Why does it appear many masters swimmers are taking USMS so seriously?
What's the difference between the typical "selfish train all day", "it's all about me" triathlete and a masters swimmer who seriously trains as hard as they can.... particularly to focus on setting masters records?
Seems like there is a growing parallel between triathletes and many masters swimmers these days.
Isn't it just "masters swimming" for health and fun in the end?
Does a masters record really mean that much?
Is this a good thing? ..... or a turn off for those who look on with amusement.
I don't have any records and probably never will, but I don't understand why they are so meaningless. Are only records set in USA Swimming meaningful? Having a masters NR or WR seems pretty impressive to me. Are recent swims by Mike Ross or Rich Abrahams or SVDL or other masters studs really meaningless? Don't they reflect excellence at a given age? Or is age 40 or 50 just intrinsically less important than age 20 or 25? To me, my current life seems far more important than the past.
Is he meaning to say that masters records are not a big deal or is he saying that masters swimmers are making too big of a deal out of getting a record? The behavior I've seen described so far does not seem appropriate in getting any record - world, USA, age-group, etc. Perhaps, though, society tolerates or looks past nutty behavior in young people getting records, but expect adults to play it cool. Perhaps we expect young people to be over the top about getting records because this is their world. They have no job or children to worry about. Perhaps we are not tolerant of adults that are as over the top as the kids because we think they should have other things to be focused on. Is this right?
As the thread has developed and Mr. Negative has responded, it would seem to me that he is not devaluing USMS records, but instead does not understand the over the top behavior (in some individuals) that is going along with getting one.
I don't have any records and probably never will, but I don't understand why they are so meaningless. Are only records set in USA Swimming meaningful? Having a masters NR or WR seems pretty impressive to me. Are recent swims by Mike Ross or Rich Abrahams or SVDL or other masters studs really meaningless? Don't they reflect excellence at a given age? Or is age 40 or 50 just intrinsically less important than age 20 or 25? To me, my current life seems far more important than the past.
Is he meaning to say that masters records are not a big deal or is he saying that masters swimmers are making too big of a deal out of getting a record? The behavior I've seen described so far does not seem appropriate in getting any record - world, USA, age-group, etc. Perhaps, though, society tolerates or looks past nutty behavior in young people getting records, but expect adults to play it cool. Perhaps we expect young people to be over the top about getting records because this is their world. They have no job or children to worry about. Perhaps we are not tolerant of adults that are as over the top as the kids because we think they should have other things to be focused on. Is this right?
As the thread has developed and Mr. Negative has responded, it would seem to me that he is not devaluing USMS records, but instead does not understand the over the top behavior (in some individuals) that is going along with getting one.
