The Demise of Mens Swimming in the US

I continue to be baffled by "the sky is falling mentality" at a time when USA swimming is achieving an unprecendented level of success internationally and nationally. Just because one group outnumbers another group in no way suggests the demise of anything. Here's the real facts from USA Swimming: 1986 - 170K members, 2600 clubs 2007 - 251K members, 2700 clubs Conclusion - major growth in swimming participation - 48% growth in raw numbers of participants. 2007 - girls 58.4%, boys 41.6% - no where near 2/1 ratio Using the percentages above and applying them to 1986 numbers (1986 splits not readily found), there would have been (estimate) 100K girls and 70K boys. This yields about a 50% growth in boys since 1986. Further, from 2006 to 2007 boys increased 7 FOLD to girls in raw numbers. In 2007, only boys aged 16 saw a decrease in membership from the all-important 12-19 & over age groups. This decrease was roughly 2/3 the decrease that girls saw in the same age group. Girls saw decreases in ages 14,15, and 16 and a net increase of 1 swimmer in the 12 year olds. So, looking at the cup as full, not half full or half empty, USA swimming has increased 50% in 20 years. There are 80K more registered swimmers than 20 years ago. And, male participation has grown, in fact outpaced, female participation in the past year. I'm not disputing there are more girls but it is completely inaccurate to state male participation is shrinking, that swimming is shrinking or that the sport is on its deathbed. Shrinkage - poor choice of words for boys swimming.

So true. On my kids swim team there are lots of boys, but they start dropping in junior high. By the time they reach hight school, the club team almost seems like an all girls team. There is so much pressure on kids to choose a sport early and do it all year that it makes it hard to keep kids in multiple sports. My personal opinion as to why the girls choose swimming and the boys don't... Over time the girls become incredibly tight with each other, the team becomes the peer group, their close friends. To stop swimming would cut them off from their peer group. This doesn't happen in the same way with boys; they show up to practice, swim, and goof around in the showers, but they don't develop the same friendship bonds as the girls. So when it comes time to picking a sport to stick with, they pick a sport that's more fun. My personal opinion; boys these days are far more interested in playing video games. You think I'm joking? I just had a conversation with the head coach of a Div I top 10 team and one of the biggest problems they have with the men's college swimmers as well as the boys on their club team is an almost insatiable obsession with spending hours playing this stuff....to the point that its talked about constantly at practice, in the weight room, etc. etc. It takes a lot of commitment, hard work, patience and focus to be an athlete on any level and more and more it seems fewer kids (mostly boys) have it.

Smith - get the Wii, you'll understand.

John: You're a real Savonarola lately ... Plenty of fast swimmer boys where I live. Plus, if there are more girls than boys swimming, who cares? Where's the harm exactly? Men dominate other sports. What's wrong with women dominating swimming? As to video games, parents aren't forced to buy them. My son gave away his playstation at 13 -- right about the time he became obsessed with running. But I do agree it's a sorry epidemic.

I don't care when you grew up, the number absolutely speak to an increase in both boys and girls participation. If the premise that more girls than boys means fewer boys in the sport, well, that is completely unproven by the facts from USA Swimming. If you go to a meet now and see lots of girls you might think there are fewer boys but that simply is not proven by the facts. Since you insist on disputing figures due to population growth you should know the membership in USA swimming has grown at a faster rate than the US in general. We seem to be way too hung up on the 1970s on this forum. Times have changed, the sport has grown. The constant whining about suit changes, stroke changes, persecuted boys is really about 25 years past its prime. It's like a scene from Grumpy Old Men or something. The 70s produced a lot of things good but also produced awful things like Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles and the worst song ever recorded (FREEBIRD). Here's some stats for both Colorado and Ohio. Both states had a membership in USA swimming growth last year.

Most people would rather go to a Milli Vanilli reunion of one than ever hear another song from Rumors ever again. Bar none, worst album ever produced, followed by every Eagles ever. Dont' stop - thinking about your glory days. You know the tune, a tune that is the blight of all music.

I corrected my post above. When I referred to the high school team I meant the club team for kids in the age range. All the serious racers do club year-round and pretty much just race for their high school at the meet.

Fortress.... sorry but I had to Google "Savonarola"... an Italian Dominican priest and leader of Florence from 1494 until his execution in 1498. He was known for religious reform, anti-Renaissance preaching, book burning, and destruction of what he considered immoral art. He vehemently preached against what he saw as the moral corruption of the clergy, and his main opponent was Pope Alexander VI. He is sometimes seen as a precursor of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, though he remained a devout and pious Roman Catholic during his whole life. He also preached the imminent demise of the world, as I recall.

Geek, I'm not shelling out $500 bucks for another brain drain device in my house. PERIOD ! My son plays NASCAR 2 hours a day ! I'm ready to pull the plug. Fortress.... sorry but I had to Google "Savonarola"... an Italian Dominican priest and leader of Florence from 1494 until his execution in 1498. He was known for religious reform, anti-Renaissance preaching, book burning, and destruction of what he considered immoral art. He vehemently preached against what he saw as the moral corruption of the clergy, and his main opponent was Pope Alexander VI. He is sometimes seen as a precursor of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, though he remained a devout and pious Roman Catholic during his whole life. The Evil Smith will tell you that I am DEFINITELY not like him. As for girls dominating a sport...... I could care less. More power to them. However.... boys attendance in the same sport being negatively affected for whatever reason..... then I do care. Geek.... growing up in NE Ohio in the 1970s, there were ALWAYS equal or greater number of boys in age group swimming. Here in Denver, its about a 2/3rd ratio in many of the local meets of boys to girls. Also, don't for get to subtract out the percentage of general population growth over the decades in your numbers above. Things may be rosie in your neck of the woods, but its not that way nationwide. John Smith ALS: Atheist Liberal Sprinter And JS..if you pull the plug on Clarks NASCAR games you know Tori will make you lose all your Michael Moore motivational tapes and take down all his posters!

I attribute the decrease to the following reasons. 1. The increase in numbers of other sport programs, ie. soccer programs, lacrosse programs, youth football programs etc. I cannot speak for other regions in the US, but Ohio has had a huge increase in these other sports in the youth leagues. Drawing people away from swimming. 2. Another reason I see in my region for the decrease in swimming is the reluctance to build indoor facilities. It used to be that when you built a high school, you included a pool in the construction cost. Now, the school districts have to take into account litigation when building a pool, and expensive tax based bond issues. You can have as many gyms, fieldhouses, fields as you want, but when you build a pool, the scare is there that someone could die from drowning. It's not worth the cost. There are several municipal rec centers around, but as most of you know, the time at these facilities is monopolized by the community programs. 3. Swimming is hard. It takes a unique individual to become a good swimmer.