Fitness swimming

Originally posted by Frosty Connie (& all), . If USMS wants to stabilize its membership, it either needs (1) to continue to push the insurance envelope and provide more "stuff" (services, activities, etc...) that's covered under existing insurance coverage, and/or (2) it needs to get more comprehensive coverage. See, what bothers the heck out of me is that people's motivation for belonging hinges so much on the insurance. It's quite contrary to what I see 'goals and objectives' of USMS to be! Open up the rule book, look under Rules and Objectives... www.usms.org/.../front.pdf page 11 - objective "A" Insurance should be a sub-part of the core objective "a", part of how the members are serviced. I have never attended a TI session, though I know many of the coaches who lead the sessions, many of whom are familiar names within USMS. I think that TI has enjoyed some success because they package their "product" in a manner that is attractive to the novice-intermediate level swimmer...information plus feedback in a condensed period of time. Certainly, USMS could do something similar...it's the same coaches leading your workout that are also teaching TI camps and leading clinics. It's just that all of those things are packaged and oriented differently and to different audiences. I agree with what you're saying. I think USMS will reach a lot bigger audiences if some of their 'product' is just repackaged with those segments in mind. Well, yes, there are things that can be addded as well, but for starters I think little bit of repackaging might go a long way, and it may be a quick thing to do while other projects requiring more work are under way. There are a couple of good USMS-sanctioned open water events in Washington state that couldn't exist without wetsuits. If you don't mind me throwing out a generality at you...I sense a perception within USMS that they discourage wetsuit use in part because it would attract more inexperienced swimmers and thus increase the risk of an accident. sidebar... Exploring generalizations can help us see what target audiences impressions are, can help you measure sucess of public relations campaigns, and can help see whether certain areas need attention... as long as generalizations are given a proper meaning, and not taken as a hard fact. I can't say that I have heard that side of the argument yet, so generally speaking, I don't know. As for the specifics, I would have to check into the facts and see if that is true. I do hear however that swimming with a wetsuit is considered something to the effect of 'flotation device' or a swimming aid, so you can't really have a direct fair competition between two people with one wearing a wetsuit and the other one without. Having separate categories for this would probably double the workload of people who keep records and top tens etc. I hear that their hands are pretty full. So, I'm pretty sure that is one of the factors. I don't know if it's a major factor. It also could be the case of what I see happening with other things... POeople discuss things, vent about them, get temperamental about them, but nothing gets brought up in the forums and t the people who can instigate change. I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprized. I swam Masters for two years before I could beat anybody in my age group at a meet. I suppose that I'd have a better sense of accomplishment simply finishing a 30-minute triathlon instead of being pummeled by peers in a 1-minute swim race. Lindsay Patten had a good reply to this. That's why I like the local meets where you're seeded by time. First I was seesed with 70 year olds, then I moved down to having more 60 year olds around me and so on... That's probably why I like distance events... finishing a 1500 gives you a good workout. Also, I've seen my times in shorter events slowly dropping, that gives me a good sense of accomplishment, more so than just swimming a long distance. I mean, I have a 'speed' at which I can swim for couple of hours or so, and by now, it's kind of bah-humbug. But, I'm competetive by nature, so my psychological makeup doesn't make me a true 'fitness swimmer' I'd classify myself more as a 'wannabe competitor' but not fast enough to be a contender. I agree with your first statement...swim meets are a piece of cake compared to triathlons...as either a competitor, organizer or volunteer. I don't think that swimmers mind that. There is a virtue in the simplicity of a swim meet that I think many participants appreciate. All you need is a pool, a timing system, and some helpful people. Most people who go to USMS meets are foremost concerned about those things. That's why USMS exists...to provide uniform standards for competitions. They're concerned about the social aspects, too...but it's not at all Issue #1. I think you're sort of right. Here's what I see... USMS wants to promote the social aspect and things that they've written in their rule book, and probably have the best and full intentions to do that. I was, and after attending the convention I'm even more convinced that there could be more effective ways of going about it. I think there is a lot of well meaning people there who are doing what they're used to, traditional style swim meets... I agree. I already tried that, but the 'old blood' withdrew their appreciation of my efforts. I hear ya! Then again, whenever you try to bring on change, it will be painfull. You can expect people to resist it, some because they're not up to putting in the effort it takes to learn new thiongs, and also, lot of people tend to take a suggestion to change as an implication that theyr'e doing something wrong, or that what they're doing is not good enough, and that will hurt their feelings, and they will not be appreciative of the 'change' efforts, and it can be a very long time before changes actually get accepted, implemented and take effect. It's hard to not get discouraged in that environment. But, that comes with the territory and human nature, it's not anyone's particular fault.

