Masters Swimmers Acting Like Triathletes

Kirk Nelson posted something the other day that I found quite accurate: It's just nonsense and judgmental to tell people what they should and shouldn't take seriously in life. Right! It's not just that though, people that actually enjoy training as a means in itself will always have my respect... Some people like records, but if it wasn't a record the goal would be a personal best in each age group. If it's not a personal best it would be the number of yards/meters swam. The point isn't the external meaning that motivates you. This is really about finding joy from the streamline and literally swimming with emotion on every turn, that's a better life.

Might I throw out the notion that some former national finalists actually stay away from USMS because of the hard core participants in their age groups as they don't care to deal with the obession and comparison factor. Most would rather swim for fun and health and not deal with absurdity of comparing so called "best times" in your old age. Glad to see things getting ramped up over here again...the tech suit thing got old real fast! This would be a far more interesting dicussion if Mr. Negative would name names... As for the quote above...I can name at least a dozen right now. Cav, stay away and keep throwing down national record times in workouts...we don't need you here messing up our top 10 results!

I think there's one thing we can all agree on: Chris Stevenson needs to quit swimming so much butterfly in practice. He's making everyone else look lazy. :) But, yeah, this whole idea is absurd. So is Mr. Negative saying former elites are staying away from masters competition because they are afraid of getting beat? That's the only thing that makes sense to me. After all, why should they be concerned that other swimmers are "too serious." Why should they concern themselves with how seriously other masters swimmers take it?

Yeah, that's pretty darn accurate. I had an entire lane ridicule me today about my 100 meter swim. Then, it spilled into my lane with the final comment directed at me by a very shy, quiet woman being "yeah, Billy, you suck." You know, even the ones that say they aren't competitive are still breathing heavy on hard sets and still getting up at 4:45 to make it to practice, so they are just fooling themselves. I was all prepared to smack jack Puffster last weekend but she's too nice and fast to ridicule. Fort might beat me up. Wookie might smother me with his yetti coat. All I have is this forum, where the only punishment is Matysek banning me for a while when I remind him of his beatdown in CLT last Winter. :applaud: Not to turn this into a Geek love-fest, but SO TRUE! I get PLENTY of smack talk thrown at me on a continual basis - mostly at masters and not during USS practices. Saying you suck at the 100 FR is really not too bad in my opinion. But how about these doozies (ironically told to me by two different male world record holders): "You f'in beech (he's Italian), you didn't offer to lead the lane once." (Uh, no. . . b/c you're a multiple world record holder!!!) and my all time favorite, and this may be paraphrased a bit "You gotta get your big ego out of the way." (True but annoying to hear at 6 AM.) I actually think the masters workouts are waaaaaay more competitive than the kid workouts I do. However, many of the masters swimmers swear on their kids' lives that they don't take it seriously. Uh huh.

Seems like there is a growing parallel between triathletes and many masters swimmers these days. QUOTE] hmmmm, maybe thats why i've been getting my ass repeatedly whooped by the tri-gals in the pool. wassnertwins.com/.../home.html but seriously mr n. ...... is this snark?

I heard these same words at practice last week, except without the Italian accent. :D Everyone seems to love to brag that they don't train and they don't take it seriously ... Most of that is just pre-excusing. Oh no! Sorry! We can be f'in beeches together then! LOL! I guess I should have been horrified, but the accent cracked me up. Beech?! What did you do to get that rxn? Or rather, what did this person fail to do to elicit that response? I need to make it my new goal to see how many times I can be called that in one practice! My all time favorite excuse is, "I biked 75 miles this morning first and only got 4 hours of sleep."

I enjoy triathletes and triathlons and see nothing wrong with the comparison. Anyone, including so-called fitness athletes, can go overboard at times. I see many at the gym who some would label "obsessive" about their physique and health. As mid-life crises go, it beats some of the alternatives. I'll spare my amusement for obese coach-potatoes, and proud owners of Hummers and trophy wives. PS: I saw the title and thought, "oh no another tech-suit thread." Thank God for small favors, anyway.:) You are right. We are free to enjoy and obsess about our own self indulgences..... whether or not certain people's lives are centered and dedicated around self promotion and self measurement in masters swimming is their choice. Now back to my question: Does it seem like there are more and more people getting wound up in USMS like the obsessed training triathletes nuts these days?

Many roll their eyes at the thought of taking USMS for anything more serious than health and fun. I don't know...I didn't see the former Olympian who was being given a "stroke" clinic recently by a masters record holder (who had just beaten this person and broke a masters world record) roll their eyes... There's a LOT of attitude by a very small group of masters out there...unlike a LOT of attitude by a very large group of triathletes!! :bliss:

Might I throw out the notion that some former national finalists actually stay away from USMS because of the hard core participants in their age groups as they don't care to deal with the obession and comparison factor. Most would rather swim for fun and health and not deal with absurdity of comparing so called "best times" in your old age. I guess. I don't really understand why anyone would base their actions on what others are doing. Compete, don't compete, it is up to you. Most USMS members do not compete, and I don't think that is changing though I have no hard data. As to motivation, I can only speak for myself: there was a long period of time when I didn't compete much partly because I still mentally compared myself to my "fast" days. Nothing to do with others' obsession or lack thereof. Once I hit 40 I realized how silly it was to worry about what I did 20 years prior. Competition is fun as a motivation to keep at it, but I think that's all it is for most people who take it "seriously." And the thing is, one's performance at meets has as much to do with circumstances (family/job situation, access to pool & coaching, time to train, injuries, etc) as with talent and desire. I believe most people understand this. Believe me, as the Top Ten Recorder in my LMSC, I know first-hand how seriously some people can take these things. I have received frantic emails and even the occasional phone call. I have had to print out on "official" USMS letterhead my statement that so-and-so set an LMSC record or achieved a Top Ten time. Such people are a very small minority and even so: if it helps keep them healthy and motivated, I just don't see the harm.

I think there's one thing we can all agree on: Chris Stevenson needs to quit swimming so much butterfly in practice. Kirk, if your shoulders can take it, butterfly is the easiest way to get more bang for your buck! I just don't have the discipline to do those distance sets you do... :)