Masters swim clubs proliferate, grow more popular in Pittsburgh area
J. Ray Scott perhaps can't get around the pool at the same pace he could more than four decades ago, when he swam for Butler High School and Gettysburg College, but that doesn't stop him from diving in.
Scott participates regularly for Team Pittsburgh, a masters swim club based out of Trees Pool at the University of Pittsburgh. For about 20 years, he regularly has attended the club's morning practices, which begin at 5:45 a.m.
“Swimming keeps me young,” said Scott, 63, of Penn Hills.
Masters swim clubs, open to swimmers 18 and older, operate throughout the Pittsburgh area. Jim Nemeth, coach at the Chartiers Valley Swim Club, said he believes clubs are more popular in Western Pennsylvania than in Ohio, where he coached before returning to Pittsburgh in 2014.
Nemeth said the Chartiers Valley masters team has about 25 swimmers but had 50 to 60 in previous years before neighboring Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon and Peters began operating teams.
“There's a lot more people interested in swimming later in their careers,” Nemeth said.
Masters swimmers include former competitive swimmers, triathletes and people just looking to stay fit.
“There's a lot of people out there realizing running isn't good forever, or contact sports aren't good for the joints,” said Libby Ernharth, who founded the Flying Fish Heads club based in the Fox Chapel area.
Like Scott, Ernharth swam in high school at Fox Chapel Area and in college at the University of New Hampshire. She said she got out of the sport for a while after college, but soon found ways to swim.
Flying Fish Heads formed in September, and the club already has more than 30 swimmers.
“If I was on vacation and could do some lake swimming or something like that, (I would),” said Ernharth, 42, of O'Hara. “I love swimming — it's actually what I do best. I substituted running for a while. ... This summer it sort of culminated in realizing it wasn't just me trying to drag people out, that there really were a lot of people and nonswimmers (interested).”
Many other masters swimmers have similar stories, Nemeth said.
“Swimming is a lifestyle thing. It's very tough to say goodbye to it, especially if you grow up into it and you compete,” he said. “It becomes a huge part of your life. If you swim in college, by the end of it, you're about ready to be done.
“But it's definitely a huge part of all these people's lives that want to swim, and more importantly, it's a sport you can do really at any age.”
Masters teams generally practice from two to four days a week, depending on available pool time and other factors. Team Pittsburgh holds three morning and three afternoon sessions per week, while Chartiers Valley practices four times. Flying Fish Heads holds just weekly practice as of now, but Ernharth said that number could increase.
It also costs money to join clubs, with that money going to paying for pool time, paying coaches and more.
Competitions around Western Pennsylvania, as well as the country, also take place within masters swimming. Ernharth said many are laid-back, but others are taken more seriously.
Still, Scott said the main draw for him — and many others — is the love of the sport and fitness.
“We do it all for fitness and quite frankly, a lot of social reasons,” he said. “We have good workouts, and everybody that participates gets into really good shape.”
Doug Gulasy is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.
