May/June cover of USMS Swimmer

You can take time out of sports. Geek can't see that because of your myoptic club/competition mentality. And yes, maybe being judged on technique might be one way to take time out of the equation. To continue the martial arts thinking, maybe there could be a series of standards (swimming a certain distance in a certain time MIGHT be ONE OF THE STANDARDS at each level because it does show proficiency) a fitness swimmer has to pass to earn the next color suit. But, for goodness sake I hope swimmers who take part in swim meets are not allowed to earn the different levels because they would turn fitness swimming into one big competition. Since you can't seem to open your mind and think outside of the competition mindset I sincerely hope you have nothing to say about how USMS reaches out to fitness swimmers. What ever USMS decides to do it must be developed entirely by fitness swimmers. To ensure that the program is for the fitness swimmer it shoud be developed by fitness swimmer. If a person has ever competed in an USMS meet then they should not be allowed to be on any committee associated with fitness swimming. Right now all I seem to be hearing is we need to get the fitness swimmer involved in some kind of competition in order to reduce the schism between them and the competitive swimmer. I find it ironic that competitive swimmers understand PB's yet they can not wrap their mind around the fact that is what fitness swimming is about... being your personal best by whatever standard the person sets for him or herself. I know I can't speak for all fitness swimmers, but even an open water competition does not appeal to me. COMPETITION does not need to be apart of fitness swimming. Lainey

You can take time out of sports. Geek can't see that because of your myoptic club/competition mentality. And yes, maybe being judged on technique might be one way to take time out of the equation. To continue the martial arts thinking, maybe there could be a series of standards (swimming a certain distance in a certain time MIGHT be ONE OF THE STANDARDS at each level because it does show proficiency) a fitness swimmer has to pass to earn the next color suit. But, for goodness sake I hope swimmers who take part in swim meets are not allowed to earn the different levels because they would turn fitness swimming into one big competition. Since you can't seem to open your mind and think outside of the competition mindset I sincerely hope you have nothing to say about how USMS reaches out to fitness swimmers. What ever USMS decides to do it must be developed entirely by fitness swimmers. To ensure that the program is for the fitness swimmer it shoud be developed by fitness swimmer. If a person has ever competed in an USMS meet then they should not be allowed to be on any committee associated with fitness swimming. Right now all I seem to be hearing is we need to get the fitness swimmer involved in some kind of competition in order to reduce the schism between them and the competitive swimmer. I find it ironic that competitive swimmers understand PB's yet they can not wrap their mind around the fact that is what fitness swimming is about... being your personal best by whatever standard the person sets for him or herself. I know I can't speak for all fitness swimmers, but even an open water competition does not appeal to me. COMPETITION does not need to be apart of fitness swimming. Lainey