"Dara Torres should be the face of United States Masters Swimming"
Brent Rutemiller, October issue Swimming World Magazine
"Of Course, Torres isn't on this trip alone. Aside from the support of Hoffman, her daughter and her coaches, Torres relies on a team. She has a nanny who tends to Tessa, a strength coach, and physical and massage therapists who work her like a piece of dough."
John Lohn, October Swimming World Magazine
With all due respect to Mr. Rutemillier & Mr. Lohn I would suggest that they spend a little more time around the people who not only compete in the meets of our sport but with the people who are the backbone as volunteers in the day to day running of it....Dara's only contribution has been making a few workouts early in her comeback, attending a couple of meets and signing autographs and collecting checks for clinics.
If you want a "face" of Masters Swimming look to Susan Von der Lippe who beat Dara as the first person over 40 to qualify for Trials....and she did it training with a masters team 3x a week...working par time, no nanny, no trainers....no PR person....that to me this is the core of what we are in my opinion.
How about Rob Copeland who somehow manages to run this entire organization, swim extremely well, post on our forum....all without a massage therapist and pilates instructor....again this is what Masters represents...to me.
Dara has done something remarkable for anyone her age... give her credit..but lets see if at some point she wants to time at one of our meets...or be on one of our committee's to help promote masters...without an appearance fee.
Our membership has increased every year for quite a while. We hit 43,000 for the first time in 2006 and our projection for 2007 exceeds that.
Heck...that's the membership of Walnut Creek by itself! :)
So 43,000 if the all time high....even if we got 1 out of every 100 lap swimmers in the country we would probably have 500,000 members....but why join?
Swimstud....I did propose a two tiered system:
1) Annual dues of $200 would get ALL members access to a host of benefits that I proposed.
2) For the elite/competitive swimmers that wants to go to nationals charge $150 and pool the money. I don't care if it just goes to record setters...do something/anything however to be different and more exciting.
And by the way....members drop off for a lot of reasons but one of them is they hace "served their sentance" after signing on for one of the nationals that was held in their region that particular season....again why stay on if your not going to compete?
I think a big part is a shift away from formal masters program.
Perhaps. From the female/mommy point of view, the times of most formal masters programs just don't suit. I can't go in the early morning. I can't seem to go most weekday evenings either. I'm not alone on this score. So USMS is likely losing some mommies.
What about more lunchtime practices? I see loads of people, both men and women, working out at my gym around the lunch hour.
What about more lunchtime practices? I see loads of people, both men and women, working out at my gym around the lunch hour.
Fort you need to move to my team in Oregon.
M-F 5:15-6:45am
M-F 11:30-12:30
M-F 12:30-1:30 (can also be a 2 hour workout)
M-Th 7-8pm
S mornings (can't remember the times)
I think for a lot of teams, the coaches have regular jobs so coached practices aren't easy for them to do.
Alison
Perhaps. From the female/mommy point of view, the times of most formal masters programs just don't suit.
Our team is about 60% female and all but 2 or 3 out of 25 or so are mothers, most working mothers as well. The lunch program and after-work programs at other pools (not our team) also have many mothers, working and stay at home.
We also have many husband/wife duos who trade off alternating practices to take care of kids. Many USMS teams go out of their way to accommodate working men and women.
Our team is about 60% female and all but 2 or 3 out of 25 or so are mothers, most working mothers as well. The lunch program and post work program at other pools (not our team) also have many mothers, working and stay at home.
It works for some, I guess, but not others. There are many women, like me, who simply cannot make an early morning practice such as yours or are too busy in the evenings with kid stuff. I'm glad that's not your issue or your team's, but it is mine. You make it sound much more simple than it is. It's a logistical nightmare. Not saying it can't be done, just saying it's not all easey peasey-convenient.
I don't know of formal masters groups with lunchtime programs in Northern Virginia.
I think we might be missing the forest for the trees. Sure, it might appear that USMS is declining but take a look at swimming as a whole. I think that overall it is declining because it is such a 'niche' sport and is not that glamorous compared to other more 'mainstream' sports. I do not think this is just a USMS issue but is instead an issue that faces the ENTIRE swimming community.
In my area, Montgomery County, MD, I see evidence of the slow, steady decline of swimming. Where I grew up and swam 30+ years ago, there were 5 very large summer age group teams where now there is 1 large and 2 medium programs. There are many issues that contributed to that but first and foremost is that swimming is a sport that requires more commitment than any other sport.
It is good that we are coming into an Olympic year as this helps to great a ground swell of interest in swimming. I just hope that the swimming community can capture interest and build on it.
Paul
What about more lunchtime practices? I see loads of people, both men and women, working out at my gym around the lunch hour.
Come swith with Germ. We have M-W-F practices from 1-2pm.
Paul
The big question is, why do so many people leave USMS? Do you Forumites have any theories?
No, but it seems like it would be fairly simple to shoot out a simple survey to folks who don't renew.
Skip Montanaro
I agree there is no need for USMS to get into the health insurance gig. That's an expensive quagmire and most folks get health coverage through their jobs or courtesy of the government. Even if USMS did have some sort of group policy, those are terrifically expensive anyway. I really like the discount idea on goods and services.
I also like the elite level membership option, even if I would win squat. Maybe I would win the raffle for a free TV.
At my own peril, why not bundle a USMS membership option with USAT or another masters athletic organization? Say, you could get a USMS and USAT membership for $20 less than the two sold separately (sounds like a Wal-Mart gimick).
