What Does USMS Need to do to grow to 100,000+ Members?

[Rob Butcher]

Please keep sharing your ideas! We are genuinely interested in hearing ideas on both membership retention as well as growth. Membership represents 75% of USMS annual revenue. Sponsorship has grown considerably the past two years and is now our 2nd biggest line item at around 15% of annual revenue.

With our additional financial resources, USMS is able to invest back into a variety of new services (examples: Go the Distance and Fitness Logs are now 100% online, enhancements to event rankings and Top 10, monthly addition of original content in STREAMLINES sent to members, and STREAMLINES for Coaches, improvements in SWIMMER magazine content, SwimFest coaches experience, Masters coaches certification, daily video highlight show from our Nationals, we provide product support to USMS pool and open water events, video profiles of USMS pool and Open Water events via our YouTube page, online marketing of our usms.org, USMS Facebook and USMS Twitter pages, free distribution of swim caps, polos, banners, bag tags, stickers, club visits, etc.

We are also working with Clay Daughtrey who is a USMS member and Chair of Marketing at Metropolitan State College of Denver. Clay and two of his professors are helping us develop and will administer surveys targeted at three specific groups:

a) the 40,000 members who have not renewed the last two years
b) the current active membership
c) Masters coaches

We want to know what is each groups perception of USMS, why they are members or why they did not renew, and what we can do better retain members. We need to be prepared that the survey feedback may challenge and perhaps require us to change the way we do business. Our goal is to administer the comprehensive surveys in the fall.

As always, you can send me your comments and suggestion; rob@usms.org

[Zulu]

Here's why I joined and maybe it would help get more: PARENTS EVENTS AT SWIMMEETS. Encourage teams/leagues to do this!!! Reach out to coaches to get parents involved then, spread the word about USMS

Also, many officials are ex-swimmers or at least involved parents. Get an ad in the USSWIM rulebooks that officials get and go over the benefits of USMS membership.




I started on teams at 4 years old and swam and played waterpolo through college. I was a breaststroker, but also got stuck in the IM pretty often.

I finally convinced my older daughter to join a Y team because we had run out of sport/activities that she wasn't either terrible at or disgusted with the politics. She amazingly really kicked booty. She started off as a backstroker because she hated putting her face in the water so I taught her that first, then breaststroke because her face was out of the water about half the time. By the end of her first season she won division championships in the 8-under 25 breast.

In her Summer season, we found out that one of the team's invitationals had a couple of parents' events. I was 20 years of no swimming and WAAAAYYY too out of shape to enter. I did a few things over the year to try to trim down, but I didn't really hit the pool seriously.

Another Y season came around and I became an official so I could get a better "seat" at meets...as well as help explain DQ rules to my kid. Summer started again and I remembered the invitational with the parent events. I was chicken to sign up for the individual event (50 free) but we put together a B relay.

We were pretty slow, but I managed to pull us up on the anchor leg out of last place to 3rd in our heat and 8th overall. My kids were cheering for me like nuts, and I got a ribbon and a t-shirt.

I decided I was going to do that again next year, and maybe enter the 50 free too. Then, parents on our team were talking about adding some parents events to our invitational, like other strokes, IM, and a Medley Relay...so I'd have a reason to work on breaststroke.

I was asked if I was interested in coaching when some of the coaches saw me working with my daughter on pull-outs and other things I learned from sitting in and paying attention at clinics my daugher has attended.

I thought I might like to do that. But, I'd like to have some more recent credentials and better grasp on new technique if I end up doing that.

So, I signed up USMS so I can enter meets, get some workout tips, and qualify for nationals next Summer.

But, it all started because one team had Parents races at an invitational.

[bzaks1424]

Here's why I joined and maybe it would help get more: PARENTS EVENTS AT SWIMMEETS. Encourage teams/leagues to do this!!! Reach out to coaches to get parents involved then, spread the word about USMS

While I'm not sure how well USA-S will react to this - I think this is truly a brilliant idea.

[Chris Stevenson]

While I'm not sure how well USA-S will react to this - I think this is truly a brilliant idea.

I remember 2-person parent-child relays at meets (AAU at the time) back when *I* was a child. I did a couple with my dad. They were a lot of fun and they would be a definite blast for kids, I think.

But in this age of liability concerns and all that, who knows?

[gdanner]

From a 29 year old male perspective...

I haven't taken off more than 3 months (straight) since I started year round at the age of 7. But, I didn't register for USMS until I was 25. Up until that point, attending USA-S meets was much more comfortable and competition is limited in the 18-24 bracket anyways.

