On Wednesday, March 17, the USMS Discussion Forums will be shut down in preparation for our move to a new platform with updated functionality and features. This new platform, which will be rebranded USMS Community, will be launched on March 30.
Community will include discussion groups, forums, and threads in a modern environment that we hope more USMS members will use to connect with fellow swimmers. We will slowly roll out additional changes so we can gather feedback and make strategic adjustments. Community will also allow for more robust profile details, recognition of achievements through badges, and management of some membership information.
Forums and forum threads from the current USMS Discussion Forums will be transitioned into Community. Usernames will be included for all posts from USMS members who originally linked their forums account to their USMS membership record, including those who arenâ€t currently members. However, users who were never USMS members will lose the link to their posts; all of those posts will be from a generic username. Some forums that havenâ€t been active for a while will be archived.
After reviewing the Discussion Forums posts, weâ€ll be enhancing the forum structure to make it easier to follow certain topics and more clearly define areas. Community will also be a membership benefit, so only USMS members will be able to contribute.
Some of the Community functionality will be similar. But like with any new software, adjusting to the interface can take some time. Blogs, images, documents, post links, emojis, and formatting, as well as profile information, wonâ€t be transitioned to the new platform.
As a part of the Community upgrade, we have also enhanced a few other areas to make My USMS-Community integration, site navigation, and membership self-service easier. We will send out more information and FAQs in the coming weeks. The important dates to note are:
- March 17: USMS Discussion Forums will be shut down
- March 30: USMS Community will tentatively be soft launched
- April 5: USMS Community will be publicly launched and announced
We want to thank you for your patience and canâ€t wait to connect, learn, and share with you in our new USMS Community.
Your Friends at U.S. Masters Swimming
Where is the damn Canadian Swimming Forum?Skuj, I relocated to Canada at the start of 2019 after my whole life in 'murica. The Canadian Masters swimming scene, while robust (pre-COVID), seems fractured.
For instance, here in Ontario, there's this "turf war" (or maybe, more accurately, "lane war") between:
the legacy, independent organization Masters Swimming Ontario (ms.mastersswimmingontario.ca/default.php)
and the Swimming Canada group Swim Masters Ontario (www.swimontario.com/page.php.
At the national level, I cannot tell who really runs the show, as there appears to be
Independent national organization #1 - www.mastersswimmingcanada.ca/.../
Independent national organization #2 - canadianmastersswimmers.ca/
Swimming Canada's Masters organization - www.swimming.ca/.../
Apparently, these divisions get quite heated. If you're a Monty Python fan, think back to the People's Front of Judea bit in the Life of Brian and you'll get the picture.
I've taken the path of joining any and all organizations that host a pool meet or open water event. I've tried to understand the history and the slights, slings and arrows between these various efforts, but I can't wrap my head around it. So, I'm just trying to join in, swim and make as many swimming friends in my new country as possible.
But, across all of these different entities, I cannot find anything like USMS Forums. I would suggest to you that the money spent on an annual USMS membership is money well spent, particularly if you plan to ever travel to the US. Beyond the meets and the forums, the single greatest benefit of being part of USMS is rolling into a town and dropping in with a team. While many of the teams will let "foreigners" in, I've never had a team turn me away as a USMS member and the majority of my time, I get a free workout and meet some new people. This virtual community is great, but if you're ever going to cross the border to travel, you'll get to build a real community in real life.
Where is the damn Canadian Swimming Forum?Skuj, I relocated to Canada at the start of 2019 after my whole life in 'murica. The Canadian Masters swimming scene, while robust (pre-COVID), seems fractured.
For instance, here in Ontario, there's this "turf war" (or maybe, more accurately, "lane war") between:
the legacy, independent organization Masters Swimming Ontario (ms.mastersswimmingontario.ca/default.php)
and the Swimming Canada group Swim Masters Ontario (www.swimontario.com/page.php.
At the national level, I cannot tell who really runs the show, as there appears to be
Independent national organization #1 - www.mastersswimmingcanada.ca/.../
Independent national organization #2 - canadianmastersswimmers.ca/
Swimming Canada's Masters organization - www.swimming.ca/.../
Apparently, these divisions get quite heated. If you're a Monty Python fan, think back to the People's Front of Judea bit in the Life of Brian and you'll get the picture.
I've taken the path of joining any and all organizations that host a pool meet or open water event. I've tried to understand the history and the slights, slings and arrows between these various efforts, but I can't wrap my head around it. So, I'm just trying to join in, swim and make as many swimming friends in my new country as possible.
But, across all of these different entities, I cannot find anything like USMS Forums. I would suggest to you that the money spent on an annual USMS membership is money well spent, particularly if you plan to ever travel to the US. Beyond the meets and the forums, the single greatest benefit of being part of USMS is rolling into a town and dropping in with a team. While many of the teams will let "foreigners" in, I've never had a team turn me away as a USMS member and the majority of my time, I get a free workout and meet some new people. This virtual community is great, but if you're ever going to cross the border to travel, you'll get to build a real community in real life.