Paul Smith has started another thread which has migrated to what USMS might do to attract and keep more members. I thought, after trying unsuccessfully to find a thread on the subject, that I would hit the nail on the head.
There was a recent membership poll on the issues, which I participated in, but I thought it might not have emphasized strongly enough my own personal reasons:
I AM A MEMBER OF USMS SOLELY BECAUSE IT PROVIDES A MECHANISM FOR COMPETITION.
There are other 'benefits' that accrue from your USMS membership but most of them are of no interest to me. Insurance is one that is often mentioned, but in my experience, this is not such an important factor.
Excluding city and county recreation centers and private athletic clubs, here is a list of all the teams I have trained with and their membership requirements:
Laramie Masters Swim Club: trained at the high school; USMS membership required.
University of Wyoming Masters Swim Group: trained at the University; USMS membership not required.
Ford Aquatics: trained at the University of Arizona; USMS membership required.
Northern Arizona Masters: trained at Northern Arizona University; USMS membership not required.
Snow Mountain Masters: trained at Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA; USMS membership not required.
University of Denver Masters: trained at DU; USMS membership not required.
So, of the six teams I have trained with only two have required USMS membership. Most of my training is solo at clubs and recreation centers, so the insurance problem is not an issue.
Also, now that I'm over 50, there are other competition avenues open to me (read Senior Games...) so I could continue to compete even if there were no USMS (In fairness, here, I should stress that USMS has worked VERY HARD to bring these games up to their standards of competition. I went to some of the earlier versions of these that were just a joke. I believe that we seniors owe a great debt to Scott Rabalais and others for carrying this out.)
What's your reason?
Former Member
I joined Masters Swimming Ontario, Canada in order to be able to enter competitions. (Once a year, LCM in Ottawa in February).
I swim (more or less 3-5x/week) because I enjoy it.
I don't train. I don't drill. I don't count or measure
(except for that once a year 50 free LCM to see where I'm at. I know: dangling preposition, but .........)
I used to swim competitively some 45 years ago (almost National level ..... in Egypt) and restarted in 2001 (after my thirst stroke).
I joined USMS because, after discovering the site and lurking for a few days (I was at home with a fractured rib and time on my hands) I enjoyed the company, the people (most of them, with very few exceptions), the banter and the serious talk, the friendship, the occasional:duel:, the :smooch:, the :rofl:; in short the people and their spirits (spiritual and/or alcoholic. Hi, Peter).
I don't think I'll ever be able to afford the time or money to participate in a USMS sanctioned meet (unless I win the lottery pretty soon) but I feel that I belong (I was made to feel welcome, anyway, and I don't think it was a scam or a sting to get at my bank account.)
I know that if I do, there are many, many names, to whom I'd like to associate a face (or a figure :bolt:) and who, I'd like to believe, would be equally pleased to meet me.
I joined masters swimming for the competitions as well as the fact that my team relies on their insurance. The team was a big factor for me, as I enjoy the camaraderie. Also, I feel more motivated to swim harder in practice when I have to either lead a lane or keep up.
For $35/year (I think I heard that might be going up, but not by much) membership is well worth it. In addition to competitions and insurance benefits, we get a nice magazine which I enjoy reading and a very good LMSC web site for competitions, finding places to swim, etc. That's not to mention the national website and this very message board! Money well spent.
The logo is timeless and excellent.
I joined to compete. I remain a member to compete.
I compete, therefore I train, therefore I stay in decent shape, therefore I can eat ice cream/cake/peanut butter/pie/etc etc etc.
Oh, and I scored a husband out of it too.
Actually, even if you join USMS just for the competition, insurance is a very important factor. To take over a pool or beach facility for a competition, the people putting on the competition have to show the facility management that the event will have liability insurance. Sanctioning, whether through USMS or USS or USAT or whatever, provides the insurance without which the organized competition could not occur.
Your point is well taken: competition insurance is a valid part of my USMS fees even though I may not need that same insurance in order to train.
However, I have been involved with cross country ski clubs in different parts of the country and have helped to stage races in that sport. For these operations, there is insurance that is available to be purchased by the organizations just for the events. Then, the organization factors these costs into the entry fees to recover the extra expense.
I routinely participate in ski races of 600-1000 skiers and do not have to belong to any organization such as USSA. For example, the last two years National Ski Masters was held in Bend OR and the participant needed only pay the entry fees for the event. So, there are ways to do it although I grant that having a simple umbrella organization certainly makes it more transparent for the organizers of swim meets.
I joined USMS because they have 50s and the 100 IM.
It's great to see all the people say they joined to compete, but I crunched some numbers the other day, and I noticed that only 4 percent of the USMS population swam in Federal Way last May. So there are a whole lot of people who join because their team requires it and they need an organized place to swim.
I'd never join for that reason because it often takes a major battle of wills to get me to workout, and I wouldn't go to workout if there wasn't a goal to achieve in a future swim meet.
In fact, I've been on three teams since joining in 1999, and all three of them hold intrasquad meets. Very informal, kind of a way for people to see if they like competing without the stigma of doing it "in public." No one comes to these meets. In New Mexico, we had 75 people on the team. One year, we only had 10 people show up for the intrasquad.
That should give you an idea about the majority of masters. They just want to show up at 6 a.m. (or earlier), do their 60-minute workout, and go home. Good for them.
I compete, therefore I train, therefore I stay in decent shape, therefore I can eat ice cream/cake/peanut butter/pie/etc etc etc.
I think, therefore I am!
I drink, therefore I pee!
I pee, therefore the pool is warm!
I joined to be with my sister and dad. In 1999, my sister competed in LC Nats. After she told me about her meet I thought "I can do that" and got back into the pool for the first time in 10 years. I joined her (and dad's) team which was also my USMS membership, even though her team was 2 hours away. I moved to Oregon a few months later and the local team there required membership in order to swim. I love to compete, it keeps me going at 4:30am. Now I practice with a USS team, have dual memberships but I know that without my USMS membership, they wouldn't let me train with them and I couldn't compete in USMS meets. My life without meets to train for would be empty.
I also believe in the organization and am proud when I tell people that I'm a member of USMS.
Alison
