The day the Forum died

RE: The day the Forum died

Britt03 — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 22:18:02 GMT

I caught myself responding to random questions on a suggested facebook group (I am not part of it) called "swim parents" because it's so fun to share knowledge and wisdom or get a good giggle in. Oh fun this forum used to be.

RE: The day the Forum died

Karl_S — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 21:56:27 GMT

All this discussion of the expense of running the forums, but I wonder about the cost of not running the forums. It semes to me that the forum is a pretty good recruiting tool. The forums pretty much brought me into USMS. Oh, I was vaguely aware of the existence of USMS, but I found the forums and because interested in joining. There must be other similar cases. Also, the forums surely bring more swimmers into meets to, because you can learn of meets in the forums that you might not otherwise hear about, or learn that a meet has some interesting feature (event, place, time, etc.) that makes it more attractive to you.

RE: The day the Forum died

Allen Stark — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 15:20:55 GMT

I recall the old forum was reasonably active until 2018. I understand that the format was getting archaic and needed to change. Until the new forum community started 2021,between 2018 and 2021 it was very difficult to find and get on the forum. I agree with that.
I think it’s important to note that ForceDJ’s enumeration of reasons for non member access was in the context of saying that he thought it would be better to have non-member access. It may be more difficult to manage, and therefore more expensive, but it would have more chance of being alive and meaningful in my opinion

RE: The day the Forum died

ForceDJ — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 18:56:02 GMT

One would think that those at USMS who control such things apparently don’t want the forums used as much as they once were.

Dan

RE: The day the Forum died

swoomer — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:14:46 GMT

Agree! The “Forums” have been tucked away where they are hard to find. A lot of people have given up. I occasionally look, and I’m happy that you have brought this to the forefront.

RE: The day the Forum died

Elaine Krugman — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 19:54:22 GMT

I hear ya, 'DJ! I was thinking the very same thing! 😞

RE: The day the Forum died

ForceDJ — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 18:50:30 GMT

Just bumping this. Aside from the daily workouts, no forum discussion in more than two weeks. Still missing the old forums.

Dan

RE: The day the Forum died

aztimm — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 00:59:00 GMT

Thanks for the post Allen!

I also remember the old forums...there were so many people, and I got to meet many at different meets over the years. I still remember the first time I went to the New England Masters SCM meet in Boston one year...was such a fun atmosphere.

I still keep in touch with many people I met through the old forums on Facebook today.

RE: The day the Forum died

Allen Stark — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 16:45:20 GMT

so here’s the question, why not open the forum to questions from the general public. I think I’ve made it clear why I think that’s a good idea

RE: The day the Forum died

Kyle Deery — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 15:41:52 GMT

David Hickey , welcome to USMS! Happy to help answer any questions we can.

RE: The day the Forum died

David Hickey — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 11:15:04 GMT

I just joined USMS this week - I wonder how the forum used to be... because there doesn't seem to be too much activity on here, just based on my experience as a beginner! Apparently there are 100,000 accounts on here but not much discussion.

RE: The day the Forum died

Elaine Krugman — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 20:58:39 GMT

Hey, King Frog! I would have replied sooner if I hadn't been in Spain and Portugal, and away from my computer. Aside from a few Forumites who attempted to make my life miserable, I loved the Forums from my early years as a USMS member. (I can't believe I have been a member for 15 years now!) I miss some of the Forumites like Doug Jelens who added so much-- especially humor! Back then, if I posted a video asking for a critique, you weren't the only one to respond; there were many. Thanks for always being there for me, King Frog!

I also miss the layout of the former Forums. It was much easier to follow. Remember the Smilies? They were awesome! I can't even use my preferred font anymore; it switches to this boring one when I post.

Jim Matysekj, I also miss you! You did a great job!!

RE: The day the Forum died

Kyle Deery — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 14:45:53 GMT

Here is some information to help answer some of your questions and clarify your comments.

The USMS Community was launched in March of 2021
The old forums was decreasing in activity for many years before launch of Community as the rise of Reddit and Facebook groups grew larger
Many members were having issues accessing the old forums because of the old architecture and it required a second login from the USMS site
It is member's only to post but it is open for the public to see (in most areas)
ForceDJ noted a lot of the reasons for going with a member's only forum

We will continue to enhance the features and integrate with other areas of USMS.

