"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.
Parents
Former Member
What if we started doing "newbie" clinics for swimmers new to meets? Get them used to the technology, the starts, etc. I know the meets I go to I see so many not following the whistle commands (first one is for the heat ahead to clear the pool, 2nd is to get on the block). I think having clinics for those wanting to start competing but are too afraid might bring some people back to USMS for a 2nd year.
Since I never swam competitively I have no idea if I could do it. Besides there is no "pack" so if (when) I get lapped its all me in the lane. Why would I want to do that to myself. Most adults didn't like to be :blush:. My fears of what could go wrong range from falling backward off the blocks, to losing my suit diving in, to losing count of laps (I could go on but I think you get the idea). Plus the idea of wasting a weekend at a meet to swim 3 races for a total time of less than 10 minutes doesn't seem a good use of my limited time.
As a newbie who has tried out a meet for size (and liked it), I think both Swimshark and Slowswim have good points. For newbies who swim alone, the idea of swimming in a meet can be daunting. Many new swimmers are under the impression that meets are for really fast people only. I was fortunate in that I had some guardian angels (Fort, SwimStud, AquaFeisty, SwimmieAvsFan, Muppet to name just a few) who encouraged me to try, to ignore how slow I was and just do it, and helped me navigate the meet itself (I almost went to the wrong end of the pool for a 50). Anyway, if more serious but non-competitive swimmers had a mentor or two like I do/did, more people might be willing to give it a whirl. There is no substitute for having a really accomplished swimmer making you feel welcome at a meet.
I think it's also helpful for people who try out meets for the first time to report back here how it went. I know that listening to SwimStud's early meet experiences got me thinking as did Gerdick's pre-meet anxiety and post-meet happiness. I've talked with a couple of newbie's privately about giving it a whirl, under the rubric: if I can, anyone can.
What if we started doing "newbie" clinics for swimmers new to meets? Get them used to the technology, the starts, etc. I know the meets I go to I see so many not following the whistle commands (first one is for the heat ahead to clear the pool, 2nd is to get on the block). I think having clinics for those wanting to start competing but are too afraid might bring some people back to USMS for a 2nd year.
Since I never swam competitively I have no idea if I could do it. Besides there is no "pack" so if (when) I get lapped its all me in the lane. Why would I want to do that to myself. Most adults didn't like to be :blush:. My fears of what could go wrong range from falling backward off the blocks, to losing my suit diving in, to losing count of laps (I could go on but I think you get the idea). Plus the idea of wasting a weekend at a meet to swim 3 races for a total time of less than 10 minutes doesn't seem a good use of my limited time.
As a newbie who has tried out a meet for size (and liked it), I think both Swimshark and Slowswim have good points. For newbies who swim alone, the idea of swimming in a meet can be daunting. Many new swimmers are under the impression that meets are for really fast people only. I was fortunate in that I had some guardian angels (Fort, SwimStud, AquaFeisty, SwimmieAvsFan, Muppet to name just a few) who encouraged me to try, to ignore how slow I was and just do it, and helped me navigate the meet itself (I almost went to the wrong end of the pool for a 50). Anyway, if more serious but non-competitive swimmers had a mentor or two like I do/did, more people might be willing to give it a whirl. There is no substitute for having a really accomplished swimmer making you feel welcome at a meet.
I think it's also helpful for people who try out meets for the first time to report back here how it went. I know that listening to SwimStud's early meet experiences got me thinking as did Gerdick's pre-meet anxiety and post-meet happiness. I've talked with a couple of newbie's privately about giving it a whirl, under the rubric: if I can, anyone can.
