Masters swimming the next big thing

Under the concept of Sports for All and international agreements to which the Philippines is a signatory, a person, regardless of age, talent, gender, religion, color, political belief and social status, is given access to play the sport of his/her choice. The agreement states that the right to play the sport of one’s choice is just as basic as the right to medical care, education and shelter.

Sports therefore should be, in its purest sense, as egalitarian as can be. It is not to be limited to the talented or elite athletes and only to those who can afford it. The fact that the Olympics was first limited to “pure” amateurs for so many decades, can be traced to the widespread practice in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the period in history known as the industrial revolution, of excluding the working class from the practice of sport especially when this would entail the latter’s mixing with and competing against the upper class in what were considered exclusive upper class venues for golf, tennis, swimming, cricket, polo and lawn bowls.

The concept of amateurism in the Olympics was a handy and convenient tool to keep out the working class. Sport was therefore not inclusive as it is now in most societies.

The industrial revolution marked the transition of Britain from an animal-based economy to machine-based manufacturing which had an enormous effect on the socio-economic and cultural conditions in Britain, and later on, throughout the rest of the world. From this revolution appeared the factory worker or laborer whom the elite wished to exclude from sport and recreation, among other fields.

Not only was the working class the victim of exclusion from the mainstream of sports. In succeeding years, those who were above the productive age of 30 or those who had retired from elite sports also found difficulty in joining competitive sports. Then came the concept of Sports for All that includes a Masters division for the 40 and above age bracket.

 It came therefore as some kind of whiff of fresh air to hear from swimmer and De La Salle University men’s and women’s swimming coach since 2002, Rene “Guy” Concepcion, that he and his group, Sports Management Solutions (SMS), have organized the first International Swim Masters Series Philippines. The events will be held from June 20 to 21 at the Trace College in Los Baños (for the swimming pool races) and Anilao (for the two- or five-kilometer open water race).

The event could not be better managed by Concepcion whose credentials include the 1988 Seoul Olympian (at 19 years); 1983 (Singapore), 1985 (Bangkok) and 1987 (Jakarta) Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games); and 1986 Seoul Asian Games. Concepcion is a full time faculty member of the DLSU Graduate School of Business.

The international character of the event, sponsored by Speedo, is obvious from the fact that a team from the United States, the Davis Aquatics Masters, has already sent its entries.

Unlike most other sports where a Masters athlete belongs to the 40 and above age bracket, Masters level swimming is for 19 years old and above with age groups 19-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69 and so on. Concepcion says that there will be swimmers in their ‘60’s competing. The number of competitors above 40 does not come as a surprise if one is to cite the Los Angeles Marathon, held in May, which had a couple of competitors in their 60’s and 70’s.

Concepcion, now 40 and expecting, together with his wife, the former Tricia Chiongbian (TV newscaster and the First Filipino to ever win a medal in an international Ironman triathlon)his first child in December this year, says that Masters swimming is a huge phenomenon in other countries. In Japan alone, there are over 40,000 registered masters swimmers. It is expected that there will be over 5,000 participants in the 2010 FINA World Masters Swimming Championships in Sweden next year.

Concepcion, who graduated from La Salle Green Hills in 1982, led, in 2002, the DLSU men’s and women’s teams and the women’s squad in 2003, to the UAAP swimming championships, stresses that it is time for the Philippines to be a prime destination for open water marathon swimming which is now an official Olympic event. Concepcion says, as an archipelagic country, swimming should be one of the Philippines’ most popular sports for competition and fitness.

Both educated in the US, Guy (Master in Fine Arts–Film at Columbia University) and Tricia (BA Communications at Marymount University),want to make their home in the Philippines and hope to bring the style of sports they grew up with in America to the country.