RE: The day the Forum died

swimark — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 21:02:37 GMT

sad... miss the old forum format

RE: The day the Forum died

Allen Stark — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 01:52:25 GMT

That sounds appropriate. I think that could get a lot of views on YouTube

RE: The day the Forum died

Karl_S — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 21:17:53 GMT

Maybe we need someone to say something inflammatory! ...like: whoever decided to close the forums made an egregious mistake that devalued the USMS membership and probably indirectly led to a decrease in fitness among members because there is less spirit of camaraderie and less cutting-edge training advice being shared. They are a horrible person (or persons) who should be flogged with a pool noodle that will only stop when they agree to swim a set of 100x100, LCM all fly, in a pool that is either <60 degrees F or more than 90 degrees F!

RE: The day the Forum died

Gull — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 20:18:15 GMT

I for one miss the flame wars of the early 2000s.

RE: The day the Forum died

ForceDJ — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 13:57:59 GMT

I’m just replying to hopefully keep the thread alive. Here again is an example of the status of the forums — it’s been more than a week without a reply. Perhaps/hopefully a moderator or USMS official could join the discussion and explain what happened, and why USMS membership is a requirement to be active in the forums. — Dan

RE: The day the Forum died

Erik Hochstein — Sun, 07 Sep 2025 21:01:17 GMT

BEST post since 2018 !! Here is a simple example and we all know this is part reason our sport is changing !! I did not swim for way too long 2009 until 2024 -- gives me a different "view" - I noticed changes -- biggest change - MUCH less USMS / club swimming, swim meets, people going to club workouts - but MUCH more lap swimming - so the amount of "swimmers" may actually be more - just not in club system. How can club recruit more swimmers ? Have the BEST forum for adult swimming of all levels - soooo simple - club or no club - we are all swimmers - lets keep it OPEN !!

RE: The day the Forum died

ForceDJ — Sun, 07 Sep 2025 14:44:40 GMT

I completely agree, Allen. I remember when everything changed too. There was always lots of interesting discussion. Then…………..crickets. Almost nothing when things changed. Sometimes WEEKS without a post here. I suppose the decision to change things had to do with money. Discussion forums do actually need human intervention for maintenance. Years ago, I was a member of the RUNNER’S WORLD discussion forums. The RW forums were even more active than the former iteration of the USMS discussion forums. There were paid subscriptions, and free memberships participating in them. Then, they (RW) announced that they were selling off the discussion forum, and some of their other online services to ACTIVE.com. It was probably no more than ACTIVE buying for access to the contact info of all those users, and they never had any intention of keeping the forums going. Eventually, a year or so I guess, the discussion forums were completely eliminated. We (users/members) were told it was for financial reasons. An entire active, vibrant online community eliminated. There is one thing I will point out about non-paying membership in discussion forums. I am also currently a member of the BIKE FORUMS — discussion forums for all styles, and aspects of bicycling. I use the free membership, but it’s opened up to people all over the world. It’s fun, and very active…like the old USMS forums. But, because the forum is open to the non-paying public…it gets a lot of riffraff. Every now and then it’ll get hacked into, or a fraudulent free membership, and the forums will get inundated with unwanted posts that are advertisements for any number of things. It’s very distracting. It always gets cleaned up, but obviously that takes time for someone to do. And I’m sure it costs the forum owners some money to have it done. So, there is some advantage to allowing only paying members access. But the result is an almost useless service. I just can’t say if keeping it open only to paying members outweighs giving access to the public. But it is certainly more interesting with more activity. — Dan

RE: The day the Forum died

Allen Stark — Sun, 07 Sep 2025 02:26:14 GMT

People who only know of the new forum can’t imagine how I felt when I could not reach the forum when I was in the waiting room for my wife’s surgery. There was a real sense of community then and I planned to be spending the time with friends while I was waiting

RE: The day the Forum died

Karl_S — Sun, 07 Sep 2025 02:23:31 GMT

100% agree. The Forum was *much* more valuable before it was restricted to only USMS members. For example, Foreign nationals, USAS and HS swimmers added lively and diverse contributions.