The vast majority of USA-S swimmers are registered by their club and college teams each year with the costs built into their annual dues. If there was an optional dual membership form (perhaps with a reduced combined price), you could get club and college coaches to pass it along to their older swimmers. Good way to raise membership, but not necessarily heavy participation. Then again, the question wasn't about active members. If Top 10 times and LMSC/Zone/National records were recognized automatically at USA-S meets combined with that dual membership, I think it would interest people. Even if they don't compete at USMS events, the increased membership revenue will improve the organization and its members' benefits.

Another issue is legitimacy. I know several former college swimmers who rolled their eyes when I mentioned Masters swimming. They assumed it was just old people playing in the water. I had to set them straight on that one. However, that could be a regional problem or my sample size of friends is just too small. I agree that advertising alongside USA-S meets would be beneficial in this regard.

The number of available local meets could be a problem for some LMSCs. I know it is for mine (Niagara), especially in the summer. We haven't had a LCM meet in our LMSC in several years. I don't think many people want to burn money and/or vacation time to travel for an out of town meet unless it is a Zone Championship or Nationals. Maybe USMS can develop goals for each LMSC for a certain number of meets per year and try to work with the LMSC toward reaching them. Although I suspect there might not be enough USMS staff to support such a system.

Lastly, offer automatic recurring memberships. Set them up to hit a debit/credit card account. The less work people have to do, the better.

[Karl_S]

Here's why I joined and maybe it would help get more: PARENTS EVENTS AT SWIMMEETS. Encourage teams/leagues to do this!!! Reach out to coaches to get parents involved then, spread the word about USMS
...[stuff cut]...
So, I signed up USMS so I can enter meets, get some workout tips, and qualify for nationals next Summer.

But, it all started because one team had Parents races at an invitational.

I think Zulu is onto something here. This is very similar to my story and that of some other "swim parents" that I know. There is nothing like taking your 8&under to her/his first swim meet to make you realize how much you want to get in and race! In our summer league the oldest age group is "unlimited". Nominally that's 15 and over, but occasionally some parents swim. At one of the other team's home meets the pool manager races. We had two moms on our team this summer, both of whom are now expressing interest in USMS meets during the winter season. One team even managed to field an entire relay of dads. This is prime recruiting territory for USMS.

Of course USMS does not have direct influence over what happens in summer leagues, but there are some local swim meets that are nominally "Masters" meets but allow swimmers of all ages so parents and their kids can compete in the same meet. One such meet has a family "T-shirt" relay. Encouraging participation by the entire family in this way seems to me to be a good way to grow and sustain USMS membership.

Another idea is to offer a few non-traditional events at meets. I've seen quite a few posts where people have said that they would like to do a 75, or a 3-stroke IM, or a distance breaststroke event, or... These could be fun, but I think that there is also another appeal. For those of us who had a "former swimming life" we tend to remember our times and it can be discouraging to see how much age, (or a desk job, or too many beers, or whatever) has taken its toll. But no-one ever raced a 3-stroke IM before, (well not in recent memory) so no such comparison is possible. Of course such events would not be eligible for national records or TT, just for fun.

[Peter Cruise]

Perhaps combine these last two younger observations with a change of terminology. We could become "advanced" or "adult" or "mature" or ? swimming where "masters" does not suggest a particular golf tournament or "mastery" of swimming, yet implies a mature, sophisticated involvement with the sport. BTW I was serious suggesting that we should form a North American organization...

[jim thornton]

BTW I was serious suggesting that we should form a North American organization...

USMS becomes NAMS? (North American Masters Swimming).

Or MUSCMS? (Mexico United States Canada Masters Swimming).

Or, if Quebec secedes, MUSQCMS? (Mexico United States Quebec Canada Masters Swimming).

I don't know. I am no Glenn Beck, and I don't own a blackboard to do the charting, but it seems to me, Mr. Cruise, that your suggested change is taking us Americans from one era of conflict--North and South Vietnam, or NAMS--to another era of conflict--MUSQCMS--which is how Glenn's supporters often spell Muslim when they are inebriated and have their spell checkers turned off.

[bzaks1424]

I don't know. I am no Glenn Beck, and I don't own a blackboard to do the charting, but it seems to me, Mr. Cruise, that your suggested change is taking us Americans from one era of conflict--North and South Vietnam, or NAMS--to another era of conflict--MUSQCMS--which is how Glenn's supporters often spell Muslim when they are inebriated and have their spell checkers turned off.

Jim - please. Glenn Beck supporters don't drink. They are so inebriated with love for America that they find alcohol just ruins their buzz.

[jim thornton]

When I turned 50, and for the first time in my masters swimming career, started to make the occasional Top 10 time in various events, it had a highly motivating impact on my willingness to renew my USMS membership every year, this despite the fact that there are very few, if any, USMS meets in the Pittsburgh area (I end up having to drive to Colonies Zones or Indy.)

