"Dara Torres should be the face of United States Masters Swimming"
Brent Rutemiller, October issue Swimming World Magazine
"Of Course, Torres isn't on this trip alone. Aside from the support of Hoffman, her daughter and her coaches, Torres relies on a team. She has a nanny who tends to Tessa, a strength coach, and physical and massage therapists who work her like a piece of dough."
John Lohn, October Swimming World Magazine
With all due respect to Mr. Rutemillier & Mr. Lohn I would suggest that they spend a little more time around the people who not only compete in the meets of our sport but with the people who are the backbone as volunteers in the day to day running of it....Dara's only contribution has been making a few workouts early in her comeback, attending a couple of meets and signing autographs and collecting checks for clinics.
If you want a "face" of Masters Swimming look to Susan Von der Lippe who beat Dara as the first person over 40 to qualify for Trials....and she did it training with a masters team 3x a week...working par time, no nanny, no trainers....no PR person....that to me this is the core of what we are in my opinion.
How about Rob Copeland who somehow manages to run this entire organization, swim extremely well, post on our forum....all without a massage therapist and pilates instructor....again this is what Masters represents...to me.
Dara has done something remarkable for anyone her age... give her credit..but lets see if at some point she wants to time at one of our meets...or be on one of our committee's to help promote masters...without an appearance fee.
I might be wrong here (probably not though :) ) but it seems like many cycling races, triathlons, and runs provide an opportunity to take in some new scenery. This means that not only are you seeing new sights and hearing new sounds but you are challenged by different hills, turns, surfaces, etc.. On the other hand, I can tell you what the pool is going to be like at every USMS meet across the country. Could this also have something to do with cycling and triathlons getting far more airtime than swimming?
Maybe. That's one reason I like running. But swimming has variety too. We've got 5 strokes, including butterfrog, we've got different race differences, meets in different locales, sprint meets, OW meets, postal challenges, etc. In the summer, and in CA, there are outdoor pools. Plenty for everyone to choose from according to ability and preference.
I might be wrong here (probably not though :) ) but it seems like many cycling races, triathlons, and runs provide an opportunity to take in some new scenery. This means that not only are you seeing new sights and hearing new sounds but you are challenged by different hills, turns, surfaces, etc.. On the other hand, I can tell you what the pool is going to be like at every USMS meet across the country. Could this also have something to do with cycling and triathlons getting far more airtime than swimming?
Maybe. That's one reason I like running. But swimming has variety too. We've got 5 strokes, including butterfrog, we've got different race differences, meets in different locales, sprint meets, OW meets, postal challenges, etc. In the summer, and in CA, there are outdoor pools. Plenty for everyone to choose from according to ability and preference.
