Loved the home page feature on the USMS website today...
www.usms.org/features.php
Since the NCAA Championships are all around us these two weeks, who hasn't thought about our outstanding collegiate swimmers?
But have any of us considered inviting them to join us at masters in their near future?
Masters Swim Clubs in college areas could do all kinds of great things to inspire a retiring collegiate swimmer to join them.
Invite them to talk to the team at a social event would be an easy no-brainer.
But even beyond.
How about asking them to hold a clinic for your club?
And pay them since now they can accept the cash - and probably need it?
What else can we do to entice them to join our clubs (rack up points at the championship meets) and begin the rest of their healthy fit lives?
I'll go back to what I've said a few times before on this topic. To me the "low-hanging fruit" if you will is not the recent college grad but rather the high school senior who swam but may not be good enough to swim in college...I've seen far more of these come on board at ASU and they tend to stick around.
Couldn't agree more with this!
Many high school kids are either not good enough to join their college team or their school has no team. But that does not mean that they don't love to swim(exercise) or be part of a team. Whether that means they compete or not is really not that important. But this is the group that is pretty much unaware that masters exists and would be more inclined to participate. Especially when faced with the freshman 15!
From talking with the 20 something swimmers at our pool I have learned that they miss the structure of their former practices and the routine it gave them (maybe not the intensity), having the motivation of working with a group of people and for some -the competition.
I do believe though that cost is a huge factor, for a college student or grad, and that maybe that should be taken into consideration.
Warning: I never swam in college.
I think the main reason to encourage post-collegiate swimmers to keep swimming is that it is an excellent lifetime exercise. How many of you ex-collegiate swimmer types got back into the pool after a long hiatus in part because you were now N pounds overweight? Even if they don't compete or swim 5000yds per practice, there is a valuable benefit to just keep the motor running.
Skip
Was joking with Josh Davis that if he interviews someone this weekend after a race who just finished their NCAA career, he should phrase it "What's next for you now that you finished your pre-Masters career?"
Not sure he's going to do it, but never know! Keep your ears open! *grin*
When I lived in Flagstaff I had contact with the NAU women's team swimmers and tried to encourage them to continue swimming after college (at the time, I believe none of them made the Div I cuts). Mostly the response was, 'hey, I'm just swimming because I have a scholarship and can't wait to be done with it.'
My take on this is that there IS major burnout associated with college swimming that needs to be overcome before USMS can make much of an impact on this potential group of master's swimmers.
I would definitely agree with this statement. Also, not to sound elitist or anything, but I don't necessarily want to work out with a bunch of 22 year old kids either. I'm beyond the age of discussing how much alcohol I consumed the night before and the stupid things I can't remember doing. I kind of like things the way they are. Most of the college swimmers I know took several years off before joining a masters team, if they joined one at all. Pool space is also a problem where I train. For me, many college swimmers would be better off taking some time away from the pool and returning to masters at a later date. Recruiting these swimmers seems absurd to me. If they want to swim with a team, they'll find one. Hanging out at NCAAs and promoting masters swimming would have been viewed very negatively in my day. We went to NCAAs to kick butt, not to talk to old swimmers we'd never heard of.
Also, not to sound elitist or anything, but I don't necessarily want to work out with a bunch of 22 year old kids either. I'm beyond the age of discussing how much alcohol I consumed the night before and the stupid things I can't remember doing.
You don't appear to be beyond the age of judging people based on how old they are.
I guess it's nice for college swimmers to know that the option to workout and compete still exists.
But in retrospect, if I knew that a masters team existed near my hometown 25 years ago...I may have taken a pass on it, just due to burn-out.
That said, Master swimming isn't just about the competition. There's a connection to be made by people of all ages who share the same enjoyment of getting wet and staying fit.
Our group has always been very welcoming of young people. And we support and encourage them in whatever they may be doing outside of the pool. A network of life experienced adults can be a plus for many younger people who are just figuring out the ups and downs of life.
I would definitely agree with this statement. Also, not to sound elitist or anything, but I don't necessarily want to work out with a bunch of 22 year old kids either. I'm beyond the age of discussing how much alcohol I consumed the night before and the stupid things I can't remember doing. I kind of like things the way they are. Most of the college swimmers I know took several years off before joining a masters team, if they joined one at all. Pool space is also a problem where I train. For me, many college swimmers would be better off taking some time away from the pool and returning to masters at a later date. Recruiting these swimmers seems absurd to me. If they want to swim with a team, they'll find one. Hanging out at NCAAs and promoting masters swimming would have been viewed very negatively in my day. We went to NCAAs to kick butt, not to talk to old swimmers we'd never heard of.
I suspect you have your reasons for feeling this way and that is fine. Having said that, I have been swimming with some kids in the 19-22 range over the past few years who are nothing at all like you describe.
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...
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.
Nice post on the transition into masters swimming :)
I really don't think all of the responders had the big picture vision of masters swimming in their sight when they posted.
Even I, who loves to get everyone and anyone to come out and give masters practices a try... gets an occasional reminder that masters has the goal of inclusiveness.
I like that a lot and its one of the reasons I'm stickin with it!
That and the water.
Even when I didn't want to race in swim meets, I still wanted the water.
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.
