Is this the face of Masters Swimming?

Well, crap, since you said mediocre that rules out my first choice, the self proclaimed stud. I was already asked in a PM to be the face but I said we wold then have an overwhelming majority of women in the sport...they just felt your little world might crumble if a lot more females started whopping your ass...so they're looking elsewhere.

Living with two daughters, a wife, and a female nanny I'm used to taking a whopping, or whooping, as we say here in the United States of America, from women, all day long. Geek has a nanny?! Just like Dara! Anna Lea

Sadly USMS still does not have an "image" of what it is....I say this with all due respect to those that are attempting to make changes in the organization (turning the Titanic?)....but it is sad that USS thru Swimming World seems to have a pretty clear idea of what we should be and who the face should be.... To me Masters Swimming is as a number of people have said here a collage of people/faces/interests. So how do you market something like that? Jack of all trades and master of none most would tell you is a pretty tough sell... Its also tough to promote growth when I would guess most swimmers....especially those that control many of the committees at USMS...simply don't want their lanes any more crowded than they already are. So where does this leave? Slowly dying if you look at the drops in membership and lack of retention that we face....more and more coaches/clubs leaving to self insure....fewer and fewer pools interested in hosting our national championships.... So is Dara the savior? Possibly if she's willing to ramp up her PR machine and really help promote awareness of what our sport "is".....but what is it? So many questions! PS: Geek...i was going to use you as an example of who the face should be...but you went over to the dark side (trigeek) and lost all of our respect...well at least the respect of someone on this entire forum I would guess! :mooning:

It seems to me the common thread we all share is swimming to promote a fit and healthy lifestyle. For some that means competing at a high level, for others it might mean purely fitness swimming. I think this is an "image" that should resonate with lots of people.

I pains me to no end that I must agree with Smith that we are going to need some anvil approach to grow USMS, and that most likely means a star. Putting the mug of your average swimmer on glossy printouts would be about like farting against the wind for results. In an ironic twist to the whole triathlon bashing we do here, it is tris that are growing my team. Mind you they come and go a lot while the real swimmers hang on but they pay their dues like the rest of us. I never garnered any respect, Smith, so none for me to lose. The fall is always less painful when you don't have far to drop.

I think we should have a couple $$$$ meets a year. If the right conditions were met I would be willing to put $10,000 in prize money for a carefully crafted swim meet that spread $$$ opportunities thru out the age groups.

A day in the life of an average "Masters" swimmer: 4:30 AM - Up and drive a half hour to the only pool in the area that is open that early. (I do this that early because I then have to go to work for 8 hours) 5:15 - 6:30 Get in 3500-4000 SCY 4500 if I am lucky 7:30 At work 1130 - 1230 (1:00 If time permits) Lunchtime swim - Again, lucky to get in 3000-3500 SCY 4000 if I am lucky 4:00 Leave work and go to the pool to coach the kids 6:30ish or 7 Home to eat dinner and make sure all the homework and life stresses for 3 high schoolers and one middle schooler are taken care of. 7:30 Leave me alone - Jeopardy is on!!!! :groovy: 8:00 - 11:00 Watch some TV in between helping with all the homework and stuff 11:00 Usually in bed - sometimes midnight. Up the next day to do it again......this is my M-W-F routine.....T-Th are usually a little different with Soccer practice. And of course the whole thing can be thrown off by somebody missing a ride to one of their activities. Absolutely nothing against Dara......she is truly an inspiration to all of us!!! I even defended her in the other thread about doping......but does she have to deal with this type of stuff daily like most of us do?

I don't think we can have one face. Who should it be? Dara? Rob? Jeff Commings? Fortress? Allen Stark? Nobody is better than anyone else at being a masters swimmer. Whether you swim a 50 in :20 or 1:20. It would be better to pick a selection. The calendar idea USMS faces of Masters Swimming would give you 12 folks to choose from. You could pull an ex-olympian, a fulltime working mother, someone who just swims to keep in shape and have fun, someone who is working on a world record etc etc. Pictures of our top swimmers with the average guy or gal, or photos of them sharing knowledge at a clinic type thing. That to me would be a better representation--and a crystalised version of the forum and meets where you can get to meet each other. Yes of course there is room to recognise the admin side who put it all together too--whether they actively swim or not. If you have to have 1 face at least give the members the right to pick from an assortment of types and classes not just elites. IMHO

Well said SS......

I agree. The face of Masters swimming should be a person without their own "team" behind them. Alison Now this is a very interesting statement (for me). I'm not sure as to whether I agree or disagree. What would be a "team?" Massages a couple of times a week and a personal trainer? An acupuncturist, pilates instructor and nutritionist? However, from all of the masters swimmers and even runners, cyclists, and triathletes that I know, many would be eliminated from being considered the "face" of their sport due to working with a team of people to enhance performance. I would estimate that of the adults that I know, about half of them work with some combination of a trainer, massage therapist, physical therapist, chiropractor, pilates or yoga instructor, nutritionist, etc. So, I feel Dara's getting a bit of a bad rap in that area. I know that I was surprised to find that some of the masters individuals I swim with (and this goes for 50 and 60+ yr individuals) have acupuncturists, yoga instructors, pilates classes, and weight trainers. Now, they don't go around advertising this info. It does make sense to me as to why they are so quick in the pool . . . I'm sure there are swimmers out there who are fabulous and they just swim (I know of a few). But usually, there are specific reasons as to why some swimmers are so quick in the pool. So, I guess unless I really knew what everyone does in and out of the pool, I can't pass judgment. This sort of reminds me of the kids who would say, "I did not study at all for that test!" and then they aced it when you better believe they did all kinds of things to prepare for it. And having your own PR company backing you is not, in my mind, always a win-win for the individual. . . So is what people are saying is that to be the "face" of masters, you are expected to be OT speed while training minimally and only in the pool? Sign me up! :lmao: But back to the topic at hand, I feel Dara is one of the many faces of Masters. She's very unique and not at all typical of our group. Anyway, interesting thread.