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Chlorine Chronicle (Archive)

Spring 1998 Membership Survey

Last spring, a survey was taken to get opinions from the club members about various issues regarding the swim club. After many hours of analysis by Des Beckstead, Rosemary Sheldon, and Gyula Gergely, here is their report on the survey results.

Survey Results - General

There were 91 respondents to the survey resulting in an overall response rate of about 52%:

• 39 from A group (60% response)
• 24 from B group (37% response)
• 28 from C group (64% response)

Clearly there are areas where the club is providing excellent service to our members, and the Executive wants to ensure that these areas of excellence continue. For example, our coaching staff meets or exceeds swimmer's expectations in many areas, as evidenced by both the numerical scores on the questions, as well as the comments. Many members attend regularly, indicating that the scheduled times are accessible and the program is meeting their needs. About two-thirds of respondents indicated that they would appreciate more social activities and one-third indicated that they would volunteer to be on a social committee. The survey form was very comprehensive but somewhat complicated to complete.

Demographics

Of the 91 survey respondents, 49% were between the ages of 30 and 44. More respondents were women than men (57% to 43%). Almost all of the respondents classified themselves as members with regular attendance. Years of membership for the club averaged out to 3.4; the value varied considerably across the groups: 4.6 for A, 3.2 for B and 1.7 for C.

Meets (Fun or Competitive)

The current format of one external meet was supported by a majority of the respondents. There was fairly strong support for having internal meets, with suggested frequencies ranging from one to four per year. Respondents also indicated that this activity would also meet some of their needs for social activities, and to meet other club members from other groups.

Social Activities

There was a high level of response requesting more social activities (68%), as well as twenty two respondents indicating that they were willing to volunteer for a social committee

Attendance/Schedule

There were no major issues raised on these topics, but there was some concern on the following:

1. the crossover privileges for the Saturday and Sunday swims including the availability of coaches for the crossover swims. It should be noted, that when members exercise the crossover privileges, they accept that their regular coach will not be on deck, and the workout will be set by the regular coach in accordance with that group's overall program.
2. For both B and C groups, the majority of respondents preferring to retain the normal swim times. The results from A group were mixed, with approximately half preferring to keep to the regular schedule, while the other half preferred to swim one half or one hour earlier. The time of the Thursday swim is probably the issue, so this will be investigated further before any further action is taken.
3. The regular schedules are usually adjusted for the Christmas / New Year's holidays and when the Nepean Parks and Recreation swim classes are not operating. Some felt that such announcements were inadequately communicated to the membership. As a result, an extra effort will be taken to communicate these changes - not only verbal poolside announcements and notices on the bulletin board, but also recordings on the club phone line and written on the coaches' swim set boards.

Goals

The top-rated personal goals were (1) fitness, (2) recreation and (3) improve stroke. They were also the top three in terms of importance.

The results of the personal goals questions indicate that many respondents were meeting their goals. A large portion (85%) took the initiative in achieving their goals, and discussed their goals with the coaches (72%). There were a lot of positive comments about the coaching and how this has helped respondents achieve their goals. One issue was that coaches did not always volunteer as much feedback as respondents desired, but when respondents requested more feedback, they were fairly satisfied with the results. The coaching staff should be encouraged to offer more feedback, and members should be encouraged to ask for more feedback if they are not receiving as much feedback as they would like.

The top-rated means to achieving ones goals were (1) ongoing feedback from the coaches, (2) effectiveness of the coaches feedback and (3) the content of the workouts. Once again, these were the top three in terms of importance.

Coaches - Training, Skills and Experience

Overall, the responses on the coaching were very positive, and this is clearly one of the strengths of the club.