World Rowing e-Magazine, December 2008

Spirduso et al. (2005) looked at masters competitors, including rowers, and found there was a marked reduction in both frequency and intensity with which they train. The reasons given were:

1. Maintaining full-time jobs, so less time to train.

2. Have a lifetime of experiences that mean they place training time and sport competition within a broader perspective than a 20-year-old.

3. For many people an aggressive training programme is hard to maintain when the potential victory that will come out of that training is not so glamorous. It is easier to train with the aim of a national or world placing rather than training for a win in an age group masters category.

4. Older athletes are more prone to injuries and take a longer time to rehabilitate from injury.

5. Older athletes are less likely to use per-formance-enhancing behaviours.

6. Less likely to view sport as a potential source of revenue or a way out of an undesirable lifestyle.

7. The motivation to train and compete decreases with age.

8. Ageism – societal attitudes towards older participants. Expectations that older people should rest.

The study noted that the recent records of masters athletes aged 50 – 59 were faster or almost the same as the best times at the 1896 Olympic Games (except for the 200m sprint). It should also be highlighted that the record in the 40km cycling road race event, the United States record for men aged 60 to 69 is only 14 per cent lower than the US elite record.

“This phenomenal maintenance of function occurs in events such as cycling, running, swimming and rowing sports in which the systems most resistant to aging – aerobic, endurance and strategy – are predominant.”