Newspaper story on a masters team

Sounds a bit too extreme if you ask me: "Anyone can join this team, but they must swim in the meets." I think that would take a good 75% out of my team (including myself) if they tried that.

Different strokes for different folks. Some people love the "Bobby Knight" military disciplined type as evidenced in the article. I agree, though, I can't stand that approach when there are so many other friendlier ways to go about getting the same results. He wouldn't make me quit, but it sounds like he can take some of the enjoyment out of the experience. I'll keep my coach who heaps on a dose of encouragement and motivation with every criticism.

I don't know, does every team need to cater to those swimming purely for fitness? I swim on a team with lots of good swimmers, but quite a few never compete. I'd personally like to see a little more emphasis on the competitive aspect.

Kirk: Thanks for the article. I remember *** Fetters and I remember when he started at Michigan State. He was the Assistant Coach to Charles McCaffree and I think he became the head coach in either 1967 or 1968. Michigan State had there best teams in those years. I believe Clark Scholes in the only swimmer from MSU inducted into the Hall of Fame and I am surprised that Ken Walsh has not been inducted yet. He was a World Record Holder in both Short Course and Long Course and received a silver medal behind Michael Wenden in the 1968 Olympics in the 100 Meter Free. I also remember ***'s sons, John, Paul, and Pete. I competed against John and Paul in the old AAU days. In 2003, I saw Paul Fetters for the first time in years at the 2003 USMS Long Course Championships at Rutgers. He swam real well and won several events in the 50-54 age group. I believe he is swimming in the DC area and swam for a team called DC Parks and Rec. I knew about *** Fetters coaching in South Carolina because my Michigan Masters teamate from 6 years ago (Eric Nordlund) swam at Hilton Head in South Carolina and told me he was getting into coaching like he did at Michigan State and was just as competitive as ever. I know that Peter Dayland coaches and I wonder how competitive he is with his swimmers compared to the USC days. Its still good to see he is doing this at 85 years old. Now there is a guy that loves swimming. I see one of ***'s fellow coaches who used to coach against him named Gus Stager when I am at the Canham Natatorium pool. He was the coach at University of Michigan for many years and was coaching when *** was at MSU. I believed they coached together on National Teams. In fact, I believe Gus was the Head Coach of the first World team that went to the World Championships in Belgrade in 1973 and *** was the Assistant Coach. I will have to tell Gus about *** and this article.

The article gave me the impression he takes swimming seriously and is only interested in working with swimmers who feel the same way. Nothing wrong with that, in my book. Hard to know without having swum for him, but it seems to me "hard ass" might be appropriate, but probably not "jackass."

I guess I just don't think you need to be a jackass to be succesful as a coach. "Jerk", "jackass", "***"...all may be a bit strong without first hand account. It would be neat to hear from some of Beaufort's current team members if there are any that pay attention to these forums. The author may have taken some poetic license in his or her description of the coach.

Good story but the coach sounds like a real ***...not the kind of guy who brings new blood into Masters Swimming, that is for sure.

Aside from the mandated competition, it just seems like the guy is a jerk. Giving the swimmers grief about some DQ's when they won the meet sounds a little over the top. Give me a break "coach"...it's friggin' Masters! I guess if his swimmers enjoy it then everybody is happy and there are no worries. If I were on the team, the coach might get "accidentally" knocked into the pool one day. :eek:

I think the article seemed a bit extreme on the competitive side of master's swimming. For the most part, I feel like I am more a fitness swimmer than a competitive swimmer. Here is another article on a masters swimmer from my local paper. Be advised that you have to register on the site to view the article. www.ocregister.com/.../article_1151075.php Kevin

"Sounds like a jerk" . . ??? Give me a break . . . it sounds like his team loves him (stockholm syndrome perhaps?) and they have bonded as a team. He sounds like a great coach and it sounds like a great team . . . not for everybody, but who cares. Those swimmers sound like a good and lucky bunch to me. Let those who don't want to compete swim somewhere else . . . who says that teams/coaches have to be all things to all people? Just those who want to pack the pool with swimmers, keep it crowded and maximize income.