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
In the last 15 years that I have been a parent of swimmers, I have always noticed more girls than boys. Boys tend to gravitate to the team sports, girls like the social aspect of this. But around here swimming is having a hard time attracting both. There is a serious situation with pool time, i.e. new pools are not getting built, old pools are being shut down. This makes the available pool time not good for busy teens with homework and a social life. My DD's practice was 7:45-9:15 last winter. We live outside of town, so it was late by the time she got done flirting with the boys after practice and finally in the car, home, showered. It was hard on us, it was hard on her. She is seriously considering quitting although she really misses the exercise and her friends. I think this is even more magnified for boys, especially those without a HS team and only club team options. They want to hang with their HS friends, not attend practice at odd ball hours because that is when the pool is available.
Also, the college situation is NOT good. One of the factors my son considered when quitting at age 17 was that the colleges he was looking at had cut their men's swimming. He saw no point in working that hard, because there was no swimming after HS, and his senior year he wanted more freedom. Do not discount what the college's have done with Title IX..it is a factor.
Interestingly, he has checked into where he can get back into the water to swim. After 3 years off, he seems to want to go back on his own terms and is looking at triathalons.
In the last 15 years that I have been a parent of swimmers, I have always noticed more girls than boys. Boys tend to gravitate to the team sports, girls like the social aspect of this. But around here swimming is having a hard time attracting both. There is a serious situation with pool time, i.e. new pools are not getting built, old pools are being shut down. This makes the available pool time not good for busy teens with homework and a social life. My DD's practice was 7:45-9:15 last winter. We live outside of town, so it was late by the time she got done flirting with the boys after practice and finally in the car, home, showered. It was hard on us, it was hard on her. She is seriously considering quitting although she really misses the exercise and her friends. I think this is even more magnified for boys, especially those without a HS team and only club team options. They want to hang with their HS friends, not attend practice at odd ball hours because that is when the pool is available.
Also, the college situation is NOT good. One of the factors my son considered when quitting at age 17 was that the colleges he was looking at had cut their men's swimming. He saw no point in working that hard, because there was no swimming after HS, and his senior year he wanted more freedom. Do not discount what the college's have done with Title IX..it is a factor.
Interestingly, he has checked into where he can get back into the water to swim. After 3 years off, he seems to want to go back on his own terms and is looking at triathalons.
