December 11, 2012: U.S. Masters Swimming, owner of the most comprehensive website for adult swimming, introduces a redesign of usms.org. The website was originally introduced in 1996 and has undergone several revisions since, the most recent in 2005. In the past year, more than 2.4 million users visited the website.
The new website includes an enhanced navigation system allowing visitors to find almost any piece of content they are seeking within one click, promotes the “encouraging adults to swim” purpose of USMS with a “Let’s Get Started” link from the home page, will feature original content with accompanying images and video, and promotes USMS Swimming Saves Lives Foundation with online giving.
“A few years ago, we created a new USMS brand identity that showcases Masters swimming’s expanded interests of fitness swimming, triathletes, open water, and of course competitive swimming,” says USMS Executive Director Rob Butcher. “We also launched the monthly member STREAMLINES e-newsletters with timely content and migrated production of SWIMMER magazine inhouse so we could create relevant content for Masters swimmers. A redesign of usms.org was a natural step in the evolution. Our new website continues USMS’s significant commitment to providing professionally produced, visually appealing, quality information to anyone interested in Masters swimming: beginning swimmers, triathletes, competitive swimmers, facilities desiring to offer an adult swimming programs, coaches wanting to improve their Masters program, and programs wishing to offer adult learn to swim programs with support of Swimming Saves Lives Foundation.”
The site has more than 5,000 pages of content, including an events results database with more than two million individual swim results. The redesigned usms.org was produced and is maintained by the USMS National Office.
About U.S. Masters Swimming
U.S. Masters Swimming, founded in 1970, is a membership-operated national governing body that promotes health, wellness, fitness and competition for adults through swimming. It does so by partnering with more than 1,500 adult swim programs across the country; promoting information via the bimonthly member magazine, SWIMMER, monthly e-newsletters, STREAMLINES, and website, usms.org; and by sanctioning and promoting pool, open water and virtual events and competitions. More than 55,000 adults are registered members of U.S. Masters Swimming.
Well Done redesign!!!!!!!
Congrats on the redesign. Maybe it’s not the prettiest and doesn’t follow any modern web design standards (yup, viewed the source code), but at least it’s a big upgrade from what it was before.
U.S. Masters Swimming website redesign is a classic scenario. Please read “The Business Side of Redesign” from The Smashing Book #3 “Redesign The Web” and you will know what I’m talking about.
Again, congrats. It’s better that it used to be.