At the convention I kept hearing...
"Swimming is the number one choice of exercise in adults" and
"Ask anyone and they'll be able to tell you gow beneficial swimming is" and similar phrases...
Well, I can't dipute the facty that swimming is good for you, one of the best forms of exercise there is.
Now, having said that, I can't help it notice that even in this 'day and age' where so many people are close to obsessed with fitness and exercise - especially in California - the USMS membership of some 40,000 is only 0.15% of the population of the US.
This leads me to think that we (the USMS) has missed the boat somewhere!!!
Coming back from my fiorst convention, I see that thewre is a lot of focus on competetive swimming, and most of the delegates and BOD nad EC are either current or former competetive swimmers, and naturally the focus would be on competing.
That alone is wonderful... BUT...
It is my understanding that close to 80% of the USMS membership consists of fitness swimmers.
Also, I hear that :
- in the last 2-3 years the USMS membership has been stagnating.
- USMS does want to grow in membership.
And...
at the convention, I see 'fitness' as being an auxiliary, almost a stepchild focus to the competetive side.
Don't get me wrong, I love to compete myself, BUT...
Competetive adult swimmers are a very narrow demographic and if USMS wants to grow, they (we) need to find more attractive ways to "build-educate-service" our potential fitness swimmers.
I find it puzzling that many 'fitness swimmers' will readily enter open water swims, but when they hear of a swim meet, they don't think they're good enough for it... I've done both, and let me tewll you, swim meets are much easier, especially for a first timer, then an open water mile swim in an ocean or a lake.
I also see coaches right here in this forum that are having a hard time explaining to their fitness swimmers why (other then insurance that some clubs require) they should be members of USMS.
I think USMS is failing in it's core objectives when it comes to attracting membership, servicing them and educatiing them, which I strongly believe will mostly come from the fitness side.
Well, this is all that comes to mind at the moment. I'm hoping to eventually refine the thoughts.
Comments, thoughts anyone? I'd love to have some dialogue about this and hear what other people think.
Former Member
Originally posted by Fitswimmer04
I want to thank Connie for starting this thread first of all and I want to thank Robert for his fantastic post. I joined the group to participate in the virtual swims which make my morning laps more interesting. I don't know if I would ever race, because I lack experience and training. The three suggestions Robert made are exactly the type of things I would love to see in a workout group, I might be able to learn the skills I need to become a more active member of USMS. To answer Connie's question from earlier, I would be willing to travel for a weekend clinic-maybe not all the way to California, but with enough advance notice I would certainly consider a trip out of state.
It is certainly far easier for USMS to exist primarily for people who are experienced swimmers than to expend energy and cost on teaching new people. Robert's post asks if USMS considers it important to reach out to fitness swimmers or not. I believe from what I have read, that they do.
I get the feeling that much of the impression about catering to experienced swimmers only would be changes if we went ahead and out together a better 'newbie' section on the website along with some more literature and perhaps a few pages concentrating on total newbies in the magazine as well... and other possible places...
More than one person I talked to, or shared my 'story' on how I became a Masters Swimmer said that on occasion they would prefer to hear a story like that, rather than someone that is a top swimmer. Reasoning being is that even though we all admire the elite, most of us are aware that we'll never be the elite, but when we see someone closer to our caliber still beating the odds then we start thinking, heck, if she can do it, I can do it too!
Another thought - about the bulletin board seeming to be THE place a lot of newbies come for help... I think a lot of us like the interactive part.. and also, it does provide for some of the social aspect, especially for those lone and unattached swimmers who aren't lucky enough to live in the area with an active Masters Team.
Perhaps there could be a 'special area' for them...
IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ALL "NEWBIE" SPOTTERS:
Please direct Newbies to the "Getting Started" page in the Fitness section of the USMS web site:
www.usms.org/.../gettingstarted.shtml
This section contains articles about starting a swimming routine, pool etiquette, using the pace clock, ways to win at weight loss, a sample circle swim diagram and a pace chart.
It's a great collection of resource articles for the newbie. Check it out!
Bill Volckening
Vice Chair, USMS Fitness Committee
Originally posted by LindsayNB
Does the fitness committee find it acceptable to be item 50 in a list of over 80 items on the left of the home page?
When I open the home page the Fitness link is item #10 of 16 items.
