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
Peak Performance Age: OK, its probably over 18, but where would you say it is? 25? 30? Can you show anything to back that up statistically? (it will take more than mentioning a small handful of names of people that have done PRs over that age). What is the distribution of open-age WR times? I think that the theoretical "handicap" curve is pretty flat from 18 to maybe up to 40, but then it has a more noticeable slope. In the flat parts, it can be overcome by other factors, but that does not make it invalid, does it?
Nationals Seeding: Its not about watching races, but making optimal circumstances for fast swimming, which I believe is closer races for the fastest swimmers, regardless of age.
Self Run Meets: we can't get more than one bid for nationals now, its a pipe dream to think that we could either put on such a meet or if we did that we could attract the competition (I wish I were wrong.) Maybe it is possible but would take a number of years to catch on, but I guess that is what got USMS here today...I still think that USMS could and should make that happen a lot faster.
Peak Performance Age: OK, its probably over 18, but where would you say it is? 25? 30? Can you show anything to back that up statistically? (it will take more than mentioning a small handful of names of people that have done PRs over that age). What is the distribution of open-age WR times? I think that the theoretical "handicap" curve is pretty flat from 18 to maybe up to 40, but then it has a more noticeable slope. In the flat parts, it can be overcome by other factors, but that does not make it invalid, does it?
Nationals Seeding: Its not about watching races, but making optimal circumstances for fast swimming, which I believe is closer races for the fastest swimmers, regardless of age.
Self Run Meets: we can't get more than one bid for nationals now, its a pipe dream to think that we could either put on such a meet or if we did that we could attract the competition (I wish I were wrong.) Maybe it is possible but would take a number of years to catch on, but I guess that is what got USMS here today...I still think that USMS could and should make that happen a lot faster.