I think a lot of people are motivated by the chance to make the Top 10. It is, however, not the easiest thing to do, so I also think a lot of good but not great swimmers, especially in very difficult age groups, don't get this turbocharge of motivation on a regular basis.

A couple ideas:

* Keep the Top 10 but also add a larger category that can be made by more swimmers--a Top 25 perhaps? Not only would this give middling swimmers new goals, but people who regularly make the current Top 10 in certain events might be more likely to try "off" events that they normally avoid because there's no chance such swims will "count" in the record books.

* Consider, more or less just for fun, keeping Top Times by individual year. Lots of folks stop competing towards the end of an age group because a 64 year old is at such a competitive disadvantage (on average) against a 60 year old. But if there would be some easy way to sift the Event Rankings data by year, you could find, for instance, that even though you are 14th in your age group, you are the No. 1 64-year-old in a given event. Silly? Perhaps. But if it's not difficult to program, why not provide yet another little layer of motivation?

* Consider adding an "age grading" feature to different times, as well, and keep a list of the 25-50 Top Times in each individual event so that Rich Abrahams, for instance, can see wear he stacks up against Nathan Adrian. Chris Stevenson has posted a fun age grade calculator here: http://www.vaswim.org/cgi-bin/rcalc.cgi

* Finally, there is an excellent thread on masters motivational times here: [ame="http://forums.usms.org/showthread.php?t=15722"]http://forums.usms.org/showthread.php?t=15722[/ame]

It seems to me that if lists of folks (again, probably culled from the Events Rankings part of the competition site) who make various "cuts" were automatically added after meets are posted, it would (in my view) generate a lot more interest and goal setting in swimmers for whom the Current Top 10 alone are a nearly impossible goal.

Note: I am not a computer programmer, and I know it's easy to suggest things that seem like they'd be easy enough to do (write a few lines of code, stuff the numbers in, and await the delectable sausage!). The above may be impractical, and I don't intend for long suffering Jim Matysek to have to write all this stuff. But surely in our diverse membership there exists programming hobbyists who could create programs for all the above.

Just as it took the Go the Distance idea a while to come to fruition, and this is now one of the most popular features on the site, I think all of the above would also give USMS new ways to entice swimmers to join and maintain their membership.

[bzaks1424]

Note: I am not a computer programmer, and I know it's easy to suggest things that seem like they'd be easy enough to do (write a few lines of code, stuff the numbers in, and await the delectable sausage!). The above may be impractical, and I don't intend for long suffering Jim Matysek to have to write all this stuff. But surely in our diverse membership there exists programming hobbyists who could create programs for all the above.

Well Jim - the problem isn't that its just a couple of lines of code. Depending on architecture it could easily just be 10-15 lines, or it could be a total rewrite of certain pieces of code. However - when dealing with a publicly available website like this - you're bound by the restrictions of "what does the business want?". So basically - while these all appear to be stellar ideas to me - they have to be properly conveyed to the business as a means of "this should be legit and displayed to the general public."

[sjstuart]

I think any and all of these are excellent ideas.

Personally, I need quantifiable benchmarks to aim for to keep me in the pool. I know not everyone has this personality quirk, but surely some do. For odd ducks like us, the more of these benchmarks the better.

USMS does already publish not just a top 10, but also top 25, top 93, top whatever-you-want list in the individual event rankings. You don't get a fancy patch, or anything, but it's quite easy to check whether you made the top N.

[Chris Stevenson]

These are all good ideas. I'd add one more: having events like the UK's (age-adjusted) swim decathlon

http://www.swimming.org/britishswimm...n-competition/

or a "freestyle pentathlon" where people compete (across age barriers) based on points accumulated from five freestyle events, allowing sprinters and distance folk to slug it out.

Either one of these competitions can be placed out to 25, 50 or 100 places.

All of these ideas depend on near-100% submission of meet results to the Meet Results Database:

http://www.usms.org/comp/meets/

The DB is the basis of the "current event rankings" that sjstuart refers to. Unfortunately we aren't even close to that level of submission; the DB is very incomplete and the times (and swimmers) are not subject to the same level of scrutiny that occurs for top ten submissions.

That obstacles to having a complete MRDB are formidable, both on the IT side of things and on the volunteer side of things (sanction chairs, meet directors, top ten recorders). Just as a small example, consider that some meets do not even use meet management software, or at least not a program that is compatible with the USMS database.

A big project ("end-to-end management") is in the works to build up to all this, where from the sanctioning process on down every meet will be added to the DB, including results. It will take some time -- a few years -- but it will happen eventually. Then we will have "Top N times" and competitions like those I described will be much more manageable.