Originally posted by Frosty Connie (& all), . If USMS wants to stabilize its membership, it either needs (1) to continue to push the insurance envelope and provide more "stuff" (services, activities, etc...) that's covered under existing insurance coverage, and/or (2) it needs to get more comprehensive coverage. See, what bothers the heck out of me is that people's motivation for belonging hinges so much on the insurance. It's quite contrary to what I see 'goals and objectives' of USMS to be! Open up the rule book, look under Rules and Objectives... www.usms.org/.../front.pdf page 11 - objective "A" Insurance should be a sub-part of the core objective "a", part of how the members are serviced. I have never attended a TI session, though I know many of the coaches who lead the sessions, many of whom are familiar names within USMS. I think that TI has enjoyed some success because they package their "product" in a manner that is attractive to the novice-intermediate level swimmer...information plus feedback in a condensed period of time. Certainly, USMS could do something similar...it's the same coaches leading your workout that are also teaching TI camps and leading clinics. It's just that all of those things are packaged and oriented differently and to different audiences. I agree with what you're saying. I think USMS will reach a lot bigger audiences if some of their 'product' is just repackaged with those segments in mind. Well, yes, there are things that can be addded as well, but for starters I think little bit of repackaging might go a long way, and it may be a quick thing to do while other projects requiring more work are under way. There are a couple of good USMS-sanctioned open water events in Washington state that couldn't exist without wetsuits. If you don't mind me throwing out a generality at you...I sense a perception within USMS that they discourage wetsuit use in part because it would attract more inexperienced swimmers and thus increase the risk of an accident. sidebar... Exploring generalizations can help us see what target audiences impressions are, can help you measure sucess of public relations campaigns, and can help see whether certain areas need attention... as long as generalizations are given a proper meaning, and not taken as a hard fact. I can't say that I have heard that side of the argument yet, so generally speaking, I don't know. As for the specifics, I would have to check into the facts and see if that is true. I do hear however that swimming with a wetsuit is considered something to the effect of 'flotation device' or a swimming aid, so you can't really have a direct fair competition between two people with one wearing a wetsuit and the other one without. Having separate categories for this would probably double the workload of people who keep records and top tens etc. I hear that their hands are pretty full. So, I'm pretty sure that is one of the factors. I don't know if it's a major factor. It also could be the case of what I see happening with other things... POeople discuss things, vent about them, get temperamental about them, but nothing gets brought up in the forums and t the people who can instigate change. I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprized. I swam Masters for two years before I could beat anybody in my age group at a meet. I suppose that I'd have a better sense of accomplishment simply finishing a 30-minute triathlon instead of being pummeled by peers in a 1-minute swim race. Lindsay Patten had a good reply to this. That's why I like the local meets where you're seeded by time. First I was seesed with 70 year olds, then I moved down to having more 60 year olds around me and so on... That's probably why I like distance events... finishing a 1500 gives you a good workout. Also, I've seen my times in shorter events slowly dropping, that gives me a good sense of accomplishment, more so than just swimming a long distance. I mean, I have a 'speed' at which I can swim for couple of hours or so, and by now, it's kind of bah-humbug. But, I'm competetive by nature, so my psychological makeup doesn't make me a true 'fitness swimmer' I'd classify myself more as a 'wannabe competitor' but not fast enough to be a contender. I agree with your first statement...swim meets are a piece of cake compared to triathlons...as either a competitor, organizer or volunteer. I don't think that swimmers mind that. There is a virtue in the simplicity of a swim meet that I think many participants appreciate. All you need is a pool, a timing system, and some helpful people. Most people who go to USMS meets are foremost concerned about those things. That's why USMS exists...to provide uniform standards for competitions. They're concerned about the social aspects, too...but it's not at all Issue #1. I think you're sort of right. Here's what I see... USMS wants to promote the social aspect and things that they've written in their rule book, and probably have the best and full intentions to do that. I was, and after attending the convention I'm even more convinced that there could be more effective ways of going about it. I think there is a lot of well meaning people there who are doing what they're used to, traditional style swim meets... I agree. I already tried that, but the 'old blood' withdrew their appreciation of my efforts. I hear ya! Then again, whenever you try to bring on change, it will be painfull. You can expect people to resist it, some because they're not up to putting in the effort it takes to learn new thiongs, and also, lot of people tend to take a suggestion to change as an implication that theyr'e doing something wrong, or that what they're doing is not good enough, and that will hurt their feelings, and they will not be appreciative of the 'change' efforts, and it can be a very long time before changes actually get accepted, implemented and take effect. It's hard to not get discouraged in that environment. But, that comes with the territory and human nature, it's not anyone's particular fault.