Masters nationals--depth of competition?

LCM nationals have a much lower attendance than SCY nationals. Check the results out from Seattle, also there are national cuts though you get 3 free events.

picking a meet like the one at the woodlands is probably not a good indicator of the depth of masters swimming. it is a very small national meet, just over 900 people, i bet mostly because many people were not too keen on swimming outside, in houston, in august... for example, at the 2005 LCM nationals, there were 23 men in the 30-34 age group. and 12 of them were under a minute... also, not everyone makes it to the national meet. a much more accurate picture of the actual depth of masters (not neccessarily nationals, but the whole organization) is to check out the previous year's top ten times. that year, it took a 52.42 to be ranked #1 for the year. and a 57.24 to just make the top 10.

Don't judge masters swimming based on the number of people at summer nationals. Most people don't swim long course nationals for many reasons: family obligations prevent them from training in the summer, they tapered for the spring meet and don't want to train hard in the summer or they don't want to suffer through the heat of the Woodlands in August. Take a look at the results from last spring's nationals for a more accurate picture of masters swimming. If you look at the men's 30-34 100 free, 19 guys posted a time that would be equivalent to breaking 1:00 in long course. That's a lot of sub-1:00 swims. Our top 10 listings will also show you how deep masters swimming is. The short course top 10 for 2007 will be published in a couple of weeks. I hope you decide to give masters a try. If you swim at spring nationals in Austin next May, maybe we'll be in adjacent lanes in the 100 free! (Unless I wimp out and only swim my normal events.)

to answer the "why don't people swim after college" some of us do! I actually swam masters THROUGH college, and am still going But a list of reasons why people wouldnt swim after college: - burnout :frustrated: - hate toward swimming fostered by intense college environment:censor: - general despise of competition :cry: - desire to do something else (ie drink heavily, water polo, flag football) after focusing almost exclusively on training :drink: - grad school/ med school :coffee: - swimmer doesn't know about masters swimming :dunno: - occupational conflicts (ie new job; no vacation time; working long hours) :notworking: - lack of funds :2cents: - marriage/ parenthood (a little too much partying after that victory at conference champs/ncaa's) :banana:

In comparison to cycling, or running, it seems there are hardly any swimmers competing at a high level over the age of 22 or so I would suggest a comparison to cycling isn't a good one. Cycling is not a very popular competitive sport for kids, but swimming is. It seems to me many more people get into cycling later in life. I think this almost ensures the depth of cycling at older ages is going to be greater than swimming. The entire demographic is just skewed compared to swimming.

Lack of competition? Holy moly, having 16 people in the fast lane(s) today at practice, all of whom can go under 1:00-1:05 in LCM, sure blows a hole in that theory.

Thanks for the replies. SC nationals does seem a little deeper. I guess I'm just surprised at the overall numbers... compared with cycling and tris/running. . I'd even check out your local zones or any local meet results. Some local meets have quite a few swimmers. Oregon has their annuall Assoc Champs in April where there have been 350+ swimmers. Nationals numbers will vary depending on the location and time in Aug when it's held. Hey, jump on in and give a masters meet a try. You might really like it again. Alison

Swimmers over 22 that are swimming and darn fast: Phelps just turned 22, Peirsol, Crocker, Hansen then you have the +30s of Walker, Hall, and Lezak. Also fast and older our very own Ande. Women in their 30s and up that swim/swam fast - Dara Torres over 40 and swimming fast as ever, Jenny Thompson was in her 30s in Athens, Rachel Komisarz is over 30 or is 30. Coughlin will be 25 and Beard turns 26 later this year. A lot of the fast swimmers over 22 still swim USS. A lot of others are burned out. You simply cannot compare swimming with cycling. My brother rode pro so I have some insight into the cycling world. They generally start later, peak later, and it's easier. I don't mean physically easier, but it's harder to find a pool than it is a bike. Also almost everyone learns how to ride a bike as a kid. Even better than the top 10 lists, look at current rankings for SCY - 100s of swimmers swim every event. It's unreal. The biggest/fastest age groups seem to be 40s. There kids are a bit older and they aren't so burned out, they have a bit more cash, or whatever.

My age group (45-49) is pretty competitive--in the 100 free there are 55 swimmers entered, and it will take a sub 1:00 to place. Keep in mind that only a fraction of those who qualify actually attend Nationals. A better way to measure the depth of competition in Masters swimming would be to look at the top ten lists as Jeff and Mollie suggested.

Thanks for the replies. SC nationals does seem a little deeper. I guess I'm just surprised at the overall numbers... compared with cycling and tris/running. But I'm sure its true that many who qualify don't show up for various reasons. I don't foresee myself competing in swimming anytime soon... my last swim meet was in 1995, and 10 years of biking doesn't do any good for upper body strength. I've lost 15 lbs of muscle mass since college, which isn't good for an ex-sprinter. PS Jeff C, you're a fast dude! Very inspirational to see those times from someone your age.