A 20-something's Plea to U.S. Masters Swimming

Very interesting responses here. In general, I think we need a Paradigm shift in thinking - both of the "older" crowd and the younger crowd. Some thoughts from someone who fits the 20-something label... Burnout - I saw an awful lot of "oh, they're burned out, they don't want to swim after XX years of swimming..." statements in the responses so far. It is a very valid response. BUT... Just because that was your reason, or what you hear on deck, not everyone wants to - or can - give it up that easily. Chris already pointed out that after 9 months, he was back in the water; the blue muppet switched from swimming to water polo to masters swimming without ever leaving the water. Chris and Kirk alluded to it earlier - there are plenty of kids out where who get the itch to come back, but they don't always know how to scratch it. Maturity - This topic works for both the old and young crowd. For you geezers, not every college or post college kid goes out and gets hammered every weekend and then talks about only about beer and babes. For you puppies, not every older person sits around talking about work and their kids. Sorry to call you guys out on that, but that is just lame. Go out on a limb and get to know your teammates, young and old, outside the pool. Doing that, I have found plenty of good masters friends who are older, employed, married and with child, and somehow we all get along. I know plenty of adults who will get hammered and talk about beer and babes to no end... while I converse about work, and/or play with their kids, and then at the end of the night, it is me wrestling away keys (because they're too immature to admit they're too drunk to drive) and driving their drunk asses home. Who's the mature one now? Costs - I hear a lot about how masters swimming costs too much for young people. Different teams work out costs differently, but the amount I tracked having spent in '08 on workouts, gear and meet entry fees came out to what I consider to be reasonably on or below par with what someone would spend annually swimming in a USS program. The only difference is that mom & dad aren't paying for it anymore - YOU are! Also, I just swam with a peer who spent several hundred dollars on a whim buying ski's last weekend. Not all 20-somethings leave college cash-strapped. Now we all have different amounts to start with, and there are plenty of more important things to allocate funds towards than swimming, but nonetheless, if you are smart about how you manage your personal finances, making swimming work is a lot easier. Competition - Masters swimming is not all about meets. Our esteemed webmaster posted stats on the forums a while back... something like 19% of the membership does a meet of any kind in a year. No one other than yourself is forcing competition anymore, and in fact there are plenty of 18-29 year olds who are just working out. The ski guy mentioned above swims an OW event every couple years when he gets around to signing up for one. I used to swim with a 2-time 400IM d3 champion. He told me once he'd do a meet when he got back to his college weight. But that leads to another paradigm... Fitness - You can't compare your college self to your masters self! Too many times I hear about "oh, well i swam xx time back in college...", "i'm not as fast as I was in college..." Wake up - it is a whole new ballgame. You work for a living, you have kids and family obligations. Once you start swimming masters, you get to start over with a clean slate. A lot of the topics I've addressed here, there are plenty of things that can be said that will rightfully fit a majority of younger swimmers; and yes, there are always exceptions. But if we change the way we think by shifting our expectations (or even leaving them open for later interpretation), good things will happen.

Very interesting responses here. In general, I think we need a Paradigm shift in thinking - both of the "older" crowd and the younger crowd. Some thoughts from someone who fits the 20-something label... Burnout - I saw an awful lot of "oh, they're burned out, they don't want to swim after XX years of swimming..." statements in the responses so far. It is a very valid response. BUT... Just because that was your reason, or what you hear on deck, not everyone wants to - or can - give it up that easily. Chris already pointed out that after 9 months, he was back in the water; the blue muppet switched from swimming to water polo to masters swimming without ever leaving the water. Chris and Kirk alluded to it earlier - there are plenty of kids out where who get the itch to come back, but they don't always know how to scratch it. Maturity - This topic works for both the old and young crowd. For you geezers, not every college or post college kid goes out and gets hammered every weekend and then talks about only about beer and babes. For you puppies, not every older person sits around talking about work and their kids. Sorry to call you guys out on that, but that is just lame. Go out on a limb and get to know your teammates, young and old, outside the pool. Doing that, I have found plenty of good masters friends who are older, employed, married and with child, and somehow we all get along. I know plenty of adults who will get hammered and talk about beer and babes to no end... while I converse about work, and/or play with their kids, and then at the end of the night, it is me wrestling away keys (because they're too immature to admit they're too drunk to drive) and driving their drunk asses home. Who's the mature one now? Costs - I hear a lot about how masters swimming costs too much for young people. Different teams work out costs differently, but the amount I tracked having spent in '08 on workouts, gear and meet entry fees came out to what I consider to be reasonably on or below par with what someone would spend annually swimming in a USS program. The only difference is that mom & dad aren't paying for it anymore - YOU are! Also, I just swam with a peer who spent several hundred dollars on a whim buying ski's last weekend. Not all 20-somethings leave college cash-strapped. Now we all have different amounts to start with, and there are plenty of more important things to allocate funds towards than swimming, but nonetheless, if you are smart about how you manage your personal finances, making swimming work is a lot easier. Competition - Masters swimming is not all about meets. Our esteemed webmaster posted stats on the forums a while back... something like 19% of the membership does a meet of any kind in a year. No one other than yourself is forcing competition anymore, and in fact there are plenty of 18-29 year olds who are just working out. The ski guy mentioned above swims an OW event every couple years when he gets around to signing up for one. I used to swim with a 2-time 400IM d3 champion. He told me once he'd do a meet when he got back to his college weight. But that leads to another paradigm... Fitness - You can't compare your college self to your masters self! Too many times I hear about "oh, well i swam xx time back in college...", "i'm not as fast as I was in college..." Wake up - it is a whole new ballgame. You work for a living, you have kids and family obligations. Once you start swimming masters, you get to start over with a clean slate. A lot of the topics I've addressed here, there are plenty of things that can be said that will rightfully fit a majority of younger swimmers; and yes, there are always exceptions. But if we change the way we think by shifting our expectations (or even leaving them open for later interpretation), good things will happen.