June Krauser, 1926-2014

1999 article from the New York Times: www.nytimes.com/.../screen-grab-organizing-electronic-resources-for-america-s-swimmers.html SCREEN GRAB; Organizing Electronic Resources for America's Swimmers By SALLY McGRANE Published: April 15, 1999 JUNE KRAUSER, a 72-year-old swimmer who holds 15 Masters Swimming world records and has been named to the International Swimming Hall of Fame, helped start United States Masters Swimming, the first national program for competitive swimming for adults, in the early 1970's. Today, Ms. Krauser is helping the organization take a new step, offering her advice and expertise on how best to streamline the group's emerging presence on the World Wide Web. ''It will do a world of wonders once we get it all organized,'' said Ms. Krauser, who swims six times a week with Gold Coast Masters Team in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. For United States Masters Swimming, a nationwide organization of more than 36,000 swimmers from age 19 to more than 100, the Web is proving to be a useful tool for communication among geographically dispersed groups of swimming enthusiasts. The main United States Masters Web site (www.usms.org) has an average of 1,300 user sessions per day. Visitors can check things like discussion forums, current record times and databases with information about swimming pools around the country. Many of the nation's master swimmers presumably agree with Ms. Krauser, who said of her swimming, ''It's more interesting than playing golf with the old ladies.'' The site has streamlined communication in the organization, which includes swimmers who practice with teams, race others of their age group and travel around the world for competition. ''It's made a big impact on our communication with our members,'' said Nancy Ridout, president of United States Masters Swimming. ''They can log on and find events we're hosting all over the country.'' Swimmers turn to the Web site for everything from shoulder problems to travel questions, she said, adding, ''If they're going to Toledo, Ohio, and they don't see a facility listed, they can go on a discussion and say, 'Where can I swim?' and get answers.'' Suzanne Garrity said the Northern California team she coaches, the Mountain View Masters, began posting its workout regimens about four years ago. ''It came about mostly because it was the Silicon Valley thing to do,'' she said. The workouts, which are posted daily (www.mvm.org), typically receive 70 hits by the end of the day and more than 200 by the end of the week. ''Eighty percent of the hits are people from our team who missed the workout and want to go at lunch or in the evening,'' Ms. Garrity said. ''It's a great resource -- if you don't have time to go when the coached workout is given, you can still stay focused and feel like somebody is watching you.'' Sports Publications, a company that puts out three magazines devoted to swimmers and has a site at www.swiminfo.com, offers a Find a Workout page that is one of the most interactive on-line swimming resources. Swimmers and coaches can post workout regimens at the site that other swimmers can use for their own workouts. Visitors to the site plug in an ability level and the amount of time they want to spend swimming. ''I think it's a very good site for someone who wants to find a workout,'' said Chris Phalen, a 34-year-old Masters swimmer in Providence, R.I., who posted a couple of his lunch-length workouts. ''The people who responded to me were basically newcomers. I gave them a place to start.'' Not everyone is interested in exchanging workout regimens. Tanako Hagiwara, who swims in the 60- to 64-year-old age group with the University of San Francisco Masters Swim Team, said that she would not use the service ''because I have a great coach.'' If she were hesitant about the coach, she added, ''I would do that.'' Steve West, president of Metafuse, an E-commerce and Web programming company, developed the software that allows swimmers to search for and post customized workouts. A *** stroke swimmer who made it as far as the Olympic trials in 1992 and 1996, and plans to compete again in 2000, Mr. West said: ''We wanted people to be able to participate and build a Web community. People post their workouts and then other people can see them -- they get shared.'' Mr. West's company recently added another element to the site that allows swimmers to post their meet results. Mr. West said some of the first swimmers to take advantage of this feature had been from a group in Zimbabwe. ''The idea is to get a centralized place where people can post their results from anywhere,'' he said. While the workout exchange page appears to attract mostly Masters swimmers, it also appeals to other swimmers. Katie Liebmann, a 16-year-old swimmer in Stoughton, Wis., has posted her team's workout regimens as well as regimens she invented at the site. She received responses from fellow swimmers, one of whom wrote, ''Hey, it's cool to see someone else from Wisconsin on the Net.''

