Below are the number of entrants for each event at the Junior Nationals for 2008. What do these figures mean for men's swimming long term? The number of boys in the sport trails girls quite siginficantly in many events. In relays where a team tends to show its depth, boys are out numbered by girls nearly 2:1
If things continue or get worse we've got problems ahead of us in 2 Olympics.
It's a good thing collegiate budgets aren't cutting mens swimming these days.... :-)
ncsassociation.homestead.com/PsychFINAL.htm
.............Women Men
1650/1000... 78.. 75
Med. Relay... 97.. 51
100 free... 264.. 140
100 ***... 179.. 102
200 back... 173.. 111
200 fly... 149.. 91
800 fr rly... 81.. 43
50 fly... 170.. 106
50 ***... 151.. 82
200 free... 252.. 159
400 IM... 183.. 106
400 free rly... 84.. 45
100 back... 194.. 152
500 free... 188.. 112
200 ***... 152.. 82
100 fly... 242.. 161
200 fr rly... 84.. 45
50 back... 135.. 115
200 IM... 268.. 169
50 free... 282.. 153
800/1500 fr... 98.. 67
400 med rly... 105.. 54
Parents
Former Member
One thing to keep in mind is, girls are more involved in sports in general than they were back in the 70s. I grew up in the 60s and 70s and was openly discouraged from doing anything athletic, especially by my mother (who was admittedly out of date even for the times). She thought being competitive was aggressive and masculine. Dance was the only acceptable physical activity for a girl, in her (and others) opinion.
I remember a high school teacher telling me in the mid-seventies that "women shouldn't do sports because they get big ugly muscles and start looking like men". This didn't bother me very much at the time because I was the asthmatic kid who always got picked last in gymn class, but it did annoy my inner feminist.
In the 80s, I still ran into this attitude when I became a runner, even from female co-workers my own age. Most exercise programs aimed at women emphasized non-competitiveness and required graceful dance steps in pastel leotards, just to prove that the participants really were feminine.
So why swimming? Well, on another swimming forum, it's been noted several times that girls seem to enjoy the process of learning technique, while boys just want to go eyeballs-out. (They probably come to enjoy process later on when they are a bit older.) This may also explain why girls are disproportionately represented in gymnastics, figure skating, and dance.
One thing to keep in mind is, girls are more involved in sports in general than they were back in the 70s. I grew up in the 60s and 70s and was openly discouraged from doing anything athletic, especially by my mother (who was admittedly out of date even for the times). She thought being competitive was aggressive and masculine. Dance was the only acceptable physical activity for a girl, in her (and others) opinion.
I remember a high school teacher telling me in the mid-seventies that "women shouldn't do sports because they get big ugly muscles and start looking like men". This didn't bother me very much at the time because I was the asthmatic kid who always got picked last in gymn class, but it did annoy my inner feminist.
In the 80s, I still ran into this attitude when I became a runner, even from female co-workers my own age. Most exercise programs aimed at women emphasized non-competitiveness and required graceful dance steps in pastel leotards, just to prove that the participants really were feminine.
So why swimming? Well, on another swimming forum, it's been noted several times that girls seem to enjoy the process of learning technique, while boys just want to go eyeballs-out. (They probably come to enjoy process later on when they are a bit older.) This may also explain why girls are disproportionately represented in gymnastics, figure skating, and dance.
