Masters swimming

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Masters swimming is a special class of competitive swimming for swimmers 25 years and older. Premasters is normally included as well, from 18 years old (Canada, United States, United Kingdom and Australia) or 20 years old (Europe).

Contents

In Canada ten thousand swimmers in more than 250 clubs are organized within the Masters Swimming Canada organization. [1] In the United States around sixty thousand masters swimmers are supported by U.S. Masters Swimming, in more than 1,500 masters swimming clubs or workout groups. [2]

Rules

The rules and distances are nearly the same as for senior swimming, but "breaststroke kicking movement is permitted for butterfly", [3] and meet programs include mixed relay events (2 men / 2 women). The latter one is now copied by seniors.

Age categories

Individual swimmers compete within age groups of five years, determined by the swimmer's age on 31 December current year (in U.S. for meets held in non-metric pools, the age is determined as of the day of the competition). The age groups are: A:25–29 (years old), B:30–34, C:35–39, D:40–44; E:45–49; F:50–54, G:55–59; H:60–64, I:65–69, J:70–74; K:75–79; L:80–84, M:85–89, N:90–94, P:95–99, Q:100–104, R:105–109 and so on at 5-year increments as necessary. [4] In 2014 Jaring Timmermann from Canada, at the age of 105, set a world record as the oldest, but he died the same year. [5]

For Masters relay events, the age groups are determined by the combined age of the team participants in 40 years increments. This allows swimmers of different ages to compete together in a team, as long as each swimmer is Masters (at least 25 years old). Combined age groups are: A:100–119 (years old), B:120–159, C:160–199, D:200–239, E:240–279, F:280–319, G:320–359 and so on if ever necessary.

Description

Masters swimming is a fast-growing leisure activity, particularly in North America and Australia but also in Europe. Most towns or cities now have masters clubs. Typically these are friendly and welcome newcomers. The minimum requirements to join a masters club vary widely, anywhere from the ability to swim one length of the pool to the ability to swim a kilometre without stopping. Club members will follow a set of different drills and swims each time typically covering anything from 1.5 km to 3.5 km per one-hour session. Each club will have lanes and so whilst the younger and faster swimmers who are competing nationally and regionally are at one end, the other lanes are for hobbyists who may have taken up swimming quite recently.

U.S. Masters Swimming is the governing body of masters swimming in the United States, sponsoring competition at all levels. In addition, it sponsors programs for non-competitive "fitness" swimmers who train primarily for the health benefits that the activity offers to the aging athlete. Masters Swimming Canada is the governing body of masters swimming in Canada, listing swim clubs, competitions and provincial master swim associations.

FINA World Masters Championships

FINA organizes the FINA World Masters Championships since 1986, but 2 editions were held in the pre-FINA era:

NumberYearLocationDates
1 1986 Flag of Japan.svg Tokyo, Japan 12–16 July
2 1988 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brisbane, Australia 10–15 October
3 1990 Flag of Brazil.svg Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 6–13 August
4 1992 Flag of the United States.svg Indianapolis, USA 25 June – 5 July
5 1994 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Montreal, Canada 4–10 July
6 1996 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sheffield, Great Britain 23 Juni – 3 July
7 1998 Flag of Morocco.svg Casablanca, Morocco 19–30 June
8 2000 Flag of Germany.svg Munich, Germany 29 July – 4 August
9 2002 Flag of New Zealand.svg Christchurch, New Zealand21 March – 3 April
10 2004 Flag of Italy.svg Riccione, Italy 1–13 June
11 2006 Flag of the United States.svg Stanford, USA 4–17 August
12 2008 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Perth, Australia 18–25 April
13 2010 Flag of Sweden.svg Gothenburg and Borås, Sweden 27 July – 7 August
14 2012 Flag of Italy.svg Riccione, Italy 3–17 June
15 2014 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Montreal, Canada 27 July – 10 August
16 2015 Flag of Russia.svg Kazan, Russia 5–16 August
17 2017 Flag of Hungary.svg Budapest, Hungary 7–20 August
18 2019 Flag of South Korea.svg Gwangju, South Korea 5–18 August
19 2021 Flag of Japan.svg Fukuoka, Japan 2-11 August
20 2023 Flag of Qatar.svg Doha, Qatar 23 Feb - 3 March
21 2025 Flag of Malaysia.svg Singapore, Malaysia 7-14 August

[6]

Records

As in senior swimming, there are world records for masters swimming, but they can only be set in a sanctioned masters meet. [7] Official list of Masters swimming records are available at the FINA website masters section. [8]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Masters Swimming Canada: My MSC". mymsc.ca. Retrieved 2015-09-10.
  2. ↑ "Let's Get Started – Frequently Asked Questions". www.usms.org. Retrieved 2015-09-10.
  3. ↑ "PART VIII FINA MASTERS RULES 2015 – 2017" (PDF). FINA MASTERS RULES 2015 – 2017 (version 08.01.2015). Fédération internationale de natation (English: International Swimming Federation). Jan 8, 2015. p. 3. Retrieved Sep 9, 2015.
  4. ↑ "MASTERS SWIMMING RULES (MSW)". www.fina.org. Archived from the original on 2010-06-18.
  5. ↑ Rollason, Kevin (5 November 2014). "Nov 2014: Winnipeg's Jaring Timmerman, swimming world record holder, dies at 105". Winnipeg Free Press.
  6. ↑ "Home". finamasters2014.org.
  7. ↑ "FINA General Masters Rules". FINA. Archived from the original on 8 January 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  8. ↑ http://archives.fina.org/database/main/records.php
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