Is this the face of Masters Swimming?

Your fitness swimmer who might go to one meet a year is not going to pay 200.00 a year for this. Dorothy....thats my entire point....as USMS exists today there is no incentive to join or renew except for those who are forced to by teams or those who want to swim in a meet. Therefore I threw out an idea....IF there were TANGIBLE benefits to membership would you spend $200 a year (come on...its the cost of a fastkin!), or maybe its $100....or $50...BUT with this additional funding came MORE meets....more benefits...etc. etc. I would. So think this through...what do you want out of being a member and how much would you be willing to pay to support those things?

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 Yes, so somehow it needs to get around to people at practice. And other promotions as well. The Y has insurance of some sort for accidents that would happen at the pool. The Y team is actually no longer a USMS team because the members did not compete and saw no real reason to be member and pay the additional bucks. There is only 4 of us that do any competing. They DO want to know how to swim correctly, how to swim faster, even though they are fitness swimmers. They want to be coached, and learn. There is a strong desire for that even though they do not compete.

One more thing, and then I must get off before the internet police bust me. Training for running and biking tends to be easier, at least for me. I can start and end at my house. Especially in the summer, when it is light nice and early, I can be up, working out, and back in the house before anyone is even aware that I was gone(sniff, no one misses me). Swimming takes more effort because the pool is in another town. So I pair that up with work breaks, or after work. Just a bit more difficult, so I can see why running and biking are more attractive to train for(that and I love, love, love to bike).

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 Well, I'm patchless too. I'm too lazy to go about procuring them. I would never wear one either. It would go in the swim box. But I don't mind that the swim box exists, although it's clearly not why I compete. Some of the trinkets are just nice momentos that remind me of a fun meet or a good swim, and make me smile. But some people get pretty jazzed up about medals and so forth. It can be a positive affirmation for their effort. Just like any other reward system. Nothing wrong with that either. Geek is right. Medals for meets cost a lot of money.

It is my opinion if you either claim to be or want to be a serious adult swimmer you join USMS. If you want to be called a Masters swimmer you join USMS. Otherwise, you are just a collection of lap swimmers, which is fine but also indicates the level of devotion to the sport. Fire away, fruitcakes!

It is my opinion if you either claim to be or want to be a serious adult swimmer you join USMS. If you want to be called a Masters swimmer you join USMS. Otherwise, you are just a collection of lap swimmers, which is fine but also indicates the level of devotion to the sport. Fire away, fruitcakes! I agree, fruitcake!

You demi-gods that do to the National Championship (not just "Nats") all have real lives, families, and stories! You want sexy? USMS needs to tell the stories that are buried in these threads! Teen girls with self-esteem. 80+ years beating National records. 15 mile swims. Its all where, but USMS isn't capitalizing on what swimming as a Master is all about. Yes, half naked people sells photos, but human drama get's new members. I'm a newby so I see it from outside. Am I that far off? That's why I said earlier, let's focus on the comeback stories and start ups, and not necessarily just the super elite. A lot of amazing people have amazing paths that have led them to masters swimming and masters swimming success. I think the USMS mag focuses on some of these, like Margery Mayer, or the Islandsox 20 mile (and other) OW attempts. But since most of have real and complicated lives, it would also be nice to hear about the non-Dara Torres type battling the odds to overcome adversity, etc. For example, and this is just one of many, (S)he-Man (speedy though she is) battling eye problems, eye surgery, scoliosis, searching out cures, doing whatever she needs to stay in the pool and compete, even with kids. Or Coach Beth McGee battling shoulder problems and insomnia, raising children, helping elderly parents, and still, despite lack of a "team," landing in the top ten. Or Stud and Ensignada overcoming meet anxiety and debuting at zones. Many, many such examples. Kind of like the Olympiad series. As a masters, I like a dose of reality thrown in with all the racing and stats and rankings. Although watching the best is a always super thrilling too. We need to embrace both perhaps. I'm sure someone will take you up on your offer soon!

What if we started doing "newbie" clinics for swimmers new to meets? Get them used to the technology, the starts, etc. I know the meets I go to I see so many not following the whistle commands (first one is for the heat ahead to clear the pool, 2nd is to get on the block). I think having clinics for those wanting to start competing but are too afraid might bring some people back to USMS for a 2nd year. Since I never swam competitively I have no idea if I could do it. Besides there is no "pack" so if (when) I get lapped its all me in the lane. Why would I want to do that to myself. Most adults didn't like to be :blush:. My fears of what could go wrong range from falling backward off the blocks, to losing my suit diving in, to losing count of laps (I could go on but I think you get the idea). Plus the idea of wasting a weekend at a meet to swim 3 races for a total time of less than 10 minutes doesn't seem a good use of my limited time. As a newbie who has tried out a meet for size (and liked it), I think both Swimshark and Slowswim have good points. For newbies who swim alone, the idea of swimming in a meet can be daunting. Many new swimmers are under the impression that meets are for really fast people only. I was fortunate in that I had some guardian angels (Fort, SwimStud, AquaFeisty, SwimmieAvsFan, Muppet to name just a few) who encouraged me to try, to ignore how slow I was and just do it, and helped me navigate the meet itself (I almost went to the wrong end of the pool for a 50). Anyway, if more serious but non-competitive swimmers had a mentor or two like I do/did, more people might be willing to give it a whirl. There is no substitute for having a really accomplished swimmer making you feel welcome at a meet. I think it's also helpful for people who try out meets for the first time to report back here how it went. I know that listening to SwimStud's early meet experiences got me thinking as did Gerdick's pre-meet anxiety and post-meet happiness. I've talked with a couple of newbie's privately about giving it a whirl, under the rubric: if I can, anyone can.

Pool racing can certainly be intimidating to the novice swimmer, and with the shorter races they seem to get less of that sense of accomplishment. I believe that if we could get a LOT more open water swims available, we could grow significantly. You're probably right. But the sport of "swimming" is not just about distance and OW, IMHO. Why is longer necessarily better? Personally, I have a fine sense of accomplishment racing shorter distances, although I may be an oddity. I certainly feel like I train hard. And I've heard people on the forum saying that ompleting a 200 fly or 400 IM is an accomplishment. In the summer, where I live, there are more many more OW or distance swims than pool meets. True, the local bay swim is not conducive to novice swimmers, but the Reston Lake Swim is -- if they sign up on time. But if swimming is only in the OW, count me out, I'll go back to running. OW is hell on shoulders. And I like pools. I realize the great outdoors seems to be a greater attraction. But can't we have more meets AND more OW swims?

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. Dorothy, you have several great points in here. On my team, i'd say at most 25% of our membership has done more than one meet this year. Mostly fitness swimmers. But therein lies the problem. How to further include this large segment of our swimming community? My experience is that for the most part, there is no interest in comparing any sort of results - folks just want to get in and swim, and then be on their way. I think Go the Distance and the Postal swims/ check off challenge are great tools, but again, there are comparisons made for these. As for the college kids, I was paying ~$2 per swim to swim with my team while in college. Our program offered a student price, facility member price and regular joe price - all of which I will add are VERY reasonable. I never knew about masters until I signed up to swim with them. The UM Club team doesn't have a coach, and dues are $65 + any travel expenses. That gets you a free tshirt, suit, meet fees, and hotels if you travel to a meet. They get subsidized by the SGA, but its a deal. Perhaps Masters programs at universities can find a way to subsidize students' practice fees to encourage participation. MTSU has a club team, geared mostly to the college kids, that are USMS members, and have gone to Nationals. Clearly they see some value in USMS.