By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam
USA Swimming membership has been unpredictable the last few years, with a massive rise in membership in 2022 followed by a significant decline in 2023. USA Swimming released their demographic data for 2024 today, and membership stayed very stable, adding 493 members for a 0.13% increase of their numbers to 376,320.
This is not the first time the organization has not seen a significant increase or decrease. From 2009-2010, they added just 85 members for a 0.0% increase.
USA Swimming is still struggling to regain the numbers they lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019 they had 411,672 members before a massive drop in 2020 and 2021 as a result of public pools and club teams closing their doors.
The organization is expecting a significant increase in next year’s numbers due to the post-Olympic surge, typically a 4-12% increase.
USA Swimming’s Total Membership Since 2013 (% Change)
- 2024: 376,320 (+0.13%)
- 2023: 375,827 (-4.61%)
- 2022: 393,970 (+18.9%)
- 2021: 331,228 (-8.8%)
- 2020: 363,093 (-11.8%)
- 2019: 411,672 (+0.1%)
- 2018: 411,324 (-1.9%)
- 2017: 419,427 (+5.2%)
- 2016: 398,585 (-0.4%)
- 2015: 400,165 (-1.1%)
- 2014: 404,423 (-0.1%)
- 2013: 404,940 (+11.5%)
One of the statistics we focused on last year was the member retention rate. In 2023, the rate was the lowest on record dating back to 2019 at 68.9%. This year, that number dropped to 66.9%. 16-year-old girls had the highest retention rate of all the tracked ages and genders with 72.1% renewing their memberships for this year.
Other Key Figures:
- Club Membership: In 2024, USA Swimming added 63 club teams, totaling 2,740 teams to increase from the 2,677 clubs in 2023
- Minority Percentages: Asian swimmers make up the largest non-white percentage of athletes at 12.5%.
- Age Distribution: There were more than 41,000 8 and Under swimmers with memberships last year.
- Zone Distribution: The Western Zone was the Biggest Zone, comprising 25.6% of the athletes. The Southern Zone had 24.9%, and the Eastern and Central Zones both had 24.7%.
- LSC Size: Illinois was the largest LSC with 15,711 total athletes. Pacific was the next largest with 14,368
Read the full story on SwimSwam: USA Swimming Membership Stays Stable In 2024, Predicting Post-Olympic Growth for 2025