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Swimming for all it has to offer is far behind running and cycling in public acceptance. If you were in to running prior to the boom, running was primarily a sport dominated by track and field. There were few runners and the term “joggers” was not yet coined and few people ran for their health. Most running was done either in a track competition or to save one’s life. Few people ran for pleasure.
Triathlons are doing more for swimming than the swimming establishment is doing for itself. Triathlons are getting more adults to try swimming than official swimming organizations do.
Here are my suggestions, and feel free to add to the list…
1) Water temperature. I continue to hear many people speak fondly of snorkeling and swimming in warm Caribbean, Gulf, Hawaiian and summer lake waters. Yet when they go to their local pool, they encounter cold water.
2) Clothing. Few people are comfortable in a Speedo. If runners had to run in Speedos, there would be fewer runners. We need a swimming manufacturer to invent the equivalent of a sweat suit for swimming. This will be no small deal in that the suit should swim well with little drag yet still cover the body while we get in shape.
3) Events. If it were not for triathlons, there would be far fewer swimmers in masters programs. Swimming needs river races, lake races and ocean races like runners and cyclists have their road races. Triathlons could also have swim only competitions within their triathlons, yet with triathlons filling to capacity, they may not be motivated to do so. I think open water races could be as much of a challenge as a marathon in the eyes of our peers at work.
4) Runner’s World or Bicycling type magazine for swimmers.
Like running or cycling, swimming has a great deal to offer. When will we learn to unwrap the package so more people can participate, raising the level of everyone in the water?
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Swimming has severly magazines. Swimming World mag. is the main publication in the United States. It covers age group,college, and masters swimming.
There are other publications out there as well.
As for warm water…HECK NO! If people can learn to run,bike and race in hot water, then they can learn to swim in cold water.
As a swimmer, there is nothing more annoying than trying to swim in hot water. Now, I will say this, if someone taking lessons, then they need warm water.
But for swimming, practice or training, the water should be cold. If people don’t like the cold, swim a little faster.
I say “no” to warm water.
John
Comment by John March 20, 2008 @ 2:00 pmJohn, you are young and cold water bothers you less than it does older swimmers. I have noticed that even life long swimmers get colder as they get older.
Also, why are you looking at my site! Do you a life long swimmer from the swimming establishment, coaching a high school team at a high level, gain something from seeing what I am up to these days? Thank you for the attention. I must be creating something worth noticing over here.
Are you willing to try some new ideas to open up the water for the masses? What are your new ideas and how would you open up the water for the masses and not just kids and high school teams? I think we need to offer more than “cold water in the winter”.
And while the current swimming magazines may meet your needs, they do not meet the public need or Borders or Barnes & Noble would have them on the racks.
Take care and I do appreciate the perspective from the swimming establishment that you bring as a counterpoint to mine.
Comment by swimminghelps March 20, 2008 @ 2:24 pmBooks A Million, Borders,etc. use to carry different swimming magazines. They fazed them out over time, since the swimming community usually had the publications delivered directly to them in the mail and not buying over the counter.
Comment by John March 20, 2008 @ 3:21 pmI also know life long swimmers that have gotten older that still prefer colder water as to hot water. They say it makes them feel better and move quicker than they otherwise want too.
When swimmers talk of cold pool water, we would like it to be around 79-81 degrees…not 70 or below. Once people were to get in this temp and start moving, the temp isn’t bad.
As you know, standing around to teach static drills in this water is very difficult for students and teachers.
82-84 is tolerable but anything over 85 for swimming laps is unhealthy.
I can quit looking at your site,if you like. I think most people would agree that everyone has the potiential to learn from everyone else. I may not agree with everything you say but it doesn’t mean I can’t learn something new either.
John
John, please continue viewing and commenting as the shared information is good for swimmers as you say. You are a good swimmer and while it’s unlikely that I will ever swim as well as you do, I may challenge you to a contest of who can enjoy the water more.
I will keep to my thought that water over 85 is still safe. I have seen children, beginners, the “elderly” and handicapped swimmer swim in water over 85 comfortably. If one slows their swim down just like one does if they are running outside in ninety degree temperatures with the humidity above 60 percent there is a beneficial training effect. After swimming in warm water, I swim faster in cooler water and I do not think that would be the case if I always swam in cold water.
In regards to magazines, there are plenty of running and cycling magazines delivered to homes and newsstands, so I think we are still missing the swimming magazine aimed at the general public.
Thank you for commenting again.
Comment by swimminghelps March 20, 2008 @ 6:01 pmThe best swimming ‘magazines’ will be the ones that utilize the web to capture it’s potentially massive audience-something a national magazine title would find very hard to do.
I agree it would be great to see an open water swim magazine but I think it is more likely to happen on the web. I am surprised that with the exception of http://www.oceanswims.com this has not yet happened.
Cold water is awesome and has huge health benefits. But I am sure people can find the right water temperature for them.
I think that there is a much larger scope for more exciting swim events in different locations in US or other areas that will attract people’s attention. Again, the best examples that I can see of this is on http://www.oceanswims.com
I agree that open water is seen merely as an extension of triathlon swimming whereas in Australia it’s a noble sport in it’s own right !
Great blog-keep posting
Comment by Canada Swimmer March 21, 2008 @ 5:03 pm