U.S. Olympian Anthony Ervin will be competing at the U.S. Masters National Championships next month, according to his agent Emily White.
The 32-year-old Ervin will swim Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3 at the event, held in Santa Clara, California. The sprint star should have great shots at breaking the Masters age 30-34 national records in the 50 and 100 free – the 50 record stands at 19.65 set by Nick Brunelli back in 2012, while the 100 mark is 44.53 set by Mike Picotte in 2004.
The appearance will kick off a busy spring for Ervin. He’ll be putting on a Mutual of Omaha Swim Clinic in Aptos, California the Sunday after his Masters meet, and making USA Swimming appearances in Mesa, St. Louis, New Jersey and Los Angeles over the next several months. On top of that, Ervin plans to compete at the Mesa and Charlotte Grand Prix events.
I agree that age should be the only determinant. I would only add that masters records have changed a lot in my eyes in the last 20 years or so. With so many 30 plus swimmers still performing at the elite level masters records don’t mean much to me until age 40.
By the way, the psych sheets just came out and there are a few other notables in the 50 free including Matt Biondi, Josh Davis and Nathan Adrian. Tom Shields is also entered in the meet.
I think it is great that Anthony Ervin is swimming at the Us Masters National Championships
And it’s not his first Masters Nationals! Go AE!
I’m with Sam, Kirk and Sean on this. Anthony is a “real masters” swimmer = he has a job, he’s an adult and he’s registered with USMS. Just because he’s got a cool job that many of us envy doesn’t give us the right to exclude him.
Should we start excluding from USMS all people who make their living in a fitness-related job? Who decides which job is a “real Masters swimmer job” and which is not?
There no reason to dumb down records. If you’re a USMS member and set a record, that’s the record and that’s how it should be. That’s kind of what records are, right?
I think it’s ridiculous to define what a real masters swimmer is. If Ervin (or anyone else for that matter) wants to come to a Masters meet and compete, I say awesome! If he breaks the record, good for him and USMS as well. Brings legitimacy to the organization as much as a David Guthrie who in his 50’s is swimming ridiculously fast times.
The list could go on and on. Is Josh Davis a “real masters swimmer”? By your definition, or lack thereof, you could say know. He is still a professional swimmer (Mutual of Omaha sponsored) and has set numerous world records. How about Rowdy Gaines? I’d argue he’s a professional swimmer (being paid to endorse products based… Read more »
Know = no, wow no (know) idea how that happened!
There is nothing better than going to a USMS meet and seeing swimmers like Anthony Ervin compete. It makes you feel like a 12 year old fan again!
In the same breath I will ask; what is the point of letting their times count as USMS records? They are professional two-a-day swimmers in the same age group categories as young professionals who might make a few practices per week. There is no way real Masters swimmers are able to train to be able to beat them. The professional swimmers wouldn’t be able to beat themselves with the same schedule afforded to the a real Masters swimmer. Thoughts?
I don’t see the problem with letting anyone who is registered as a Master’s swimmer hold a record. They are a Masters swimmer as they are registered and meet the age requirement. People should be proud that records in their age group are held by some of swimming greats. Get over it, if you are the age, then you can get the record If you want to record, then you are just going to have to go faster!!
How do you define a “real” masters swimmer?
There are people in every age group who are able to commit more hours/time/money than others. There are people in every age group with more talent than others. Where do you draw the line?
Isn’t the point of a record to determine the fastest person ever regardless of “professional” status?
Exactly.
I agree somewhat with you guys. But in that spirit there should be no National, Pan-Am, Common Wealth, Olympic, NCAA, American, etc. (because the list could go on for a while) records. Just one big world record because everyone should just suck it up and train to beat that. Masters swimmer to me are only masters swimmer. Not NCAA or Olympic Team swimmers. Anthony Ervin can’t break the NCAA record next week, but he can break a Masters record.
Anthony can not break a NCAA record because he is not in college and not a part of the NCAA. He is a part of Masters swimming and deserves to be able to break records just as you or I can. Just because he is a national team member, should not disallow his swims to count towards records.
Sean, my point exactly. We categorize everything. And if people that swim for US Masters swim teams are not categorized to their “division” than what’s the point? USMS can be all encompassing and that’s great.
Sam – I would have written exactly what you wrote to all my points. Rowdy Gaines, Josh Davis, etc. are all beasts and should be looked up to. I love them in USMS!!!!!
Sam, I don’t think there is a drug issue in USMS so for me to see a comment like that is a bit weird.
Age groups are as much categorization as we need.