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).
In Canada ten thousand swimmers in more than 250 clubs are organized within the 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, but "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, 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 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, Australia, and increasingly 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:
1978 – Toronto, CAN (non-FINA) 1984 – Christchurch, NZL (non-FINA)
Number Year Location Dates 1 1986 Tokyo, Japan 12–16 July 2 1988 Brisbane, Australia 10–15 October 3 1990 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 6–13 August 4 1992 Indianapolis, USA 25 June – 5 July 5 1994 Montreal, Canada 4–10 July 6 1996 Sheffield, Great Britain 23 June – 3 July 7 1998 Casablanca, Morocco 19–30 June 8 2000 Munich, Germany 29 July – 4 August 9 2002 Christchurch, New Zealand 21 March – 3 April 10 2004 Riccione, Italy 1–13 June 11 2006 Stanford, USA 4–17 August 12 2008 Perth, Australia 18–25 April 13 2010 Gothenburg and Borås, Sweden 27 July – 7 August 14 2012 Riccione, Italy 3–17 June 15 2014 Montreal, Canada 27 July – 10 August 16 2015 Kazan, Russia 5–16 August 17 2017 Budapest, Hungary 7–20 August 18 2019 Gwangju, South Korea 5–18 August 19 2021 Fukuoka, Japan 2–11 August 20 2023 Doha, Qatar 23 Feb – 3 March 21 2025 Singapore 7–14 August
Records As in senior swimming, there are world records 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.
See also European Masters Swimming Championships June Krauser, "Mother of Masters swimming" Masters (athletics) Swimming
References
External links Australia: Masters Swimming Australia Canada: Masters Swimming Canada France: Fédération Française de Natation Germany: Deutscher Schwimm-Verband Great Britain: Amateur Swimming Association International: FINA or Fédération internationale de natation (English: International Swimming Federation) Japan: Japan Masters Swimming Association United States of America: US Masters Swimming