Masters Swimmers Acting Like Triathletes

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. Your response is EXACTLY the right response ! It's a great response ! 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. Big Sur is phenomenal.

Your response is EXACTLY the right response ! It's a great response ! 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. What I don't understand is what a person does who has the ambition of Dara Torres but is to old to compete in the Olympics. Olympic athletes have the ambition to be the best. Obviously the least people who are 40+ can compete with people who are in their Twenties. Torres is an exception. Where do elite athletes compete who are too old for Olympics but still want to be first of their age group? I understand that some people who are 40+ just do sports to have fun and lose some weight but others might still have the ambition to be the best of their age group. If you question why a 55 year old guy wants to be number 1 of his age group in swimming, you might as well question why someone wants to climb Mt. Everest and almost kills himself for a load of money or why The Rolling Stones still go on tour.

I am late to this thread, and haven't read all the replies, but here is my response to the OP. 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. I think Master's swimming should be whatever you want it to be. Most of the masters teams I have heard of didn't really have a "team" that visited meets together as a group like in high school or college. As a result, if you wanted to compete, it really was "all about me" most of the time when training. Why would there even been a USMS organization, swim meets or records if the overall goal wasn't to compete and be a serious swimmer? I think its awesome that there is room for casual swimmers who just want to exercise in the water to be healthy, but I think losing the competitive focus would be to lose something special about swimming. For some, the excitement of competition is the motivation to keep exercising that sets swimming apart from just visiting the gym or running on the treadmill. Isn't it just "masters swimming" for health and fun in the end? Competition for some *IS* the health and fun. I don't think Master's was envisioned as just workout in the water, its a logical place for swimmers who want to compete in their age group when they get out of college and into the real world. The laid back nature of it is just a symptom of adults having real world pressures and the sport isn't the only thing in our lives anymore. Does a masters record really mean that much? Is this a good thing? ..... or a turn off for those who look on with amusement. Are you amused when Michael Phelps wants to win more gold medals than anyone else? Does this desire somehow become less meaningful when you get older? I think there is no greater goal in life than to better one's self and progress forward. Why would that pursuit be funny to you? If your goal is to just swim and have fun, why does it matter to you what motivates someone else to swim? Why would their passion affect you in any way such that it is a "turnoff"? Are there a lot of elitist competitive swimmers at your pool?

I love you too. It's a real mutual admiration society.

The level of obsession over gear/tech suits by swimmers is about one-one billionth of the obsession over gear by triathletes. I have enjoyed the angst over tech suits when I have read numerous articles in tri magazines over the weight of such items as water bottle cages, eye glasses, etc. The most recent Triathlete magazine has a large article reviewing the newest electronic shifters, price is $5K. I agree with you. I realize the level of obsession is totally different. Triathletes are more obsessive/compulsive, but I think tech suits have shown that masters swimmers share some of those qualities. Suit stacking, worrying about what is legal and what isn't, buying and testing multiple suits to get the optimal results, I find a bit "triathlete like". I don't think it necessarily is a bad thing, but just something that is different about swimming now versus 20 or 30 years ago. I can't imagine that swimmers being more like triathletes is a bad thing for USMS, but I can see some former elite swimmers from the 70s/80s looking on and shaking their heads and maybe being put off a bit in regard to masters swimmers trying to find the edge (through tech suits or training) on their competition to get into the top ten or set records that are largely meaningless from their perspective. I wish I could share their perspective, but I am just part of the mediocre masses. Tim

I stand in unity with you, tdrop, fight the power! Sorry, I had to vent.

Of course.... to each his own....... the thread was started as more of an observation and a few general questions that few have bothered to answer directly. Oh, come on, Mr. Neg. You knew darn well this would be an incendiary topic! A few of them have been at the top of USMS for years publicly trolling their talent and knowledge I only know of one "fulltime" masters swimmers who is trying to earn a living by being a swimmer (as opposed to primarily a coach). Can you really begrudge someone the opportunity to try this? There are others like Rowdy who are doing something similar, but using a slightly different tack. The difference is Rowdy doesn't need to promote his masters swimming career--his fame was earned in the pool 25 years ago. Unlike Rowdy, if your career is dependent on being one of the greatest masters swimmers then it seems to me you really need to promote your accomplishments in the masters venue.

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.

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. The statement implies that Dara is not doing it for fun or health, granted the women is ambitious and was blessed with some fine DNA but how do we know that health and fun is not part of her motivations? I'm mostly a type B person and can very much drift into the swim for fitness mode no competing, however in my observations of ambitious type A's types, they would not be having fun if they did not have a goal to pursue. Who are we to say what should make a person happy or not, especially if there pursuits do not impinge happiness of others around them.

Hyper-competitive is not a synonym for jerk. One can be the former without being the latter. I race against a lot of guys who I would consider hyper-competitive (I consider myself to be such in practically all aspects of my life ... just ask my daughter about our last backgammon game!), but none of them are jerks. A jerk will be a jerk whether they are competitive or not, fast or slow. By hyper-competitve I mean someone who exudes behaviors that extend beyond someone that is competitive. Like cheating, taking it too personally, or just exhibiting some general anti-social behavior in the context of competition.