"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.
Former Member
Theory: Some probably try competing and don't like it. They prefer to just swim at their own pace and for fitness. Why would you join if you don't compete? Moving some material from this forum to a "members only" might help encourage those seeking workouts and info to stick with the org. Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free?
This is a wonderful idea...for a Brit. (Kidding, kidding :thhbbb:)
Stud's idea coupled with an online registration capability within the website could prove very useful. Consider how many visitors peruse this site everyday. The annual dues for USMS are a small price to pay for the wealth of swimming knowledge made available here (not to mention the entertainment and the poetry, USMS Swimmer Magazine, etc.).
Here's a concept...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.
Discounted health insurance for people living a healthy lifestyle is a novel idea.
Indeed it does, but what if people sign up just for the discount?
They would have to participate in a few meets per year as proof of membership as well as an indicator of general health? :D
Nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe swim a 100 free in a certain time limit.
School kids have a national standard in Phys.Ed. for example...for running the mile in less than a specific time (depending on age).
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?
Count me out if it goes this direction. My health insurance premium is paid for by my employer, I don't need a gym membership, and a free training suit is not likely to be one that I would care to own.
Same goes for Nationals. The only records I'll be breaking at Nationals are my own.
Maybe Smith could set up a booth at Nats and sign my swim cap to raise money for ED.
I'll buy him a months supply of Cialis if it'll cheer him up. :lmao:
Hmmm....I disagree with most of what Paul Smith posted. Join USMS to get discounts on swim suits? Or health insurance? Tangling USMS up with insurance, especially health insurance, is a bad idea. Car insurance is easier to deal with than health insurance. A health insurance company would want a physical before they'd agree to insure people our age.
I could be wrong here - but based on what I read here - and the Masters swimmers I know personally, paying more to get a discount on goggles just isn't a good formula.
Fewer members means fewer meets. In Central Texas there are already nearly zero Masters meets other than Zones.
Maybe there is a reason to offer a VIP membership, with a special gift package. I would not want a suit though unless it was one I liked. Suits are damned personal. Maybe a USMS swimming watch. Maybe the VIP membership gives you access to a swimming clinic series roadshow - taught by leading coaches or Olympians. The clinics could be the day before Nationals.
As for exclusive deals with big sponsors - that is worth evaluating. I have no idea how much the sponsorship is worth. But if Speedo wants all of the glory, they should pay more than the sum of Speedo, Tyr, and Nike. But if I were Speedo, I would want to know what I got in return.
I tend to think the low renewal rate reflects a lack of interest or dissatisfaction with competition. If there are no meets in the area - why join? I like the magazine but I join USMS because I can't race in a USMS meet without a membership.
