Masters swimming is a special class of competitive

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

for swimmers 25 years and older. Premasters is normally included as well, from 18 years old (Canada, United States and Australia) or 20 years old (

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

). In Canada ten thousand swimmers in more than 250 clubs are organized within th
Masters Swimming Canada
organization. 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.

Rules

The rules and distances are nearly the same as for senior swimming. However, "breaststroke kicking movement is permitted for butterfly," 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. In 2014 Jaring Timmermann from Canada, at the age of 105, did set a world record as the oldest, but he died the same year. 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 very different ages to compete together in a team, as long as each swimmer is Masters (at least 25 years old). Combined age: 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 very 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 FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

organizes the

FINA World Masters Championships The FINA World Masters Championships (or "Masters Worlds") is an international Aquatics championships for adults (per FINA rules, Masters are 25 years old and older). The championships is held biennially, with competition in all five of FINA's dis ...

since 1986, but 2 editions were held in the pre-FINA era: *1978 – Toronto, CAN (non-FINA) *1984 – Christchurch, NZL (non-FINA)

Records

As in senior swimming, there are

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

s for masters swimming, but they can only be set in a sanctioned masters meet. Official list of Masters swimming records are available at the FINA website masters section.http://archives.fina.org/database/main/records.php

References

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