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.
Good point ourswimmer, but I just feel like I don't see very many women swimmers with whom I went to college coming back into the sport and I thought those numbers were more equitable. Perhaps that belief is wrong.
I see what you mean. You seem to be asking a narrower question than the one I was addressing with my remark about history. Across the entire population of people who are now 40-ish, more men than women have childhood swimming experience (I think). But there ought to be about equal numbers of men and women who are now 40-ish and who competed in D1 20-ish years ago. So among those people, if more men than women return to serious swimming, the explanation for that imbalance can't be historical.
I see what you mean. You seem to be asking a narrower question than the one I was addressing with my remark about history. Across the entire population of people who are now 40-ish, more men than women have childhood swimming experience (I think). But there ought to be about equal numbers of men and women who are now 40-ish and who competed in D1 20-ish years ago. So among those people, if more men than women return to serious swimming, the explanation for that imbalance can't be historical.
i know it's been mentioned somewhere on the forums before, about the whole mindset that it was bad (and unfeminine) for females to be competitive, so i think that might have something to do with it all...
case in point (although i know anecdotal evidence isn't all it's cracked up to be) is my masters team (terrapin masters in MD)... we have at least 2 groups of intervals at our workouts, grouped into the "A" and "B" practices. the "A" swimmers are almost all meet swimmers, with the "B" swimmers tending towards either open water or pure fitness... when you look at the gender breakdown between the two groups, the "A" group is just about exclusively men (with yours truly being the exception) and the "B" groups slightly favoring women...
again, that's just one team, but i'm wondering if other teams out there have similar breakdowns???
Numbers from Clovis; I think they are pretty typical.
I think we also need some graphs, and some calculations of statistical significance based on similar data from past years, adjusted of course for any disparities in population sex-ratio between the parts of the country that are within a four-hour nonstop flight of the meet venue and the parts of the country that require a change of planes. :D
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.
It depends what you mean by "under-represented". At most masters meets that I attend, there are typically more men, but not dramatically so. Why? Good question.
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. Why? Good question.
I think it is because the women are generally busy raising the family, while the men are off drinking, racing and carousing with their old buddies. Just my :2cents:.
Having said that, it appears that I have been able to convince my wife - a female re-tread - to resume competition, including Indy this summer. So I have done my small part...:cheerleader:
Good point ourswimmer, but I just feel like I don't see very many women swimmers with whom I went to college coming back into the sport and I thought those numbers were more equitable. Perhaps that belief is wrong.
Why do I want to improve the ratio? To improve the aesthetics of Masters swimming, of course.
Seriously, what started me thinking about this was a discussion that I had with Jennifer Arndt this past weekend. I mentioned that I thought that fewer women got back into (or got into) masters swimming and we were discussing the possible causes. Jen suggested the idea of hosting some masters meets targeted at women. I have often marveled at how successful the Danskin triathlon series has been at attracting women to compete in Tris, so I thought a women's only meet might also encourage more women to get into masters swimming.
