Newspaper story on a masters team

"Anyone can join this team, but they must swim in the meets." Hmm, I guess Mark Spitz and Matt Biondi (who both train a little bit now) would not be welcome on the team. But whatever, his team, his rules!

We try to subtly influence those swimmers who do not want to compete, by letting them know how much fun the meets and post meet get togethers can be. We are slowly winning them over. There are plenty of other options for swimmers who do not want to compete, but rather than chasing them away with ultimatums, we choose to do what we can to grow the sport 1 swimmer at a time. I doubt that Mr. Fetter's policy brings in alot of new swimmers, but probably somewhat enhances the experience of existing competitive swimmers by increasing the importance of the competition itself. This is how our team operates, and how I was encouraged to move from lap swimmer to first time competitive swimmer. In all honesty I would never had attempted this type of team. I had a ski coach like this in high school, and at 47 I am too old to be yelled at or berated - esp after a stressful day at work. I like our laid back style - it may never get me to World Level but the past year has been a joy competing.

Originally posted by chickadee and at 47 I am too old to be yelled at or berated - esp after a stressful day at work. . I am only 31 but I feel the same way. Coach or not, that sort of communication is not something I will tolerate.

What I don't get is, the coach is supposed to be totally focused on competitive results, and the swimmers are supposed to train really hard, yet it says: "JoAnn Chapman, 62, perhaps the most accomplished Masters swimmer on the team with nine state records entering the meet, sets her 10th with a 7-minute, 45.59-second mark in the 400 freestyle." 7:45 for 400 free?! There's a 64 year old woman at my club who swam 6:18 (LCM) last month. So the coach is hardly working wonders with his team of committed competitive Masters swimmers.

Originally posted by NotVeryFast 7:45 for 400 free?! There's a 64 year old woman at my club who swam 6:18 (LCM) last month. So the coach is hardly working wonders with his team of committed competitive Masters swimmers. :rolleyes: But you have no way of knowing what her swimming background is. If she just took up the sport a few years ago 7:45 is probably a pretty decent time. In any event, I believe the author's point was to show that it's not just fast young bucks. There are plenty of swimmers of retirement age or older who are continuing to compete and set records.

Originally posted by NotVeryFast And it says she is their best swimmer. Not exactly. It says she is their "most accomplished" swimmer, probably referring to all her state records. I'm sure the journalist didn't know whether these records were actually impressive or not.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Even if you thought the article sucked, think the coach is a jerk, etc., you might be able to appreciate this fine underwater photography: beaufortgazette.com/.../20060511_legs_tif-large.jpg Oh my! Take that Amanda Beard! ;)

Originally posted by knelson But you have no way of knowing what her swimming background is. If she just took up the sport a few years ago 7:45 is probably a pretty decent time. Okay, but if we assume the time of 7:45 was LCM, then it's still 37% outside the Masters world record. And it says she is their best swimmer. Calculate the time for your own events and age group by adding 37% to the Masters world record and see how slow the times are. Okay, nothing wrong with people doing those times, but if that is the level of performance of their best swimmer, I just can't see that the team's performance justifies his approach.

Originally posted by NotVeryFast Okay, but if we assume the time of 7:45 was LCM, then it's still 37% outside the Masters world record. And it says she is their best swimmer. Calculate the time for your own events and age group by adding 37% to the Masters world record and see how slow the times are. Okay, nothing wrong with people doing those times, but if that is the level of performance of their best swimmer, I just can't see that the team's performance justifies his approach. It is quite possible the paper got the time totally wrong. That often happens when our paper reports swim times. They have no clue about times, because swimming is not a headline sport, so they don't know that they reported it wrong. To the reader who knows the swimmers and knows times, it is a shake your head and laugh at the reported times.

Originally posted by NotVeryFast 7:45 for 400 free?! There's a 64 year old woman at my club who swam 6:18 (LCM) last month. This time is accurate, I checked the Individual Results section of the USMS website: JoAnn Chapman Free 400 62 F 7:45.59L 1 LCM 060702TGML 2006-07-01 May not be fast compared to swimmers in other states, but the reported time is correct.