"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.
Pool racing can certainly be intimidating to the novice swimmer, and with the shorter races they seem to get less of that sense of accomplishment. I believe that if we could get a LOT more open water swims available, we could grow significantly.
I agree. Much of the commentary on this thread has had to do with what is possible. Open water swimming is not "better" than pool racing but it is distinctly more possible, especially for older "young" swimmers (like me), and for building community participation in swimming. Spending a summer afternoon at the ol' swimming hole ("Race you to that big rock!") is part of the American imaginary. Increasing OW swim opportunities -- gatherings, if not races -- would seem a natural way to attract new USMS members.
But I don't think I understand the membership/retention problem. a) If each year 30% (say) of members don't renew but are replaced, for a generally constant membership, is there a problem? b) If overall membership declines, are there real-life consequences? Seems to me local variation, such as insufficient no. of ppl to support a Masters Swim program at a given facility, is a problem isolable from overall membership problem (which might turn out not to be a problem).
Second thing I don't understand: Is organized swimming only about times?
Regards, VB
Pool racing can certainly be intimidating to the novice swimmer, and with the shorter races they seem to get less of that sense of accomplishment. I believe that if we could get a LOT more open water swims available, we could grow significantly.
I agree. Much of the commentary on this thread has had to do with what is possible. Open water swimming is not "better" than pool racing but it is distinctly more possible, especially for older "young" swimmers (like me), and for building community participation in swimming. Spending a summer afternoon at the ol' swimming hole ("Race you to that big rock!") is part of the American imaginary. Increasing OW swim opportunities -- gatherings, if not races -- would seem a natural way to attract new USMS members.
But I don't think I understand the membership/retention problem. a) If each year 30% (say) of members don't renew but are replaced, for a generally constant membership, is there a problem? b) If overall membership declines, are there real-life consequences? Seems to me local variation, such as insufficient no. of ppl to support a Masters Swim program at a given facility, is a problem isolable from overall membership problem (which might turn out not to be a problem).
Second thing I don't understand: Is organized swimming only about times?
Regards, VB