1999 article from the New York Times: www.nytimes.com/.../screen-grab-organizing-electronic-resources-for-america-s-swimmers.html SCREEN GRAB; Organizing Electronic Resources for America's Swimmers By SALLY McGRANE Published: April 15, 1999 JUNE KRAUSER, a 72-year-old swimmer who holds 15 Masters Swimming world records and has been named to the International Swimming Hall of Fame, helped start United States Masters Swimming, the first national program for competitive swimming for adults, in the early 1970's. Today, Ms. Krauser is helping the organization take a new step, offering her advice and expertise on how best to streamline the group's emerging presence on the World Wide Web. ''It will do a world of wonders once we get it all organized,'' said Ms. Krauser, who swims six times a week with Gold Coast Masters Team in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. For United States Masters Swimming, a nationwide organization of more than 36,000 swimmers from age 19 to more than 100, the Web is proving to be a useful tool for communication among geographically dispersed groups of swimming enthusiasts. The main United States Masters Web site (www.usms.org) has an average of 1,300 user sessions per day. Visitors can check things like discussion forums, current record times and databases with information about swimming pools around the country. Many of the nation's master swimmers presumably agree with Ms. Krauser, who said of her swimming, ''It's more interesting than playing golf with the old ladies.'' The site has streamlined communication in the organization, which includes swimmers who practice with teams, race others of their age group and travel around the world for competition. ''It's made a big impact on our communication with our members,'' said Nancy Ridout, president of United States Masters Swimming. ''They can log on and find events we're hosting all over the country.'' Swimmers turn to the Web site for everything from shoulder problems to travel questions, she said, adding, ''If they're going to Toledo, Ohio, and they don't see a facility listed, they can go on a discussion and say, 'Where can I swim?' and get answers.'' Suzanne Garrity said the Northern California team she coaches, the Mountain View Masters, began posting its workout regimens about four years ago. ''It came about mostly because it was the Silicon Valley thing to do,'' she said. The workouts, which are posted daily (www.mvm.org), typically receive 70 hits by the end of the day and more than 200 by the end of the week. ''Eighty percent of the hits are people from our team who missed the workout and want to go at lunch or in the evening,'' Ms. Garrity said. ''It's a great resource -- if you don't have time to go when the coached workout is given, you can still stay focused and feel like somebody is watching you.'' Sports Publications, a company that puts out three magazines devoted to swimmers and has a site at www.swiminfo.com, offers a Find a Workout page that is one of the most interactive on-line swimming resources. Swimmers and coaches can post workout regimens at the site that other swimmers can use for their own workouts. Visitors to the site plug in an ability level and the amount of time they want to spend swimming. ''I think it's a very good site for someone who wants to find a workout,'' said Chris Phalen, a 34-year-old Masters swimmer in Providence, R.I., who posted a couple of his lunch-length workouts. ''The people who responded to me were basically newcomers. I gave them a place to start.'' Not everyone is interested in exchanging workout regimens. Tanako Hagiwara, who swims in the 60- to 64-year-old age group with the University of San Francisco Masters Swim Team, said that she would not use the service ''because I have a great coach.'' If she were hesitant about the coach, she added, ''I would do that.'' Steve West, president of Metafuse, an E-commerce and Web programming company, developed the software that allows swimmers to search for and post customized workouts. A *** stroke swimmer who made it as far as the Olympic trials in 1992 and 1996, and plans to compete again in 2000, Mr. West said: ''We wanted people to be able to participate and build a Web community. People post their workouts and then other people can see them -- they get shared.'' Mr. West's company recently added another element to the site that allows swimmers to post their meet results. Mr. West said some of the first swimmers to take advantage of this feature had been from a group in Zimbabwe. ''The idea is to get a centralized place where people can post their results from anywhere,'' he said. While the workout exchange page appears to attract mostly Masters swimmers, it also appeals to other swimmers. Katie Liebmann, a 16-year-old swimmer in Stoughton, Wis., has posted her team's workout regimens as well as regimens she invented at the site. She received responses from fellow swimmers, one of whom wrote, ''Hey, it's cool to see someone else from Wisconsin on the Net.''