what percentage of active swimmers are members of USMS?

I like the idea of widening the top 10. I know that probably won't ever happen, but if you do a swim that is the 20th best time in the nation for that year, that's something that should be recognized. The only thing is, where do you stop? If you're going to do top 25, why not top 40? Top 50? Top 10 is a pretty standard number, and it's used by FINA, so it will probably stay that way. No it won't, according to my understanding. Jim Matysek would know much more, but I think with the new end-to-end-event-management (E2EEM) system we will track swimmers down to greater depth. I don't think it is all that far off, either. Again, Jim M will have a much better handle on this than I. When it is completely rolled out and when past meets have been put into the system -- that just magically happens, too! With no effort at all! (sarcastic) -- USMS members who compete regularly will be pleasantly surprised at the amount of information at their fingertips. I just saw Fort's post: with respect to the "current event rankings" (what used to be called "current top times"), those are not necessarily inclusive or verified. One goal of Jim's E2EEM system is to tie Top 10 to the current rankings. Paul and Doug, I agree with you both that USMS can be doing much more. I just think that it can be hard to see how much it has done already. I think it is probably fair to say that it is one of the best masters swimming organizations in the world, and perhaps the best. By the way, Paul: I think forum polls are nice and all, but I disagree with you that those who vote on them are a very good representation of USMS membership as a whole. That's just a guess, I'll admit, but if I'm right then the results of such polls are of limited value in terms of policy/proposal feedback.

I like the idea of widening the top 10. I know that probably won't ever happen, but if you do a swim that is the 20th best time in the nation for that year, that's something that should be recognized. The only thing is, where do you stop? If you're going to do top 25, why not top 40? Top 50? Top 10 is a pretty standard number, and it's used by FINA, so it will probably stay that way. No it won't, according to my understanding. Jim Matysek would know much more, but I think with the new end-to-end-event-management (E2EEM) system we will track swimmers down to greater depth. I don't think it is all that far off, either. Again, Jim M will have a much better handle on this than I. When it is completely rolled out and when past meets have been put into the system -- that just magically happens, too! With no effort at all! (sarcastic) -- USMS members who compete regularly will be pleasantly surprised at the amount of information at their fingertips. I just saw Fort's post: with respect to the "current event rankings" (what used to be called "current top times"), those are not necessarily inclusive or verified. One goal of Jim's E2EEM system is to tie Top 10 to the current rankings. Paul and Doug, I agree with you both that USMS can be doing much more. I just think that it can be hard to see how much it has done already. I think it is probably fair to say that it is one of the best masters swimming organizations in the world, and perhaps the best. By the way, Paul: I think forum polls are nice and all, but I disagree with you that those who vote on them are a very good representation of USMS membership as a whole. That's just a guess, I'll admit, but if I'm right then the results of such polls are of limited value in terms of policy/proposal feedback.