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
This may be taken as being a very negative statement.
USMS has a very big role in the swimming in the United States & elsewhere ( Au, Canada). The role might be too big to fill every one's needs. Maybe it should look into creating a very defined purpose or allow it to grow into a mega-organization that can meet every one's needs and expectations. There are so many different types of swimmers who chat on these boards, can we expect one organization to answer every one? this woudl mean that while it would be governed by a board, it would have a large centralized staff.
When I read so many of htese responses, I read the same thing but soemtimes worded differently. If USMS had a very centralized staff, many of these questionsand comments could be addressed regualrily & promptly. Also, membership retentionwould be aided by a national staff who could help indivduals teams focus on how to meet the needs of all types of swimmers.
As the great Johnny Carson once said:
"Do you ever get the vuja day feeling? Not dŽjˆ vu. This is vuja day: the strange feeling that none of this has ever happened before."
:)
Originally posted by craiglll@yahoo.com
This may be taken as being a very negative statement.
USMS has a very big role in the swimming in the United States & elsewhere ( Au, Canada). The role might be too big to fill every one's needs. Maybe it should look into creating a very defined purpose or allow it to grow into a mega-organization that can meet every one's needs and expectations. There are so many different types of swimmers who chat on these boards, can we expect one organization to answer every one? this woudl mean that while it would be governed by a board, it would have a large centralized staff.
When I read so many of htese responses, I read the same thing but soemtimes worded differently. If USMS had a very centralized staff, many of these questionsand comments could be addressed regualrily & promptly. Also, membership retentionwould be aided by a national staff who could help indivduals teams focus on how to meet the needs of all types of swimmers.
Different types of swimmers can be accomodated as long as the USMS has a clear vision and a plan how to accomodate them, and goes to task. Yes catering to multiple groups is a bigger task requiring more man power, time and effort.
If there is a general desire to be trhat kind of an organization then, in a methodical way it can all be accomplished.
Where things may not work so well is when there is lack of resources, lack of interest or lack of direction.
My dad used to tell me "Find something you have a talent for and have a passion for and then do it better than anyone else, rather than doing lots of things sorta half-assed."
Perhaps the question shouldn't be "what do all swimmers want and how can we be all things to all swimmers" but, rather, what do the DOers (not the talkers) of USMS have both the combined talent for and the passion to pursue. I suspect this will describe a subset of "all things to all swimmers".
Maybe the name of our organization is confusing or misleading--doesn't the term "Masters" imply a certain degree of skill or, perhaps, mastery of the sport? We could change the name to Let's All Go Swimming! or Jump In, the Water's Great!
Master swimming in Canada has this moto....
Masters Swimming is an adult program designed to encourage fitness through swimming. It offers structured training sessions, most often through the auspices of a Masters Swim club. Masters Swimming provides opportunities to increase physical fitness, improve stroke techniques, receive regular coaching, and participate in social activities. The level of participation in any aspect of Masters Swimming is entirely up to you, the swimmer, be it lap swimming, international competition, or any level in between.
George
Now, gosh, that's what I always understood it to be too, since I started in Berkeley in 1982. Maybe that's too simple to be understood?
:rolleyes:
Thanks George. I've been reading this thread without intervening til you came up with these sage words.
Originally posted by emmett
My dad used to tell me "Find something you have a talent for and have a passion for and then do it better than anyone else, rather than doing lots of things sorta half-assed."
Perhaps the question shouldn't be "what do all swimmers want and how can we be all things to all swimmers" but, rather, what do the DOers (not the talkers) of USMS have both the combined talent for and the passion to pursue. I suspect this will describe a subset of "all things to all swimmers".
True, although not the focus of questions I posed in this thread.
But, in order to determine the best general direction, each subset needs to be looked at, discussed, thought through and in the end determined if it's a valid direction to pursue.
Without some analisys, it's impossible to tell if it's a valid direction or not.
I see what's happening here one small part of the overall situation analysis. Examining potential Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, with fitness swimming being just one component of the whole, and this discussion board being just one of many sources of feedback.
I know it's easy to get focused on a long ongoing thread like this one, and lose the sight of the big picture, and that this is only a small part of it.
Originally posted by gull80
Maybe the name of our organization is confusing or misleading--doesn't the term "Masters" imply a certain degree of skill or, perhaps, mastery of the sport? We could change the name to Let's All Go Swimming! or Jump In, the Water's Great!
Yes, there is a dose of intimidation in the term 'masters', just in plain english it implies a level of proficiency is required.
Yea, just that alone will make a lot of newbies look and say, oh, this is not for me, before they bother to look and see what it's all about.