Some quick thoughts for reflection:
I would prefer that our team handle the job of answering specific questions from potentials and making newbies feel welcome, and let the national handle the general questions, as most all responses suggest. Getting a national network too involved would defeat the premise that I see running though this thread - that the local club is "where the action is", and where the personal one-on-one contact works. USMS can do well with its general section for newcomers but for goodness sake, support local clubs as suggested instead of taking things out of their hands. I would prefer that potentials are referred to a club or LMSC and let us take it from there.
What is the emphasis?
Almost 90% of newcomers to our team come from our web site. (We have sucked up almost all the fitness lap swimmers in our pools already.) We find that most swimmers contemplating a dip into masters swimming are afraid of or not interested in competing. So why do most team web sites place meet schedules, meet results, top ten times, nationals, records, etc and links to such in a prominent place on their first page? What message does that convey to newcomers? Convention delegates are not the only ones emphasizing competition.
More human nature:
Our experience is that potentials who send an email (from our web site) asking for more information are really looking for comfort and reassurance. The info they are asking for is readily available on the site. A personal contact (even in an email) before trying the team out can go a long way to relieving the anxiety.
If newbies were able to find the USMS discussion boards on our site, chances are they found the "getting started" section, too. Maybe these posts are not really looking for information, but some emotional support. This should be an underlying theme in the responses we give.
The "newbie" area is a great idea, but would experienced swimmers ever go there? Because I swim alone, I really depend on the help I've been getting from this board. If the newbie section was a place where we could get advice and help from experienced swimmers and coaches as well as getting to know other new people it will be great.
Originally posted by aquageek
I agree, this site needs something like that and a new category on the discussion forum called "Newbies" or something like that.
I feel like a newbie after I have a few months off. It feels like I am starting over again. I have travelled over fourteen thousand miles in the last two months and I have not been in the water for over a month. On my last drive to Hamilton Ontario from Vancouver BC. I said never again, but guess what... In a couple of months it is back to Hamilton and when I return it's off to Mexico in the motor home for the swim Clinics.
My knees are sore and swollen and boy do I ever have a back ache. It seems to me I am resting and can't get the desire to get back in the water. But I am ready for two months at the rec center tomorrow. Workouts start this Thursday.
George www.swimdownhill.com
Bill,
Maybe, the Fitness committee could pull together a Newbie “Frequently Asked Questions” write-up to post on the fitness. Lord knows this discussion forum is rife with them. This way we could have a lot of the questions in one place along with professionally crafted answers. ???
I love seeing Fitness at the top of the General Discussion Forum and reading all the great ideas. The Newbie suggestion area is a winner!
When we get the new committees set, if someone would start a Newbie suggestion thread, the Fitness Committee would volunteer to transfer the ideas onto a permanent section of our Fitness Website. That is if all of you are comfortable with this.
New swimmers might easily find the Forum overwhelming and overpowering. Having the ideas tucked away in a permanent, "safe" place might be the way to go.
We are going to be starting a Fitness web section called "Making Fitness Fun" which would compile gimics like Birthday Swims, fun activities, and games to ease the boredom of swimming back and forth all the time. You have given me the idea of asking for help from the Forum on this topic too. When we get going, you all can help. Thanks, Pam Himstreet
Originally posted by Rob Copeland
Bill,
Maybe, the Fitness committee could pull together a Newbie “Frequently Asked Questions” write-up to post on the fitness. Lord knows this discussion forum is rife with them. This way we could have a lot of the questions in one place along with professionally crafted answers. ???
that's a very good idea!
I know lot of those articles address some of the FQ's, but reading thrugh all of them at once to filter it all out gets little overwhelming for a newbie.
Originally posted by LindsayNB
Hi Bill,
If you look through the articles in the getting started section do you find they do a good job of encouraging the swimmer to join a USMS club offering coaching and workouts? Do they emphasize the benefits of swimming in a coached environment? Do they emphasize the motivational and social benefits of group workouts? Do they answer the question "How good do I have to be to join a USMS club?" These are some of the messages I think USMS could use to appeal to potential new members.
Does the fitness committee find it acceptable to be item 50 in a list of over 80 items on the left of the home page?
I think answers to some of those questions lay beyond jsut the fitness committee, and could be addressed by a joint effort of several committees... coaches being on that comes to mind, marketing could be another, probably communications too.
