The Forum died for me 4/3/18. It has been resurrected a couple of times, but it seems to be on life support.
4/3/18 my wife got her hip[ replaced and while I was in the waiting room I logged on the the Forum and it wasn't there and there was an ambiguous message. It finally came back to no fanfare and we were told it was a necessary update. Activity on the forum was low. It was updated again to more fanfare but activity was still low. I inquired about it and was told Forums were an outdated system. This surprised me as the other forum I frequent (for DnD) has gone though similar updates and is vibrant. I am' repeating again on the Forum, my theory and solution. When the Forum was vibrant anyone could post and we were getting posts from all over the world. One person from another country said it was THE best source of information for masters swimmers. Now it is restricted to posts from USMS members only saying it is a perk of membership. It would be a much better perk if it was a vibrant site and good marketing for USMS. Imagine asking about finding a workout in another country and having someone from there answering. That used to happen.
I know USMS staff monitor the Forum, please open it up, I can practically guarantee it will not drop enrollment. Has anyone said ,since 4/3/18, "I'm joining USMS for the Forum.". Open it to the world and someone might.