"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.
And I agree with Dorothy about the inconvenience of traveling over 2 hours sometimes just to attend a meet.
Pool facilities are very limited in some places...and work and family commitments are unavoidable for the majority of us.
Definitely true.
However, triathletes and marathoners spend loads of time training. I know lots of spouses who must accomodate the "long run" or "long bike" on weekends, etc. So these sports merit a time commitment, but swimming doesn't?
Maybe it's just impossible to overcome apparent intrinsic dullness and the time/facility problem. I know nothing about marketing, so have nothing useful to offer. But "bringing back sexy" with something jazzy and different would seem like the only option. Maybe, "gatherings" or unconventional non-elite trinkets would help.
And I agree with Dorothy about the inconvenience of traveling over 2 hours sometimes just to attend a meet.
Pool facilities are very limited in some places...and work and family commitments are unavoidable for the majority of us.
Definitely true.
However, triathletes and marathoners spend loads of time training. I know lots of spouses who must accomodate the "long run" or "long bike" on weekends, etc. So these sports merit a time commitment, but swimming doesn't?
Maybe it's just impossible to overcome apparent intrinsic dullness and the time/facility problem. I know nothing about marketing, so have nothing useful to offer. But "bringing back sexy" with something jazzy and different would seem like the only option. Maybe, "gatherings" or unconventional non-elite trinkets would help.
