Is it my imagination or is the smarter gender under represented in masters swimming. I would like to get some real numbers to confirm my observations. Forumites like Rick Osterberg, can you give some data about the ratio of men to women at USMS meets? Perhaps we could break it down by age group (I can hear the CPUs humming at Chris Stevenson's place all the way from up here in Mass).
If women are under represented, then I would like to discuss the causes of the imbalance and begin to work on improving the ratio.
Is it my imagination or is the smarter gender under represented in masters swimming.
I think there are two parts to your question: (1) overall membership, and (2) people who compete regularly. The relationship between (1) and (2) could also be interesting, and different between men and women.
However, when I look at Nationals, etc and I look at the number of male "re-treads" in their 30s, 40s and 50s (loosely classified as former National/NCAA-level competitors), it seems they dramatically outnumber the female re-treads.
Maybe so. (Except for the Olympians whose names I recognize, I don't know who among my competitors is a "re-tread.") It's certainly true, though, that competition is more intense in both quality and quantity for women in the 40s than in the 20s and 30s, just as it is for men. You can see it in the meet results and in the Top Tens and event rankings.
If women are under represented, then I would like to discuss the causes of the imbalance and begin to work on improving the ratio.
I think the biggest reason has got to be historical. Probably the main predictor for entering a swim meet as a grownup is having been to many of them as a kid. And when you and I were kids, more boys than girls swam. Not as dramatically more as when people who are 80 today were kids, but still more. I understand that today, more girls than boys swim seriously, so maybe in 20 or 30 years the sex ratio among 40-50 year old swimmers will be different from what it is now.
Other factors over which we have present-day influence might also be at work, of course.
Is it my imagination or is the smarter gender under represented in masters swimming.
I think there are two parts to your question: (1) overall membership, and (2) people who compete regularly. The relationship between (1) and (2) could also be interesting, and different between men and women.
However, when I look at Nationals, etc and I look at the number of male "re-treads" in their 30s, 40s and 50s (loosely classified as former National/NCAA-level competitors), it seems they dramatically outnumber the female re-treads.
Maybe so. (Except for the Olympians whose names I recognize, I don't know who among my competitors is a "re-tread.") It's certainly true, though, that competition is more intense in both quality and quantity for women in the 40s than in the 20s and 30s, just as it is for men. You can see it in the meet results and in the Top Tens and event rankings.
If women are under represented, then I would like to discuss the causes of the imbalance and begin to work on improving the ratio.
I think the biggest reason has got to be historical. Probably the main predictor for entering a swim meet as a grownup is having been to many of them as a kid. And when you and I were kids, more boys than girls swam. Not as dramatically more as when people who are 80 today were kids, but still more. I understand that today, more girls than boys swim seriously, so maybe in 20 or 30 years the sex ratio among 40-50 year old swimmers will be different from what it is now.
Other factors over which we have present-day influence might also be at work, of course.
