Masters Swimmers Acting Like Triathletes

Great point. How can we possibly be having fun without beer? With wine? Was that a trick question?

You do it because of health..... you're not trying to be a "Dara Torres" and you're having fun. That is what I thought Masters swimming was about. Setting a BHAG at any age and then training for it can be incredibly healthy and fun ... competition is FUN, winning is FUN, beating a goal time is FUN and all of this contributes to great health. I see nothing wrong with people wanting to achieve their own personal vision/version of what Dara's done. Sounds like fun to me.

You do it because of health,..... you're not trying to be a "Dara Torres" and you're having fun. That is what I thought Masters swimming was about. Fortunately you don't get to tell us what Masters swimming is about. Health is simply a by-product of competition.

I think otherwise. I'm far more impressed that my 63 year old father is still in the pool now still cranking out times and competing at the elite of his age group than I am with the fact that he once swam at USC in his late teens/early 20s. For those of us who were serious/hard core swimmers in our youth, we mostly were able to dedicate ourselves to our sport with little other distraction than school. Competing at an elite level in your 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s ... 90s requires balancing sooo much more that, to me, it's a more impressive feat. It is impressive, I agree, but the times/results that such person is able to achieve are dictated largely by the work that was put in as a youth and who is or is not still swimming. I am impressed they can multi-task and that they continue to pursue fitness. However, I would always be more impressed by what someone does at their peak against a full field of swimmers at their peak, than masters records/results. Tim

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. Dara Torres almost won Gold at the age of 41. In other words, she was second best of all athletes(no matter what age they were). If you look at the masters WR of the age group over 70, it is still pretty amazing. I find a person trying to achieve his best no matter how old he is remarkable. This guy is 81: www.youtube.com/watch Here is a 77 year old nun who does triathlons: YouTube - 'The Iron Nun' Her advice for a long and healthy life is "Never give up and never slow down"

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 only legitimate point that one could make along these lines is that hyper-competitive jerks hurt the sport because they drive people out of it. This is not the same thing as saying "you take it too seriously," but can be taken as such. I can only think of one hyper-competitive swimmer in my area. And I suppose that her overall effect on the swimmng community is negative.

well...I tune in but rarely speak. Ya never know what post will get a group going... People ask me often, "Why do you still swim?" As a new master swimmer in 1986, I was relatively by myself (training-wise, i still am) but still felt that competitive urge that I had as a youngster. I went to a meet and met some great people. I thought, "This is FUN!" I would take my children to meets (hubby is a track and cc coach)....they thought it was pretty neat that "mom" raced. As I got older, I began to have...well, not bad health at all, but bad "numbers" (blood pressure, cholesterol----family HISTORY big time):afraid: so I was happy that I was already totally into Masters and decided that I might as well swim for my lifetime. I make it into the Top Ten quite often. I am not a record-breaker but it certainly keeps me motivated to have my eye on that good ol' Top Ten. So...I am proof that PEOPLE HAVE VARIOUS REASONS to take usms seriously or semi-seriously but we can still HAVE FUN AT IT! Even my now deceased father-in-law questioned my "seriousness" and my "strung in a row meets"...but Masters is part of me now. I don't think it ever will die in me.

You do it because of health,..... you're not trying to be a "Dara Torres" and you're having fun. That is what I thought Masters swimming was about. I do not swim for health. I was perfectly healthy before I became a masters swimmer. I do not swim for vanity photos. Swimming makes me fat. I don't swim so I can drink beer; I've always done that and will continue to do so regardless of the existence of masters swimming. And I don't understand your narrow minded persistence in repeatedly telling us how to define masters swimming. It is whatever someone wants it to be. And, frankly, from what I've heard, you yourself are quite obsessive about your own training and swimming.

Great point. How can we possibly be having fun without beer? Hey, here's an idea. Why don't you and your bemused former national finalist friends just hang out in your backyard with a few six packs instead of suffering through an unpalatable Masters swim meet with a bunch of flabby old swimmers? Hey, great idea. I'm so glad your not threatened by the discussion. Your responses have been so deep and thought out. Say..... I'll go do that .... and you continue to fish for compliments from your kids parents, pretend you are fast and in shape and post lovely photos of your aging body.

Say..... I'll go do that .... and you continue to fish for compliments from your kids parents, pretend you are fast and in shape and post lovely photos of your aging body. Well, I can say than I am in better shape now than I was in my 40s, thanks to Masters swimming. Fast is a relative thing. I assume this is the point in the thread where you tell me how much faster your times are (or were) in comparison to mine, thus disqualifying me from any further discussion. And thank you, I was pleased with that photo. Body surfing at Big Sur--it just doesn't get any better than that.