If you can no longer swim fast,
at least look good.
A way to include style points in Masters competition.
In the "Twilight Zone" of my swimming career, and come to think of it, most of my other activities, age, injury, infirmity, incompetence both physical and mental and probably incontinence, etc., force me to emphasize style points in that speed is out of the question. Yet with my few remaining grey cells, I am pondering just how "looking good" could be incorporated into Masters swimming.
Let us consider competition that includes style and can also account for the age and sex of the competitors. Here is Bruce Brute-force (B-II) age 27 and Glenda, the Geezer, Good-body (G-III) age 68. The event is the 100 yd. Butterfly. B-II is timed at 0:58.0 and G-III does a 1:52.0.
To truly judge these swims in the same context we can adjust the times based on the relative national records for the age group and sex. (Note: Meyer's article in 2012 on the median times by age groups would be a better measure. However, with the limitation of those grey cells and my lack of ambition, we will continue using national records.)
The national record for men in the 25-29 age group listed in the 2013 USMS rulebook is 47.51 seconds and the women's record in the 65-69 age group is 75.04 seconds. Therefore, it would be expected for G-III to be 1.579 times slower than B-II. G-III's adjusted time of 112 seconds divided by this adjustment is 1:10.91.
To truly level the playing field (or the surface of the water) we now look at the judges' awards for style points. Here the entire body of work, from mounting the starting blocks to exiting the pool, is to be considered.
While B-II's swim was legal, the award of 4.5 was in the deficient category based on:
*His rather obscene suit barely covering a very hairy body. (For heaven sake, shave.)
*While B-II is swimming to get back into some shape that he fondly remember in his not so distant youth, there has been the consumption of many adult beverages over time resulting in a rather large portion of the hairy body.
*Soaking the officials, who could be the judges, on each turn
G-III received a good category award of 6.0 based on:
*Her very bbbbuff bbbody, confirmed by her 4 marriages and numerous other relations ships, appropriately covered in a yellow suit with black poke-a-dots.
*Stylish dive and stroke
*Deductions (the award would have been an 8) were made for a slight kick misalignment from an injury playing senior softball and having too much assistance in leaving the pool from a dozen young men who wanted to be next in line.
The style adjustment divides the age and sex adjusted times by the judges' awards resulting in a final style adjusted performance of 12.889 for B-II and 11.818 for G-III. Glenda is the winner.
While this form of competition may warrant further testing and could really be fun, the real message is for Masters swimmers to pay attention to their coaches. These folks not only want to get you in shape but will also help you to swim in the most efficient manner recognizing your various physical (and mental) limitations.
If you can't swim fast, at least look good.
Respectfully,
John Tobin (BOC)
Colorado Masters
Evergreen, Colorado
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