"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.
Former Member
You're probably right. But the sport of "swimming" is not just about distance and OW, IMHO. Why is longer necessarily better? Personally, I have a fine sense of accomplishment racing shorter distances, although I may be an oddity.
I've said this before and still think it's true: OW is rock 'n roll and pool races are Carnegie Hall. Anyone who can strum three chords badly can pretend they are rock stars, but there is no faking the cello. Most people will get more satisfaction from finishing a slow mile than a slow 50, simply because almost anyone can complete 50 yards - albeit slowly, so there are no bragging points there. But saying you swam a mile (and the t-shirt) , which most people can't/won't do, gives you some shot at that amp that "goes to 11".
I bet that you will not grow USMS from the pool side. However, a concerted push to attract some of the OW newbies into the dark side will work to some degree. (Hey, I've done 2 pool meets, so anything is possible.) Maybe peppering some of the larger OW swims with USMS info/applications in the goodies packet might work.
Just a thought,
LBJ
Beach volleyball is one of the most widely viewed segments during Olympic broadcasts. Womens mostly. Wonder why??
images.google.com/images
Lord, and we have the fastskins!? No wonder no one gives a darn about masters swimming! They suck in terms of making women look good.
I'm all for creating a "fastkini" in competition. It lifts, sucks in fat, squeezes my goods upward, and is hot pink. We'll give the volleyball babes a run for their money. :rofl:
Man - I'm opposite of many here. I have no interest in OW or long races. I start to lose count of laps when I swim over a 200. I get bored and distracted. If I try to count strokes I'm liable to lose count of laps.
I'm perfectly happy to do races that take just a minute or two to do. I'm trashed with each of these races and breathe hard for a long time afterwards.
Kristina:
You go girl on the fastskini! I think you look better than those volleyball players!
I reserve judement until photographic entries of "pushed goods" have been submitted via email ;)
:rofl::rofl::rofl:
FWIW, I felt much brawnier after swimming a mile or too in the OW. I do however feel more "athletic" and younger swimming short pool meets.
About 8 years ago I came to the conclusion that if I'm gonna train in the pool 7 hours a week, it would be silly to waste that on solely a sprint at a meet. So, I expanded my swimming to do longer distances and OW. I had no idea OW could be so much fun and a completely different direction from pool swimming. It's a new challenge. Plus, you want to feel good about your swimming, go take out a few dozen tris in an OW swim.
Many won't admit it but they are afraid of creepy crawlies. I personally can't stand the bottom of lakes, makes me want to hurl.
However, for some people maybe the challenge of the sprint is all they need to keep motivated, so it's fine for them.
Amen. I too now do some OW events for fun. And I bring along my friends (willingly). They are rarely disappointed as something strange usually happens during the event like new swimmers freaking out; rescues need to be made; unpredictable sea life emerges; grotesque debris surfaces; rogue sea lions take a bite; etc.
Amen. I too now do some OW events for fun. And I bring along my friends (willingly). They are rarely disappointed as something strange usually happens during the event like new swimmers freaking out; rescues need to be made; unpredictable sea life emerges; grotesque debris surfaces; rogue sea lions take a bite; etc.
If you start pushing your goods you may have shoals of rogue scuba divers taking pictures...not bites... ;) well maybe bites too :D
I reserve judement until photographic entries of "pushed goods" have been submitted via email ;)
:rofl::rofl::rofl:
FWIW, I felt much brawnier after swimming a mile or too in the OW. I do however feel more "athletic" and younger swimming short pool meets.
Don't knock my fastkini. It is opposite to the fastskin which flattens the goods. What man came up with the fastskin design? :doh:
Don't knock my fastkini. It is opposite to the fastskin which flattens the goods. What man came up with the fastskin design? :doh:
Not me...but I'm a lech...
While I don't necessarily feel that we need scads of media coverage, as most vets of organising big meets will tell you, sending out info packages, timely results, interesting bios doesn't often get much, if any, coverage. No, if you want media coverage........
Bar them! Yes, announce beforehand that you are determined to protect your swimmers' privacy (specified media exclusion zones), protection of their personal body-image copyright (cameras forbidden), immediate lawsuits against media speculation on who might attend (we must insure personal security for any celebrities who might be competing and no we won't divulge any names). The coverage will be immense.
The Geek would be the ideal media relations officer in such a case.
Good idea. We'll have an all chicks meet. Fastkinis mandatory. Spectators banned. A secret video will be leaked on youtube, etc.
Get Britney to sing the National Anthem...so going to draw coverage...
