It's been cool for me over the last few years seeing and competing against a number of guys from both my age group and collegiate days. However, when I think back to my college team, in particular, I'm struck by how many guys are NOT back swimming and competing in Masters. I realize this is probably the wrong audience to ask (since we're back in the pool), but, since for me swimming & competing go hand in hand and I love swimming, I'm still puzzled why more people don't come back to the sport and to racing?
I don't think it is the family thing since many of them turn to other sports, often with some pretty hefty time commitment.
The clock is a merciless aspect of swimming. It tells no lies. Sometimes there is nothing worse than an accurate mirror...it is nice to turn to a sport with no past history, where you are getting better every year and you have nothing from your youth to compete against.
Theories on why People don't do Masters:
Some are probably still competing at the elite level.
Moved on to triathlons.
I guess that they feel that they performed at their best and have nothing to prove.
they can stay lean without working out.
They didn't train when they were age groupers and they don't want to train now.
Another theory is that they didn't like the sport when they were doing so they really have no love for the sport.
Returnees:
Unfinished business from their age group days!
Can train without the stress of being in an upper middle class sport, but in an low income household.
Actually love sport even though they thought that they would never swim again when they burned out and retired.
More control of what events you do, training, etc.
Many of the twenty and thirty somethings (former AG, HS and college swimmers) I have spoken to about getting involved in USMS claim to be burned out and generally just not interested in swimming on a routine basis.
If you look at the age distribution for people at nationals, it reaches a minimum in the 30s before roaring back in the 40s. Not all that surprising, this is probably the time when people are most busy establishing careers and family.
I do notice that the 40s seems to be a time when quite a few former HS/college swimmers rediscover the sport. I never really stopped doing swim *workouts* in my 30s (though there were some years when I didn't go very often), but I had little interest in competition during that time. I started taking masters meets a little more seriously after hitting 40.
I'm still puzzled why more people don't come back to the sport and to racing?
Asks the guy whose blog is titled "bondage" and whose tagline contains the words "recovering ... addict". I'm sure you're using them lightheartedly, but these ideas also have a dark side, you know?
One word: burnout. It took me 33 years to recover from mine. I believe it is common in people of my generation, and I've talked to people who suggest it is common even today. We promote athletics and competition to our kids because it's supposed to be healthy. But at what point do we max out the benefits to physical health and start doing damage to psychological health? Do other youth sports commonly work their athletes so hard that they run away from it at the first opportunity, never to return?
I'm having a lot of fun with swimming and with masters competition now, but first I had to completely separate myself from what happened then. Now it's fun.
why people don't come back
- had a bad experience (see the "banned for life" thread for examples)
- burnout
- injury
- no access to a pool
- got fat and lazy (I did for a few years)
- don't know that Masters is fun
- don't know about the 80-20 rule (roughly speaking, you get 80% of the conditioning from 20% of the training). Phelps says he's going to be done swimming when he's 30. However, I'd bet money that he does not know about the 80-20 rule yet...
II'm still puzzled why more people don't come back to the sport and to racing?
Don't want to be called "fatties" or have their fat guts hanging out? Not deluded that the new tech suits are vastly cheaper than the old tech suits? :bolt:
For me, burnout.
I hear many teenagers complaining of burnout in various sports due to the current uber competitive athletic environment.
They start families and become too busy for athletics? I know that it's possible to be athletic and have a family, but some people don't see it that way.
- Other interests (other sports, food, travel, etc etc)
- Lack of time, real or perceived (work, family, etc)
- Injuries
- Burn-out (it took me over 20 years to even consider swimming again)
- Lack of knowledge about the range of performances in masters swimming - not every former swimmer is Mike Ross, Chris Stevenson, Paul Smith-esque when returning to the pool
- Lack of interest ("been there, done that")
:2cents:
Many of the twenty and thirty somethings (former AG, HS and college swimmers) I have spoken to about getting involved in USMS claim to be burned out and generally just not interested in swimming on a routine basis.
Many of the twenty and thirty somethings (former AG, HS and college swimmers) I have spoken to about getting involved in USMS claim to be burned out and generally just not interested in swimming on a routine basis.
Agreed. And those are also very busy years in terms of new careers and being a young parent.
Staying in shape is the best thing one could do to stave off stress levels and better cope with the everyday challenges.
