The State of Master Swimming.

Lots of people jog. Are they all members of the masters version of USATF (whatever that is)? No, but a heck of a lot of them (need to check the latest circ #s) subscribe to Runner's World Magazine because they are starving for information about running.

Swimming is a good sport but it isn't the answer for all, as chris pointed out. And I don't see how joining usms for free is the cure for any of the above. It isn't a "cure", but we could offer to do our little part to take a crack at it and help. Just think if more organizations did this type of thing. If USMS offered the 1st year free, and still charged dues from the 2nd year on, there is still incoming revenue. Right now clubs and coaches keep all incoming revenue from clinics and other events as they should. But with this idea, perhaps the USMS sanction fee increases or is a percentage of the event revenue. Already USMS is in the beginning stages of hosting national championships, open water events, and clinics. And selling sponsorships. Don't kid yourself by thinking there is no potential for revenue here outside of dues. If all else fails, Dara and Janet are swimming again. And the Olympics are only 2 years off, giving us loads of free advertising. Maybe we can hit 80,000 by then.

"THE LAP SWIMMERS - FREE USMS membership! We go after every adult possible. They get weekly swim newsletters on tips from coaches across the USA. Coaches and USMS experts should fall all over themselves to do this. This new data base would be 500k lap swimmers in half a year if marketed well. You ask me how: Go after USMS clubs to do the work (they benefit!!!) Groups and Associations: Every USA Tri FREE! Every USA-S alumni FREE! Every USA-S Parent FREE! Every former USMS FREE! Every Cyclist/Runner in their associations FREE! Every Parks & Rec person in the Nat association FREE (and they get literature to get it to their pools) Offer it to AARP FREE! College Coaches Assoc. and their Alumni FREE. USA High Schools coaches and their alumni FREE! City Colleges FREE! YMCA swimmers FREE! Jewish Community Centers (one former swimmer is CEO – now in NY). Give each and every Masters team and swimmers the means to market and spread the word that it is FREE!!! FREE workouts, tips and swimming news." What is USMS doing to reach out to these groups now and let them know about the benefits of USMS membership?

Maybe so Geek. But I think masters swimming can help the desperate state of a lot of our communities: Pools are closing Swim Programs are closing Swim Coaches don't have large enough programs to be a "full-time professional coach" Triathletes are racing unsafely Americans are out of shape and obese Depression is rampant Senior citizens are inactive slowing them down faster How many adults still need or would like to learn how to swim? Kids needs to see adults leading an active fit lifestyle as an example Add to the list... USMS can certainly do their part to spread the love. 1st year free. You have yet to make a business case for how making USMS membership free in any way changes any of the above items. How do you propose all your lofty goals in the absence of our most dominant revenue stream? How does cheapening your brand by giving it away go towards solving the alleged problems you mention?

You have yet to make a business case for how making USMS membership free in any way changes any of the above items. How do you propose all your lofty goals in the absence of our most dominant revenue stream? How does cheapening your brand by giving it away go towards solving the alleged problems you mention? My intention is not meant to be lofty or to say we will conquer all these problems. But to suggest that these are places we can draw new members from in the future if our clubs have not pulled from there yet. And true - nothing is free. A swimmer will still have to pay lap swim fees, club dues or clinic/event fees to swim. Bottom line, the marketing possibilities are huge by identifying individuals who want or need to swim. I remember Speedo coming to my publishing company 15+ years ago asking us, "How can we reach the lap swimmers?" I still say Masters Swim Coaches and their clubs are the answer.

My intention is not meant to be lofty or to say we will conquer all these problems. But to suggest that these are places we can draw new members from in the future if our clubs have not pulled from there yet. This is fine, in a vacuum. While you might, and that is not guaranteed, attract more people, what you have immediately done is imperil the organization financially. Revenue streams don't magically appear, they take effort and work. Effort and work requires money. You just gave away free membership so we have less money. How do you bridge the gap? You raise dues on everyone else. So, your real question is "do you mind if we give away free memberships and raise your dues to pay for it?" I don't like swimming alone either, boring.

No, but a heck of a lot of them (need to check the latest circ #s) subscribe to Runner's World Magazine because they are starving for information about running. No doubt. And they pay for the subscription, too.

Cut and pasted from the USMS Guide To Operations: Combined Meets With the consent of all (co-)hosting teams and the LSC and LMSC, a combined meet may be sanctioned by both USA Swimming and USMS and all swimmers competing according to USA Swimming rules. This mechanism allows the meet host(s) to seed the event as they normally would, based upon times, with USA Swimming and USMS members combined in heats without specific lanes allocated to one organization or the other. There are restrictions however. A divider must separate members of each organization. A lane line is sufficient to achieve the separation. This does preclude, for example, swimming two-to-a-lane with a member of each organization in the same lane. Warm-up and warm-down should be conducted in separate lanes. Relay teams must consist of members of the same organization. If only more meets were set up like this... i'd have zero problems trying to decide :) Are there any lists of these meets? I'd love to know which ones I could freely attend with my usas membership.

I still say free is good, especially for 1st year members. If everyone is free, according to your friend, where would USMS get money to run the association?

This is not correct. Our online system can be configured to offer discounts for designated age groups, such as 18-24 or 75+. It can only discount the LMSC portion of the fee, though (not the USMS portion). If your LMSC wants to implement this please contact me. Anna Lea We waive the LMSC fee and discount (ie, subsidize) the USMS fee for people under 25. As recently as last year we couldn't do it online. It doesn't cost the LMSC much, and our numbers in the 18-24 age group jumped. As of Oct 31, 9.6% of our membership is under 25, and I believe the national level for 2009 was 4.4%. I don't agree with Ahelee about the virtue of eliminating all fees, but I think a steep discount on the USMS fee for people under 25 (or even under 30) would pay for itself if it converts even a small fraction of these people into long-term members. And these are often the people who can least afford the fee, small as it is. (I tend to agree with Allen about perceived value, and so would prefer a discounted fee rather than eliminating it entirely for the younguns.)