FINA says Dubai Charter doesn't apply to Masters

Just found this blog entry by David Guthrie, which captures well how I feel about blurring the line between USS and USMS: www.floswimming.org/.../5124-emerge This is why I think the rules should be the same, as much as possible. I'm willing to accept, grudgingly, the existence of "butterfrog" as an isolated historic anamoly -- my aching knees would accept it better if they reciprocated and allowed dolphin kick during breatstroke ("breastdolphin?") :) -- but I think allowing "fast suits" at masters and not USS sends the wrong message that masters is not for serious swimming. Even Creampuff echoed such sentiments, unless I'm misreading her statements. I swim in both types of meets, strictly as a matter of venue and scheduling. Sometimes I swim better in the USS meets and sometimes the USMS, but it isn't because one is inherently more conducive to fast swimming than the other. I should point out that at every single USS meet I have ever been to, at least one swimmer and one parent has approached me and told me how "inspired" they are to see fast swimming by someone who is middle-aged (I detest that phrase but have to face facts). Don't we want to be getting this message out to our young swimmers? And their parents? Blurring the boundaries between the two worlds is a good way to do that. FINA's analogy to drug testing is incorrect. Drug testing is expensive, would result in a lot of positives in the masters world due to legitimate medical treatments, and would be a logistical nightmare at big masters meets. But I think cheating by wearing an illegal suit would be more obvious. (We already forbid multiple suits, which isn't always so easy to determine.) I am not faulting USMS for their current stance. This is a difficult transition period and FINA has not provided a lot of leadership. But I really hope that eventually (say, within a year), USS and USMS will have united suit rules.

Just found this blog entry by David Guthrie, which captures well how I feel about blurring the line between USS and USMS: www.floswimming.org/.../5124-emerge This is why I think the rules should be the same, as much as possible. I'm willing to accept, grudgingly, the existence of "butterfrog" as an isolated historic anamoly -- my aching knees would accept it better if they reciprocated and allowed dolphin kick during breatstroke ("breastdolphin?") :) -- but I think allowing "fast suits" at masters and not USS sends the wrong message that masters is not for serious swimming. Even Creampuff echoed such sentiments, unless I'm misreading her statements. I swim in both types of meets, strictly as a matter of venue and scheduling. Sometimes I swim better in the USS meets and sometimes the USMS, but it isn't because one is inherently more conducive to fast swimming than the other. I should point out that at every single USS meet I have ever been to, at least one swimmer and one parent has approached me and told me how "inspired" they are to see fast swimming by someone who is middle-aged (I detest that phrase but have to face facts). Don't we want to be getting this message out to our young swimmers? And their parents? Blurring the boundaries between the two worlds is a good way to do that. FINA's analogy to drug testing is incorrect. Drug testing is expensive, would result in a lot of positives in the masters world due to legitimate medical treatments, and would be a logistical nightmare at big masters meets. But I think cheating by wearing an illegal suit would be more obvious. (We already forbid multiple suits, which isn't always so easy to determine.) I am not faulting USMS for their current stance. This is a difficult transition period and FINA has not provided a lot of leadership. But I really hope that eventually (say, within a year), USS and USMS will have united suit rules.