To help swim lesson providers nationwide offer lessons to children who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford them, the USA Swimming Foundation has awarded more than $400,000 through its 2016 Make a Splash grant program. Since 2007 the Foundation has given more than $4 million dollars to help fund learn-to-swim programs across the country.
Through Make a Splash funding last year, more than 23,000 children were served through grants provided to 72 Make a Splash Local Partners across 26 states. Over the last nine years, more than four million children have received formalized swim instruction through Make a Splash local partners.
“Swim lessons reduce the risk of drowning by 88 percent,” says Debbie Hesse, Executive Director of the USA Swimming Foundation. “We are proud to work with our Make a Splash Local Partners who support us in saving lives through drowning prevention daily and by providing opportunities for children nationwide to enroll in swim lessons.”
The USA Swimming Foundation awards annual grants through a competitive application and review process. In 2016, the Foundation awarded $403,383 to help fund learn-to-swim programs across the country. There are approximately 800 Make a Splash Local Partners who promote water safety education in their communities and provide scholarships for children to participate in their swim lesson programs.
The 2016 Year-end USA Swimming Foundation Make a Splash Grant Recipients are:
- Amphibious Achievement (Boston, MA)
- Santa Clara Swim Club (Santa Clara, CA)
- The KROC Center (Phoenix, AZ)
- Friends of Rockbridge Swimming, Inc. (Lexington, VA)
- Woodland Hills Aquatic Team (Pittsburgh, PA)
- Alexander Family YMCA (Raleigh, NC)
- Just For Kicks Swimming (New York, NY)
- Daviess County YMCA (Washington, IN)
- Johnston YMCA (Charlotte, NC)
- Easter Seals South Florida (Miami, FL)
- IU Natatorium (Bloomington, IN)
- America Rows and Swims Newburgh (Newburgh, NY)
Amphibious Achievement, an athletic and academic mentor program in the Boston area, is one of the programs awarded a Make a Splash Grant. Mentors and ‘achievers’ in the program cultivate life skills and character through swimming and rowing in order to expand future educational opportunities. This free program is staffed by volunteers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology undergraduate programs and continues to make a difference in the lives of Boston Public High School students. Amphibious Achievement has served 69 Boston high school students in the past calendar year, working with them over the course of 20 4.5-hour athletic and academic sessions.
For more information on Make a Splash Local Partner Grant Opportunities, visit: http://goo.gl/TX3qj8
Press release courtesy of USA Swimming.