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When to retire from competing?
Leonard_Jansen
Charter Member
I'm pushing 58 years old, and although I still feel I have a number of good years left in me for doing long races, there will come a time when it would perhaps be wisest to hang up the goggles. The question that goes through my mind is: How do I (or anyone) know when that time has arrived? (I know most of you have years or decades before this is a concern.)
To clarify, I am NOT talking about really short races, swimming on one's own for recreation, or declines in race placing. What I am talking about is when does a person's participation constitute either an undue burden on the race organizer(s) and/or an excessive safety concern. Although most races have time limits, but I think there is a deeper issue there. Namely, if you are so far behind the pace needed to finish in the time limit (or come reasonably close), you may be pulling resources - specifically safety personnel - away from the rest of the field.
I understand that this is kind of like asking when should someone give up their driver's license and is a loaded topic, but I'd rather watch the race from a boat as a volunteer/sex symbol than have someone drown because of me.
Opinions?
-LBJ
To clarify, I am NOT talking about really short races, swimming on one's own for recreation, or declines in race placing. What I am talking about is when does a person's participation constitute either an undue burden on the race organizer(s) and/or an excessive safety concern. Although most races have time limits, but I think there is a deeper issue there. Namely, if you are so far behind the pace needed to finish in the time limit (or come reasonably close), you may be pulling resources - specifically safety personnel - away from the rest of the field.
I understand that this is kind of like asking when should someone give up their driver's license and is a loaded topic, but I'd rather watch the race from a boat as a volunteer/sex symbol than have someone drown because of me.
Opinions?
-LBJ
“Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde
Comments
I think a lot of this depends on the field. I recall reading that the average marathon time in the US used to be a lot faster because only hard core runners actually did them. Now every man/woman and their dog does them so the average time has significantly decreased. As OWS gains in popularity it is likely that events will have wider and wider ranges of abilities participating.
An experienced (but slow) open water swimmer is less likely to be a burden on race officials than the folk who dive in with little preparation and find themselves hypothermic or panicking due to lack of familiarity with currents and chop.
http://notdrowningswimming.com - open water adventures of a very ordinary swimmer
I would say that it is up to the event director to make clear what their expectations are so that entrants need not worry about such things while they are swimming.
I enjoy seeing fast young athletes break records, but I find successful swims by those past their prime more inspiring... indeed, I consider it a great honor to able to offer opportunity to swimmers to challenge themselves against the clock and the changing tides.
...anything worth doing is worth overdoing.