Why more men?

Fortress, I've wondered the very same question myself!! So, I'm glad you asked it. :) And, I too have had some funny responses from cranky old men in the forum directed at me as well. I find it humorous. I've often found myself (as a USA age grouper in the 80s and 90s and masters at present) asking where the heck the women are. Rarely are there any in my lane. (There is some variation from masters club to masters club in my area.) For example, I find Swim Atlanta has a very close (50:50) male to female ratio at practices. Another interesting note is that their coach is female. Now, I'm not going on USMS roster data posted online (which appear to be very out of date and inaccurate) but on who shows up regularly at practice each day. (I swim 6x a week and sometimes do doubles.) However, at Dynamo and Cobb Stingrays, I find myself surrounded by men. Both the coaches there are men. I wonder if there is a correlation between male to female participation ratios and the gender of the coach. I found I tend to identify more with women coaches (and the practice is a more enjoyable experience). Do know that I also have done well under male coaches. I tend to find my female coaches to be no-nonsense, direct, and straightforward. Obviously, some male coaches are like this as well. However, I do remember having some male coaches (and some were quite young - twenties), who would like to tease women/ girls excessively (for example, "some of us need to go down further on our pushups than others"), flirt with the female swimmers, or be indirect/ unclear with answers to questions regarding sets or technique (for example, "how was my backstroke turn?" with the response being, "you need to swim for yourself" and no further explanation was given. Now, correct me if I'm wrong here (and I have no doubt I will be corrected), but the number of male swimming coaches far, far outnumbers the number of female swimming coaches at say a USS or Masters level (I'm not talking about learn to swim and lower levels). If you look at the coaches inducted into the ASCA hall of fame, you see that only 1 of 50 was female (2%). I also noticed that from its inception, only one woman has served as the Georgia President/ General Chairman and that was in 2005/ 2006. Leadership starts at the top and trickles down. I'm in the 30-34 age group and soon to be 35-39 age group. Growing up, I was the only female along with one other girl on the senior team at my year round swim club in GA. The senior team was around 20 swimmers. It could be a bit intimidating at times! I think things have changed and more girls are getting into swimming or other sports which is awesome for the sport of swimming. I can also see how it could be intimidating now for women to enter masters programs. I'm pretty fast and it's a challenge to swim with the big boys each day. I love it, but I think a lot of women would be overwhelmed in terms of their speed, size (even if not in their lane), and practice habits. From my experience (and I've talked a lot about this with my female swimming buddies), men practice differently from women. Women tend to get in a lane appropriate to their speed and follow the set instructions where many men get in a lane too fast for them and then resort to drafting; stopping mid-set to catch their breath to then leave on your toes in attempt to draft; add in the fins and/ or paddles and buoys and/ or just swim free when it's IM or stroke; or my personal favorite, simply turn around in the middle of the lane to catch up. We've (my female swimmers and I) finally adopted the policy to let 'em cheat and we try our best to actually follow the set and race them regardless. I enjoy this having grown up in this kind of environment. I feel many women at the moderate to entry level would NOT find this daily experience pleasant. My female friends I'm referring to are at the Ironman Kona (top in their age group) and Dixie Zone Record level. And finally, from the female chauvinist pig perspective, I feel women are expected to: Carry babies to term Bounce back and look fantastic afterwards Be the primary caregiver for the kids Have a successful career at which we are making as much or more than the men Be the primary person who upkeeps the home including meals and cleaning the home Be a fantastic wife and mother while being sexy And then throw in the competing and physical activity?! That's a pretty overwhelming list. Yea, we're busing "popping out babies" along with a few other things. BTW, I skimmed the other responses, so who knows what the heck I repeated. Happy swimming! Thanks for the question Fortress!!

Fortress, I've wondered the very same question myself!! So, I'm glad you asked it. :) And, I too have had some funny responses from cranky old men in the forum directed at me as well. I find it humorous. I've often found myself (as a USA age grouper in the 80s and 90s and masters at present) asking where the heck the women are. Rarely are there any in my lane. (There is some variation from masters club to masters club in my area.) For example, I find Swim Atlanta has a very close (50:50) male to female ratio at practices. Another interesting note is that their coach is female. Now, I'm not going on USMS roster data posted online (which appear to be very out of date and inaccurate) but on who shows up regularly at practice each day. (I swim 6x a week and sometimes do doubles.) However, at Dynamo and Cobb Stingrays, I find myself surrounded by men. Both the coaches there are men. I wonder if there is a correlation between male to female participation ratios and the gender of the coach. I found I tend to identify more with women coaches (and the practice is a more enjoyable experience). Do know that I also have done well under male coaches. I tend to find my female coaches to be no-nonsense, direct, and straightforward. Obviously, some male coaches are like this as well. However, I do remember having some male coaches (and some were quite young - twenties), who would like to tease women/ girls excessively (for example, "some of us need to go down further on our pushups than others"), flirt with the female swimmers, or be indirect/ unclear with answers to questions regarding sets or technique (for example, "how was my backstroke turn?" with the response being, "you need to swim for yourself" and no further explanation was given. Now, correct me if I'm wrong here (and I have no doubt I will be corrected), but the number of male swimming coaches far, far outnumbers the number of female swimming coaches at say a USS or Masters level (I'm not talking about learn to swim and lower levels). If you look at the coaches inducted into the ASCA hall of fame, you see that only 1 of 50 was female (2%). I also noticed that from its inception, only one woman has served as the Georgia President/ General Chairman and that was in 2005/ 2006. Leadership starts at the top and trickles down. I'm in the 30-34 age group and soon to be 35-39 age group. Growing up, I was the only female along with one other girl on the senior team at my year round swim club in GA. The senior team was around 20 swimmers. It could be a bit intimidating at times! I think things have changed and more girls are getting into swimming or other sports which is awesome for the sport of swimming. I can also see how it could be intimidating now for women to enter masters programs. I'm pretty fast and it's a challenge to swim with the big boys each day. I love it, but I think a lot of women would be overwhelmed in terms of their speed, size (even if not in their lane), and practice habits. From my experience (and I've talked a lot about this with my female swimming buddies), men practice differently from women. Women tend to get in a lane appropriate to their speed and follow the set instructions where many men get in a lane too fast for them and then resort to drafting; stopping mid-set to catch their breath to then leave on your toes in attempt to draft; add in the fins and/ or paddles and buoys and/ or just swim free when it's IM or stroke; or my personal favorite, simply turn around in the middle of the lane to catch up. We've (my female swimmers and I) finally adopted the policy to let 'em cheat and we try our best to actually follow the set and race them regardless. I enjoy this having grown up in this kind of environment. I feel many women at the moderate to entry level would NOT find this daily experience pleasant. My female friends I'm referring to are at the Ironman Kona (top in their age group) and Dixie Zone Record level. And finally, from the female chauvinist pig perspective, I feel women are expected to: Carry babies to term Bounce back and look fantastic afterwards Be the primary caregiver for the kids Have a successful career at which we are making as much or more than the men Be the primary person who upkeeps the home including meals and cleaning the home Be a fantastic wife and mother while being sexy And then throw in the competing and physical activity?! That's a pretty overwhelming list. Yea, we're busing "popping out babies" along with a few other things. BTW, I skimmed the other responses, so who knows what the heck I repeated. Happy swimming! Thanks for the question Fortress!!