What really surprised me though was the fact that you have to be 25-years-of-age to compete. There will be no 18-24 age group. Very odd for they tell me that excluding the 18-24-year-old age group in a swim meet in is considered a sin in both Norse mythology and USMS age-group standards. Does this mean that WRs set in the 18-24-year-old age group are not recognized? I guess not. It simply must be a peculiarity that the USMS cares more about young adults swimming. Go America!
Here it comes from the "horse's mouth:"
It is my great pleasure to welcome the Masters Family to its major 2010 rendezvous, the 13th FINA World Masters Championships, to be held from July 27-August 7 in the Swedish cities of Gothenburg and Boras. This competition will once more reinforce the values of friendship, understanding, fitness and competition between athletes of over 25 years old
[...]
With the FINA World Masters Championships, we want to prove that even when retired from the high level competition, our athletes are still capable to delight us with their performances. Thousands of athletes, from 25 years old up to 90 or more, confirm that the aquatic vocation is still there no matter the age.
[Except for 18-24-year-old age group :-p ]
[Link]
Also, note how soft the qualifying times are. Wow!
9 comments:
There were two people in that age group that wanted to swim a relay with me in that age group. Now, I am not going to go for sure.
Tony, I don't recall FINA keeping world records for 18-24, nor having 18-24 as an age group at Worlds. (So this is not a change of policy.)
Member nations, of course, can and do, just as they keep records for short course yards.
Again, I disagree with FINA. If the tech suit rule has to be global then the 25-29 should be global.
Tony, the tech suit rule doesn't have to be global. USMS has decided to use it, but they could have gone with their own rules... Also, in plenty of countries, you can combine swimmers from different age groups for a relay, but 18-25 swimmers can not be combined with other age groups.
On a different note, I've been to Gothemburg and swam at the Valhala pool! To be honest, I with I could go. The city is simply awesome at this time of the year, the people are super nice, the women are incredibly gorgeous, and the facility is great! What else can you ask for?
Did you know that blond hair and blue eyes is only a recent evolutionary change that showed up about 10,000 years ago?
Nonetheless, my irrational anger is in regards to the fact that there are two people in my life that wanted to swim a relay with me; one is 18, one is 19.
They wanted to go to Sweden to do it. Now ecah will have to wait another 5-years.
FINA has always restricted its recognition of Masters to swimmers over 24. The national federations on the other hand - with their primary objective to encourage participation - invariably allow 'underage' swimmers in after they finish with their competitive careers. Clearly FINA can't maintain two sets of 'world records': one for the real world and another for those not fast enough.
I still don't like it and I don't care about the morals of it.
Look, if Masters is suppose to be professional and emulate the International way swim races are conducted say like the PGA Masters runs golf, then run it that way.
If it's suppose to be fun and loosely structured then they have to pick which way is going to be? I would have no problem with 18-24-year olds coming to masters events trying to set international records.
It smells like money to me as the true reason why they can't.
I don't see how money would be the reason FINA wouldn't allow 18-24 swimmers at the Master World Championship.
In all honesty, I have never been to one, but according to everyone I talk to, the issues during the Master World Champs are time and space. There are just way too many people in these meets, and so by eliminating the "pre-master" they limit the number of participants. I'm not saying it's the best alternative, but it's the way it's always been.
I think you are still irrationaly mad about the suits, and everything FINA does and you don't agree will piss you off... Although I agree with you about the suits being good for swimming, to some extent you are being as frugal as that one british journalist who should never be linked or mentioned.... just be careful so that people like me, who agree with you, don't start disagreeing with you.
Hi Lucas, I Acknowledged you constructive criticism
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