One good development (hopefully) is a commitment to increased resources for IT. Check out the latest board meeting minutes under "USMS IT Strategy."

https://www.usms.org/admin/minutes/bod-2010-7-10-1.pdf

[jim thornton]

One good development (hopefully) is a commitment to increased resources for IT. Check out the latest board meeting minutes under "USMS IT Strategy."

https://www.usms.org/admin/minutes/bod-2010-7-10-1.pdf

Paul Williams, PhD, of the Life Sciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory started the National Runners' Health Study in 1991, and the data that has subsequently been collected on over 120,000 runners during the past 20 years has been used in studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Archives of Internal Medicine, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, International Journal of Obesity, and the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

I continue to think that USMS is sitting on a treasure trove of data that would be tremendously useful to anyone studying the effect of regular exercise on human health. The burgeoning popularity of Go the Distance, where multiple participants actually write down their workouts on a daily basis (rather than trying to recall this from memory after the fact weeks or months later), seems to me an extremely detailed data set for mining. Factor in meet times for the same individual, often over the span of many years, and it just seems to this layman that the USMS archives hold tremendous potential.

I wonder if any of our members--David Costill or Joel Stager come to mind--might have grad students who are looking for projects? Maybe an NIH grant could help pay for some computer upgrades for USMS, provided the data can be used for scientific study purposes? I, for one, would be proud to contribute my own workout records and meet performances to such a study.

[bzaks1424]

I wonder if any of our members--David Costill or Joel Stager come to mind--might have grad students who are looking for projects? Maybe an NIH grant could help pay for some computer upgrades for USMS, provided the data can be used for scientific study purposes? I, for one, would be proud to contribute my own workout records and meet performances to such a study.

I completely second that. I write down 90% of my swimming workouts in detail as well. As a "young'n" on these boards - I would be more than happy to show off what I have for years and years to come.

[Kurt Dickson]

I'm OK with North American Masters as long as that does not mean automatic US citizenship and, of course, it does not violate any NAFTA provisions

If you want more members, go steal them from the sexier and way more popular triathlon. I used to be able to get a lane anytime I wanted until triathlon got so popular. Play to their competitive nature and the fact that triathlon is deadly hard on your body when you are old(er).

Put an ad in all the triathlete magazines...

"You've done hundreds of triathlons, including ironman. Your adrenals have just produced the last ounce of norepinephrine/cortisol that they can muster; your knees and back have forgotten what cartilage feels like except when it's impinging on your spinal cord, shooting knife-like pain down your legs, causing you to soil yourself. What are you going to do with that competitive spirit and the realization that one foot of your broken down carcass is already in the grave?....masters swimming of course." (Probably could combine this with an airbrushed picture of Jim Thornton with a menacing Mr. T look).

[jim thornton]

I'm OK with North American Masters as long as that does not mean automatic US citizenship and, of course, it does not violate any NAFTA provisions

If you want more members, go steal them from the sexier and way more popular triathlon. I used to be able to get a lane anytime I wanted until triathlon got so popular. Play to their competitive nature and the fact that triathlon is deadly hard on your body when you are old(er).

Put an ad in all the triathlete magazines...

"You've done hundreds of triathlons, including ironman. Your adrenals have just produced the last ounce of norepinephrine/cortisol that they can muster; your knees and back have forgotten what cartilage feels like except when it's impinging on your spinal cord, shooting knife-like pain down your legs, causing you to soil yourself. What are you going to do with that competitive spirit and the realization that one foot of your broken down carcass is already in the grave?....masters swimming of course." (Probably could combine this with an airbrushed picture of Jim Thornton with a menacing Mr. T look).

Kurt, I think this is a great idea in theory, though perhaps less great in practice.

When your average 30- or 40-something chiseled triathlete, with his or her clearly delineated 30-pack of abdominal muscles, mounts the blocks next to a monstrous tub o' goo in a man bear suit and the vapors of the boneyard pouring out of his wheezing lungs, and then that same tub 'o goo beats them badly, well it's enough to put them off swimming for good.

Which most of them do, in my experience.

Most of them do.

[Kurt Dickson]

It doesn't matter how or why you steal them from triathlon, but that is the crowd you could build from.

I've read ridiculous statistics like the average salary of Ironman triathletes is 100K. With that kind of bank, you don't have to steal them. They certainly could afford both USMS and USA tri licenses if you offered them things that they would be interested in like open water races (Currently there is a 5 race series here in Arizona and as far as I can tell, most are triathletes evidenced by rather pedestrian times).

[Peter Cruise]

You would have to promise not to make fun of their rather large bag o' toys...

[jim thornton]

You would have to promise not to make fun of their rather large bag o' toys...

Are you referring to the kangaroo pouch Amanda "Chicken of the Sea" sent me to carry my family jewels around in?