I was just wondering if anyone out there knows of masters swimmers who don’t compete and that have achieved Top Ten Times, American Records, World Records, etc. in practice. I know that stories have circulated around about swimmers like Mark Spitz who have done this (although I think he did compete :)). I was just wondering if there are similar stories in the masters ranks. It seems to me that it would be highly probable in masters swimming because so many of its members do not actually swim at meets. Therefore, I would think there are people out there who achieve these (unofficial) times during a practice session and are relatively unknown. If you’ve got a story to share, please do.
If I don't want to be at a meet for hours I just enter only events in the first half of the meet. There's nothing that says you've got to stick around till the bitter end.
Not so true here. Look at the timeline for our championship meet in December. I know the Saturday session started late for some reason, so it ran even later than this:
www.greatbaymasters.org/07BUsession.htm
Using that meet (or any NE championship meet) as a standard is not realistic. Turnout for those meets is EXTREMELY high. Much higher than the 'average' for similar meets and congrats for that :cheerleader:. I swim quite a few local meets in the Wash DC area and most take about 3-4 hours to complete the events.
But yes, that time can be spent doing other things. For me, I love to complete and I also love to watch others swim. Plus I get to socialize with others and meet new folks. But then again, it's too cold to golf so who knows what I'll do when the weather starts getting warmer.
Paul
the real question is why dont they compete???
Mostly it is becuase they still view swim meets as those endless ordeals that we all went through as age groupers or as the high pressure world of big time college/national swimming. Either way it left a bad taste and they walked away.
I think we call them workout swimmers. Folks who can drop 10 X100 faster than all get out but will never show at a meet.
I'm a proud workout swimmer. It's not that meets left a bad taste in my mouth, its more a matter of them being painfully boring. I'd much rather gauge my progress by doing a set of 10 x 200's.
Marriage, kids in sports, home improvement projects, etc pretty much dictate that if I don't swim first thing in the morning, its not going to happen.
I try to swim in 2-3 open water events per season, otherwise it is gut-check sets and peer pressure with the group I work out with.
...Then there are the chickensh*ts who are afraid to compete. Within this group are 2 subgroups--c.s. because they have not put in x amount of yardage in preparation and c.s because they truly suck (both of which are simply afraid of perceived failure)...
I think I may resemble that remark. :mooning:
:bow:
I certainly don't care who does what with their time. It's why I made the comment. You needed to read the second part of my post too.
"You can't win Darth." Obi-Wan
"Negative you are. First your heart wins, losers there are not." ~Yoda~
Master swim meets are very long. I wish we could have duel meets. Now this is something I would like to happen.
We had duel meets at least once a week and even twice a week. They were sometimes tri meets.
I wonder how many masters swimmers that don't compete hit the golf course for 18, make that 19, each Sunday...
Nothing wrong with working out only...still good for you and a good example for your kids.
Geochuck - I don't know what USMS meets you've been to lately, but, other than Nationals, I have yet to see a USMS meet session that lasts more than a few hours. I've even been to meets that go so quickly they put in 10-15 minute unschedule breaks between events to give us some rest.
Last meet I attended 2007 as a spectator took 3 days and It was not a pretty sight. I admit it was in Canada. I went I stayed an hour each day said "Hi" to people I had not seen since 1956 and left. Gave them Team Pictures from the past.
And who cares if they do? I don't play golf, but there are lots of things I'd rather do than sit at a pool all day. BTDT for too many years as a youth.
:bow:
I certainly don't care who does what with their time. It's why I made the comment. You needed to read the second part of my post too.
When you are swimming 9 events, three to four hours sessions are not that long. Then there are the chickensh*ts who are afraid to compete. Within this group are 2 subgroups--c.s. because they have not put in x amount of yardage in preparation and c.s because they truly suck (both of which are simply afraid of perceived failure).
The only reason I compete is so I can do the mile, 1000, 400 I.M and 6 other events in one weekend in order to claim the coveted 3 dollar cooler Arizona state high-point award from WalMart. To each his own I guess
Be careful not to lean too far over the pool, Narcissus, or you might false start.
