Predictions for the Next Decade -- January 4, 2010
PHOENIX, Arizona, January 4. SWIMMING World CEO Brent Rutemiller looks at "Predictions for the Next Decade" in the latest Voice for the Sport. This article is found in the January issue of Swimming World Magazine, but is also re-printed below.
Just as the last 10 years brought unprecedented changes to the aquatic sports, the next 10 shouldn't be any different.
Here are my predictions for the next decade:
• A Professional Swim League will be established in the United States, Europe and Australia.
• Masters swimmers will be the first to embrace a professional circuit that allows for technical suits and no testing for performance-enhancing drugs.
• The banning of full body suits will be reversed, and material will be redefined once again for Olympic competition.
• Advertising will be allowed on swimwear during competition, similar to NASCAR.
• Indoor racing venues will experiment with extreme black lights and glow-in-the-dark lane lines.
• Glass-bottom competition pools will be constructed over shark tanks, giving the illusion of open water.
• Lane lines will be constructed with new materials, making them translucent.
• Open water racing will see the largest growth in popularity.
• A made-for-TV match race will feature two people racing to see who can travel from England to the French shoreline the fastest: one by driving to Heathrow airport in London, checking bags, going through airport security, flying to Paris, picking up luggage, renting a car and driving to the French shoreline; the other by swimming across the English Channel. My guess is that the swimmer wins.
• As a budget savings, the NCAA will combine all of its NCAA division championships into one week of collegiate championships at one venue.
• The courts will rule that Title IX discriminates against males. • Chinese women will dominate the next two Olympics.
• Swimming will become the No. 1 fitness activity in the United States based on a national health movement and national health care recommendations.
• Due to energy prices and economic conditions, pool rental prices will skyrocket in the United States, forcing many clubs to consolidate or shut down.
• Jessica Hardy will get her ban on the 2012 Olympics reversed, allowing her to compete in London.
• Water Polo in the United States will continue to grow in popularity, and competition for pool space with USA Swimming clubs will intensify.
• Current dope testing procedures and periodicals will be abolished, and a new blood passport system will be installed in Europe.
• High school swimming will grow in participation. However, new high school facilities will not be built.
• New scientific methods will be used to increase oxygen to an athlete's energy system, allowing for better training and recovery.
• Supplements taken by athletes to assist in nutrition and recovery will be regulated by governing bodies.
• Masters Swimmers will actively become part of groundbreaking quality of life and longevity studies that test scientific breakthroughs in genetic engineering.
• Use of infrared devices will become common during the elite training of athletes, allowing coaches to gauge muscle fatigue quickly based on heat expenditure. The same devices will allow coaches to change technique to recruit other muscles not being used based on mapping muscle heat exchange. My personal wish for the next decade is that by 2012, there will be no drownings in the United States due to someone not having the opportunity to learn how to swim.
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