All amateur swimmers 18 and over should be required to swim at least one masters meet per year. This would help with the transition into adult life, and really show the younger generation the value of masters swimming. Adults who continue to love the sport, that's a great networking tool and a positive way to stay involved with people of similar interests.
That's just it though, they need a break because of how intense age-group swimming can be. I'm not talking about forcing non-swimmers to race, or telling swimmers who already quit to race masters. I'm talking about adding an element to the swimmers who are already doing the program. This would hopefully help them to see another option as they age.
I quit for 4 years from 1998-2002, and was confused. I loved swimming, but I hated the cost, emotionally and financially. If only I knew about masters, in terms of the positive outlook on swimming as an adult, but that wasn't my experience, because no-one was promoting this within the club system.
Even the high-performance coaches may see an added benefit for this, because if an athlete does feel burnt-out, perhaps a few years in a relaxed atmposphere may be the solution. All I know is when I was 18 I could have really used a few positive role-models that showed me an alternative.
What you might be forgetting from that time.....how you don't want adults, particularily your parents telling you what to do. There certainly is confusion, but there is also a strong desire to figure that confusion out all by themselves. I think since my son is such a strong athlete, having him jump into a 50 fly for fun, at a small little meet would be better than going to practice with a bunch of "old" people, which would include his Mom. He told me he loved the meets, it was getting into town for all the practices, and missing out being with his friends(no swimming at our HS, so no swimming friends within the HS), got to be a grunge.
That's just it though, they need a break because of how intense age-group swimming can be. I'm not talking about forcing non-swimmers to race, or telling swimmers who already quit to race masters. I'm talking about adding an element to the swimmers who are already doing the program. This would hopefully help them to see another option as they age.
I quit for 4 years from 1998-2002, and was confused. I loved swimming, but I hated the cost, emotionally and financially. If only I knew about masters, in terms of the positive outlook on swimming as an adult, but that wasn't my experience, because no-one was promoting this within the club system.
Even the high-performance coaches may see an added benefit for this, because if an athlete does feel burnt-out, perhaps a few years in a relaxed atmposphere may be the solution. All I know is when I was 18 I could have really used a few positive role-models that showed me an alternative.
What you might be forgetting from that time.....how you don't want adults, particularily your parents telling you what to do. There certainly is confusion, but there is also a strong desire to figure that confusion out all by themselves. I think since my son is such a strong athlete, having him jump into a 50 fly for fun, at a small little meet would be better than going to practice with a bunch of "old" people, which would include his Mom. He told me he loved the meets, it was getting into town for all the practices, and missing out being with his friends(no swimming at our HS, so no swimming friends within the HS), got to be a grunge.
