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.
Parents
Former Member
I do not swim for vanity photos. Swimming makes me fat.
Swimming makes you fat? I assume the picture accompanying your posts is you. You consider yourself fat? You might want to either check your optical prescription or your mirror for faults.
I started swimming masters merely because my daughter was training at a God-awful time of day and I had to make the choice of swimming while she swam or fall asleep in public and slobber all over myself. I chose the former. My daughter has since moved onto boys and my OCD nature took over: I added another 8 hours of week of swim training to an already full platter. Who needs sleep? We can all sleep just fine when we are dead. I was slim when I started swimming again; now I am just plain thin. How does swimming make you fat? It burns calories (not as efficiently as running though) and it starts or finishes your day perfectly.
My answer to people when they ask me what I am training for: So I don't die young. I compete, but mostly against myself. I would like to improve all my times every time I swim. If I happen to beat a few people doing it I am unlikely to notice. I just don't care about how I measure up against other old has-beens. I do care how I measure up against my own goals and standards. Is that competitive?
Of course I did not care all that much about being a champion when I actually had a shot at being a champion in my youth; why should any of us care now when we are less than foot-notes in swimming history?
I do not swim for vanity photos. Swimming makes me fat.
Swimming makes you fat? I assume the picture accompanying your posts is you. You consider yourself fat? You might want to either check your optical prescription or your mirror for faults.
I started swimming masters merely because my daughter was training at a God-awful time of day and I had to make the choice of swimming while she swam or fall asleep in public and slobber all over myself. I chose the former. My daughter has since moved onto boys and my OCD nature took over: I added another 8 hours of week of swim training to an already full platter. Who needs sleep? We can all sleep just fine when we are dead. I was slim when I started swimming again; now I am just plain thin. How does swimming make you fat? It burns calories (not as efficiently as running though) and it starts or finishes your day perfectly.
My answer to people when they ask me what I am training for: So I don't die young. I compete, but mostly against myself. I would like to improve all my times every time I swim. If I happen to beat a few people doing it I am unlikely to notice. I just don't care about how I measure up against other old has-beens. I do care how I measure up against my own goals and standards. Is that competitive?
Of course I did not care all that much about being a champion when I actually had a shot at being a champion in my youth; why should any of us care now when we are less than foot-notes in swimming history?
