Kristy Kowal was a Silver medalist in the 2000 Sydney games medaling in the 200m breaststroke. The photo to the right is what Kristy Kowal would look like with a white beard, if she were a Norse God, or a member of ZZ Top. (I love breaststroke photos, everybody looks so undignified.)I was over at USA Swimming and they have a 20 questions article with Kristy about her life, hobbies and accomplishments post swimming retirement. (She is a land dwelling animal now.)
It seems that once a swimmer wins a medal or medals they seem to try and get as far away from a pool as possible. I am seeing this with Popov, Kowal, Evans, maybe Thorpe, and numerous other heroes. I guess after all those miles it is like asking a mail carrier if they would like to go for a or hike or a walk after they retired. [Link]
1 comment:
It's the reason why it's so difficult to get former club swimmers back into Masters. If I was trying to recruit out of that particular 'pool' (pun intended) I'd stress the reasonable cost, the excellent fitness one gets from even low mileage and easy going 'fun' workouts, that Masters welcomes most everyone and accomodates different levels of swimming skills, plus the ability to meet and work out with like minded individuals. Give a couple weeks free trial - those who'll swim Masters won't need any further incentive and, as this post identifies, those who are burned out won't be enticed by any amount of incentives anyways. Target parents of current competitive swimmers (you can obtain mailing lists from clubs and associations) who typically have a swimming background. Make sure your direct mail has lot's of quotes from former swimmers who've returned to the pool via Masters and sell their enthusiasm and smiling faces. It could work - look at me, a year ago I would have laughed at someone telling me I would be swimming at all, much less trying to squeeze in more than six practices a week!
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