Yet...... another comment on "elitism" in masters swimming. This ongoing battle of two imaginary groups....... the selfish former elite swimmers and the non elite counter parts.
Yes..... The Evil Smith and I have taken great pleasure throughout the last decade trying to secretly split USMS into these two groups. Our efforts to perpetuate this divide and fuel our intolerance for "learners" is now being undermined..... :-)
One Big Happy Family: Marcinkowski’s Masters
reachforthewall.com/.../
"Butcher, Zerkle and others say numbers have soared because Marcinkowski has tried to strip the elitism from masters swimming, often thought to be populated with former competitive stars who have little tolerance for learners."
Back to the original topic of this thread, I don't think there's any greater elitism in Masters' swimming than any other organized adult athletics, especially for newbies. It's the internal reaction of newbies more often that creates this feeling than the external actions of the existing 'players.' For example ...
I feel intimidated when I walk into a free weight gym, not because the muscleheads there say anything or do anything more than ... well, looking like they know what they're doing. I still lift my girly-man weights, though, because that's what I came for.
I did one triathlon years ago, setting up my mountain bike and Sports Authority-cheap running shoes in the transition area next to all the hi-tech bikes, shoes, tri-outfits, energy gels, etc. ... all the while overhearing tri-jargon that I couldn't make heads or tails of. No one paid me any attention, but, sure, I felt intimidated about the upcoming bike & run. I still did it and had fun ... came out of the water right behind Kurt Dickson and then proceeded to get passed by practically every man, woman and child on the bike and run legs.
The point is this: if you go into a new sport, you're bound to feel somewhat intimidated because of your own lack of knowledge and experience. I think it's rare, though, that the others experienced in that sport will go out of their way to pile on that feeling. It's your own issue, not others.
Back to the original topic of this thread, I don't think there's any greater elitism in Masters' swimming than any other organized adult athletics, especially for newbies. It's the internal reaction of newbies more often that creates this feeling than the external actions of the existing 'players.' For example ...
I feel intimidated when I walk into a free weight gym, not because the muscleheads there say anything or do anything more than ... well, looking like they know what they're doing. I still lift my girly-man weights, though, because that's what I came for.
I did one triathlon years ago, setting up my mountain bike and Sports Authority-cheap running shoes in the transition area next to all the hi-tech bikes, shoes, tri-outfits, energy gels, etc. ... all the while overhearing tri-jargon that I couldn't make heads or tails of. No one paid me any attention, but, sure, I felt intimidated about the upcoming bike & run. I still did it and had fun ... came out of the water right behind Kurt Dickson and then proceeded to get passed by practically every man, woman and child on the bike and run legs.
The point is this: if you go into a new sport, you're bound to feel somewhat intimidated because of your own lack of knowledge and experience. I think it's rare, though, that the others experienced in that sport will go out of their way to pile on that feeling. It's your own issue, not others.
