Why more men?

To reply to the original question: I think that the women who are about my age (51) and older had less opportunity to participate in sport than their younger sisters as they grew up. Certainly there were exceptions, but I clearly recall the women not having, say, a track team, to be part of. I suspect that, to some degree, it was probably true with swimming as well. As a result, many women my age and older simply never developed the "habit" of athletics and many carry that over now into middle+ age. Either that or women just have more sense then men - my wife tells me I think that. -LBJ

Have you have such conversations? Um, yes. I won't go into details. Fertility issues aren't unique to women who work. The majority of women we know who have used fertility drugs are not in their 40s and are stay at home mothers. What struck me is this seemingly pervasive attitude in suburban America that it is either career or family, not both. Being married to a wildly successful mother and professional, this attitude makes me nuts. Maybe that's not how you intended it, but it sure came across that way. Oh yeah, swimming is good for you.

I just checked the USA Census a mighty poor showing for the female gender.

Fortress I have deleted many posts in the past but over the last year I have never deleted again because someone does not like what I say. I will leave the the deleting to the rules dictator.

Actually, non-scientifically, I have noticed that the PNA has had great numerical participation by women 20-30 yrs the last year or so. Maybe they're doing something right?

Fortress, 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. Amen sista! I agree with you. I think the reason you don't have many women swimming Masters in the 20-25, 25-29 age groups is that many are having children and spending all their spare time with their babies and children. That is what I CHOSE to do at that age and I have no regrets! I'm not bitter and I'm NOT saying men don't help or do their share!! I just think the majority of mothers, especially if they work outside the home, choose to spend their spare time with their children. Mommy guilt is hell otherwise. This is solely my opinion and my personal experience :2cents: so don't crucify me!

Fortress, 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. My husband likes to say that these items are in my "marital contract." I just :rofl: at this. P.S. The guys on my team, though, don't cheat. They are actually workout monsters and I admire their discipline and work ethic. They put up with me in their lanes because I work hard. Otherwise, I think they would not so politely ask me to leave. And I would, man. I would.

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.) Swim4Life: You just insulted our Vice President of Local Services (Julie Heather) and our National Registrar (Esther Lyman) with the comments that you made above about the 2005 USMS Registation data that was provided for discussion. Would you like to explain to us why there are 264 more females than males in the 30-34 age group which accounts for a 13% increase? Could explain why there are 730 more females than males in the 25-29 age group which accounts for more that 1/3 of the size of males? And finally could you explain why there is 815 more females than males which is more than double for this age group? Is this data and anomaly for the year 2005. Do you expect to see a major shift in 2006? I would like you to explain why this data that was provided is inaccurate and what standard of measurement would you provide to dispute these findings.

Our club is slightly more women than men, especially 45-55, who also seem to go to meets more readily than the guys. Last prov. champs 9 women 1 guy! No I don't know why, except we are a very friendly club, lots of social stuff. However, I was shocked to learn that a female swimmer who hadn't turned out this year had been given an ultimatum: choose the marriage or swimming. She has two kids, preschool-ish and had only been averaging 1 or 2 workouts a week (week-nights, where he was looking after the kids). In all other respects she is the primary caregiver & works part-time as well. She's not swimming. not to be too harsh here, but is that marriage even worth it?!?! i bet you the husband was getting more than 1 or 2 weeknights to do his own thing... :shakeshead: isn't marriage (and life, really) about compromise?

One of them can even kick a certain curmudgeon's butt in his beloved 50-54 fly events. Leslie: Is this statement really necessary? I think everyone should just back off and keep statements like these off the discussion because they contribute absolutely nothing positive. Leslie, I am not trying to single you out and this goes for everyone today who have made similar statements today. If you have an issue with someone, settle it offline from the forum. Don't get me wrong, I am not perfect in this either and I was involved in the first locked out thread here and I used the private mail feature to settle the dispute. I think that is the good way to do it because you won't bring everyone down with negative comments and you will be more civil because you won't have a USMS audience to try to impress. I have done this many times and believe me it works with all parties concerned.