Is this the face of Masters Swimming?

To compete in swimming the average is a 2 hour drive. Dorothy, Just out of curiosity, will the IL state meet in DeKalb be more convenient for you than if it was held at UIC again? FYI, see this thread: forums.usms.org/showthread.php Skip

Wow, I get the feeling Paul Smith wants people like ME out of Master's swimming. Excuse me?! Maybe re-read all of my posts Dorothy....my position in this thread and every other post has been to support and try and grow membership of USMS. Things have been stagnant for a long time here....if your not willing to ask hard questions and propose options than we will not see any change. If your going to attempt this you first need to decide if thats what the leadership wants.....and that in my opinion is an internal struggle...most want to promote wellness and fitness...which is what 90% of the dues paying members are here for....not the meets like the 10% (or majority on this forum).

One reason to grow membership is to have more meets and opportunities for meets, whether actual, or postal or virtual. Swimming seems to have a very entrenched lap swimmer/fitness swimmer non-competing mindset. And health, in and of itself, is a great goal. But I wonder why the enormous anti-competition bias in our sport? Fort.....you may not have been "back" into the sport when a number of years ago Keith Bell....completely frustrated at exactly these points....attempted to form a break away organization dedicated to "masters" who wanted to focus on competition. Needless to say it was not well received, it failed (on a larger scale although they still have meets) and I'm guessing there are still a lot of hard feelings about it.... Check it out: http://swimttex.com/

Well, maybe Gull is right and swimming is just not sexy. So how do we make it more sexy? We're already half naked and that's not enough ... As for the trinket incentive, I wonder if the emphasis could be changed. I see the top ten types can get top ten patches and high point awards or fastest man awards and medals. But, if swimming is not just a meritocracy because we advocate participation and completion, maybe we need different trinkets? Awards for big time drops? An award for the masters swimmer competing in their first meet? Awards for weight loss? Features about the average swimmer in USMS mag, not just the elite? There are a lot of compelling comeback and start up stories.

All of this assumes first and foremost that USMS wants to grow....pools are closing, some facilities are not supportive of masters swim programs (Y's, Rec centers), lanes are harder to come by, etc. If USMS increases its membership base what des it actually gain? What do we as members get out of it? Heck...I get more out of the coupons in the ValuPaks that come in the mail every week! Why is it that when I renew my membership I don't get a whole host of discount coupons from our key sponsors? Who is the "official airline" of USMS where I can get discounted rates on travel to meets? How about car rental, hotel, restaurant? Why are Speedo, Nike & TYR sponsors? If there is value to a sponsor its in being exclusive....offer them all (and Arena) a chance to bid on becoming the exclusive swimwear sponsor of USMS and as part of that send out a 10% discount coupon for a new suit to all the members.... Why do we have Kast-a-way, Swimoutlet and Kiefer as sponsors? The three largest on line and catalog retailers of swimming gear? Have one...and charge a premium for it...and again have them provide an incentive to shop from them so the recoup their investment. Even if I'm a Speedo guy (ha, ha) for a break in price I'd buy a TYR (or swim for them!) Heck Finis gives out a 25% discount coupon to USMS All Stars...I applaud them and supported them by using it to buy a new snorkel and pair of fins which I really didn't need now... Here's a concept...lets have fewer members. Raise the annual membership to $200 a year and get us things like access to discounted health insurance, a membership to 24 Hour fitness and a free training suit from our swimwear sponsor. Lets have smaller meets. Raise the entry for nationals to $150 and have cash prizes for records that are set...add in a raffle for $500 as well so the so called "elite" who would have a shot at the record had a shot at cash as well. Last but not least....why is USMS licensing their logo to others to sell the merchandise they could and should be selling themselves at every meet? First...dress up the logo and images associated with our "brand" then create an on line store and start selling...outsource the products to be sold a regional meets as well with a percentage of the profits going to the host team, give away a new hoodie every year with registration.....on and on and on. Paul, this is why I say that. Raising the fees like this, would lose a lot of people. The kids only pay 65.00 for USA a year. Your fitness swimmer who might go to one meet a year is not going to pay 200.00 a year for this. I don't give a hoot about USMS insurance, because I am work insured. I am not elite, so would not want my fees supporting cash prizes at meets. I do not think I am alone in this. My observation is many elite swimmers have trouble understanding us humble little fitness folks. Just telling it like I see it. I do think the way to build it is to focus on the fitness community. Most adult swimmers do not compete, but they DO want to improve their swimming. They like organized work-outs because it adds interest to their work-out, therefore keeps them doing it. It allows them to meet and swim with like minded folks, and maybe at some point, when their life allows it, they may compete. These people will not even give USMS a glance if you start jacking up the fees. After all, they can find work-outs on the internet, meet with friends at the pool for a work-out, without paying that money. You will also totally drive out the college kids who don't swim in college. They cannot afford those prices. Therefore, you are driving away your feeding group. I know many college kids who would like to participate, but the cost is prohibiting them(the cost of swimming with an organized group, and the cost of going to meets, not the yearly cost of USMS). I think Go the Distance is a good plan, but from the looks of the results, I don't see a lot of folks from Illinois participating. At least not compared to the number of swimmers here. Not sure what to do about the struggle for lack of good coaching and pools at places. We are really hurting in Illinois, especially downstate, and this hurts Masters swimming.

And I agree with Dorothy about the inconvenience of traveling over 2 hours sometimes just to attend a meet. Pool facilities are very limited in some places...and work and family commitments are unavoidable for the majority of us. Definitely true. However, triathletes and marathoners spend loads of time training. I know lots of spouses who must accomodate the "long run" or "long bike" on weekends, etc. So these sports merit a time commitment, but swimming doesn't? Maybe it's just impossible to overcome apparent intrinsic dullness and the time/facility problem. I know nothing about marketing, so have nothing useful to offer. But "bringing back sexy" with something jazzy and different would seem like the only option. Maybe, "gatherings" or unconventional non-elite trinkets would help.

I don't give a hoot about USMS insurance, because I am work insured. Our team requires USMS membership for all swimmers I believe because the facility (Northwestern) requires outside groups like ours to be insured. The only practical way to guarantee that is to require membership (a lot easier than checking to see if lots of people have varying insurance policies up-to-date). Skip

There are too many good points being made for me to choose a side. Well said by dorothyde. With 40K+ athletes I'm not sure why we'd have to raise dues substantially to have cash meets. Plus, most meets are self funded and USMS could kick in minor money for some sweet prizes. I'm gonna pay to swim pretty much no matter what the cost, it's my hobby so I could really care less the price. However, if my dues are increased I better see real tangible benefits. Raising by $20 so I can save $3 on a pair of goggles isn't enough. I think USMS does a great job overall. Some minor tweaks could really help improve the organization. However, for those that don't want their dues paying for prizes, that's a fallacy. Every single meet you enter has some portion of the fees pay for the prizes, same for all sporting organizations and events, unless the give-a-ways are donated.

I think Go the Distance is a good plan, but from the looks of the results, I don't see a lot of folks from Illinois participating. At least not compared to the number of swimmers here. This is its first year, right? I think it takes time for people to learn about new opportunities. I didn't hear about it until April, and didn't hear about it at practice but via the forums. Skip

I see the top ten types can get top ten patches and high point awards or fastest man awards and medals. I got a patch for completing the postal series in 2005 and anticipate finishing it again this year. I have no idea where my previous patch is, nor would I put it on anything if I did. Patches (and other nominal trinkets) work for some people, not for others. Skip