The State of Master Swimming.

If the goal is to increase meet attendance and $$$ are an issue, how about two options for USMS membership: $20 for basic membership, $120 for the racing membership which includes all the meets you can get to. I'm making these numbers up as an example. A lower basic membership charge will lower the bar for the casual member. Pre-paid racing fees means that people are less likely to just not skip a meet because they've already paid for it. Or it could backfire. Full disclosure, I have no idea how much master's meets cost but my daughter's age group meets are ~$30 per meet. And she goes to 20-25 per year. I would love an all you can eat option on her meet fees. Maybe. But if we offer free membership and get an additional 50,000 members, how many of them will actually compete? My opinion: almost none of them, since $40 annually is apparently a deal-breaker.

If the goal is to increase meet attendance and $$$ are an issue, how about two options for USMS membership: $20 for basic membership, $120 for the racing membership which includes all the meets you can get to. I'm making these numbers up as an example. A lower basic membership charge will lower the bar for the casual member. Pre-paid racing fees means that people are less likely to just not skip a meet because they've already paid for it. Or it could backfire. Full disclosure, I have no idea how much master's meets cost but my daughter's age group meets are ~$30 per meet. And she goes to 20-25 per year. I would love an all you can eat option on her meet fees. Maybe. But if we offer free membership and get an additional 50,000 members, how many of them will actually compete? My opinion: almost none of them, since $40 annually is apparently a deal-breaker.