten, your precious time to go have a beer is more valuable than other peoples'.
We're Masters, not the FINA World Cup. Faster does not mean more meaningful or valuable. To reuse a term from an earlier post, we all need to show due regard for other swimmers' use of the pool.
Matt
