Participation rates for competition in Running vs. Swimming

Licenses! I was going to write something about how the two sports advertise their races. A swim meet usually post something at the pool, a forum or through the local and national level, but it's really only members that get the information, but a 5/10km race there are fliers, ads in the paper and people see there is something going on and sign up. the number of swimmers vs runners in the average work place also dictates what is talked about during lunch or other coffee breaks. I was also going to say that it's much easier for a runner to decide march 1st that they want to run a 5km on april 1st and do well compared to a swimmer. but I started thinking about what it is that causes problems for me to get my swimmers to race. a competition license or membership! anyone can sign up for a road race. whether you are a member of a running club or run on your own. you pay the fee, get your number and or shirt, show up and race. some races even allow last minute registrations but a pool meet, you need to be a member of USMS (or country equivelent), pay a dues, sign up for the meet usaully 1-2 weeks before and you have to know about the meet in order to sign up for it. other ideas (just throwing them out there) it could also have to do with the amount of time it takes for them. most running races are sat or sunday morning, you come 30-60 minutes before, you run 20-30 minutes, then you go home. there are not too many pool or even OW races I have been to that one could say that. There are also rules to swimming. a motion swimmer might not swim properly and might feel intimidated about being disqualified. it's pretty hard to run a 5km and not have your time count. I also agree with everyone that has compared track meets to swim meets and 5km runs to OW events. the stockholm marathon this past weekend had 14,715 people finish the race. but the 3km cold water river race next month only has 5,358 people signed up so far with nearly 3,300 people sign up for the shorter 1km and 1500m races. Just by comparing times one could venture to guess that most of the people who run the marathon run alot. but with the swimming anyone who can keep their head above water can complete the 3km swim. the winner of the mens race 2:12 the last place man 6:09 nearly 2.7 slower. but the results a progessively slower from 1 to 11407 women 2:31 6:08 similar pattern in times but in the 2009 3km race the times are much farther apart. Men winner 29:52 --> last place time 2.23:37 nearly 4.7 times slower. women 31:18 --> 2:38 for both men and women the times increase evenly until about 1:40. after that you have to wonder what the person was doing for nearly 2 hrs. just as a reference a swim 1-2 times a week breaststroke swimmer can finish the race in :55-1:05. I had a swimmer that picked up swimming only 9 months before, and he was able to swim in in 45:34

Licenses! I was going to write something about how the two sports advertise their races. A swim meet usually post something at the pool, a forum or through the local and national level, but it's really only members that get the information, but a 5/10km race there are fliers, ads in the paper and people see there is something going on and sign up. the number of swimmers vs runners in the average work place also dictates what is talked about during lunch or other coffee breaks. I was also going to say that it's much easier for a runner to decide march 1st that they want to run a 5km on april 1st and do well compared to a swimmer. but I started thinking about what it is that causes problems for me to get my swimmers to race. a competition license or membership! anyone can sign up for a road race. whether you are a member of a running club or run on your own. you pay the fee, get your number and or shirt, show up and race. some races even allow last minute registrations but a pool meet, you need to be a member of USMS (or country equivelent), pay a dues, sign up for the meet usaully 1-2 weeks before and you have to know about the meet in order to sign up for it. other ideas (just throwing them out there) it could also have to do with the amount of time it takes for them. most running races are sat or sunday morning, you come 30-60 minutes before, you run 20-30 minutes, then you go home. there are not too many pool or even OW races I have been to that one could say that. There are also rules to swimming. a motion swimmer might not swim properly and might feel intimidated about being disqualified. it's pretty hard to run a 5km and not have your time count. I also agree with everyone that has compared track meets to swim meets and 5km runs to OW events. the stockholm marathon this past weekend had 14,715 people finish the race. but the 3km cold water river race next month only has 5,358 people signed up so far with nearly 3,300 people sign up for the shorter 1km and 1500m races. Just by comparing times one could venture to guess that most of the people who run the marathon run alot. but with the swimming anyone who can keep their head above water can complete the 3km swim. the winner of the mens race 2:12 the last place man 6:09 nearly 2.7 slower. but the results a progessively slower from 1 to 11407 women 2:31 6:08 similar pattern in times but in the 2009 3km race the times are much farther apart. Men winner 29:52 --> last place time 2.23:37 nearly 4.7 times slower. women 31:18 --> 2:38 for both men and women the times increase evenly until about 1:40. after that you have to wonder what the person was doing for nearly 2 hrs. just as a reference a swim 1-2 times a week breaststroke swimmer can finish the race in :55-1:05. I had a swimmer that picked up swimming only 9 months before, and he was able to swim in in 45:34