COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Olympic gold medalists Nathan Adrian (Bremerton, Wash.), Cullen Jones (Irvington, N.J.), Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.) and Jason Lezak (Irvine, Calif.) have joined the USA Swimming Foundation as Ambassadors, promoting the organization’s mission to “Save Lives & Build Champions in the pool and in life.”
The USA Swimming Foundation’s Make a Splash initiative is the nation’s pre-eminent learn to swim initiative, with more than 725 local partners nationwide that provide swimming lessons and educate children and their families on the importance of learning how to swim. Since 2007, more than 3.3 million children have learned the critical life-saving skill of swim lessons from Make a Splash providers.
Through Building Champions, the USA Swimming Foundation supports National Team athletes and coaches by providing subsidies that are crucial to their pursuit of athletic and personal success. This support helps to keep USA Swimming’s National Team at the top of the medal stand, a position it has held for more than 50 years.
“These incredible champions all have personal connections to the USA Swimming Foundation’s mission and are perfect role models for us to help increase our impact,” said Debbie Hesse, Executive Director of the USA Swimming Foundation. “Cullen, Nathan, Jessica and Jason are some of our sport’s biggest stars, and will share their compelling stories to elevate our influence through fundraising and imparting the importance of life-saving swim lessons.”
Jones, who learned to swim after nearly drowning at age five, will again spearhead the Foundation’s Make a Splash Tourpresented by Phillips 66. The four-time Olympic medalist has been an outspoken proponent of swim lessons, particularly in his African-American population where 70 percent of children do not know how to swim.
Adrian started swimming at age five after his parents felt strongly about their children learning water safety. This is his second straight year as a Foundation Ambassador. He won gold in the 100-meter freestyle in at the 2012 London Olympic Games and is a four-time Olympic medalist.
Hardy nearly drowned as a three-year-old in a backyard pool and will share her story as an example of why swim lessons are essential for children. Overcoming a near-death situation, she has gone on to win two Olympic medals and become a world record holder.
An eight-time Olympic medalist and four-time Olympian, Lezak joins the Foundation as an Ambassador after representing the organization at events in the past. His gold-medal-clinching anchor leg in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay at the 2008 Olympics remains of the most talked about performances in swimming history.
For more information about the USA Swimming Foundation, visit: www.usaswimmingfoundation.org.
Sobering Drowning Statistics
- Approximately 10 people drown every day in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with nearly 25 percent children younger than 14
- 70 percent of African-American and 60 percent of Hispanic/Latino children cannot swim, according to a national research study by the USA Swimming Foundation and the University of Memphis
- Only 13 percent of kids who come from a non-swimming household will ever learn to swim, the USA Swimming Foundation found
- African-American children drown at a rate nearly three times higher than their Caucasian peers, the CDC reports
- Drowning is a silent killer—most young children who drowned in pools were last seen in the home, had been out of sight less than five minutes, and were in the care of one or both parents at the time, according to the Present P. Child Drowning study
About the USA Swimming Foundation
The USA Swimming Foundation serves as the philanthropic arm of USA Swimming. Established in 2004, the Foundation works to strengthen the sport by saving lives and building champions— in the pool and in life. Whether we’re equipping our children with the life-saving skill of learn-to-swim through our Make a Splash initiative, or providing financial support to our heroes on the U.S. National Team, the USA Swimming Foundation aims to provide the wonderful experience of swimming to kids at all levels across the country. To learn more, visit www.usaswimmingfoundation.org.
About Make a Splash
The USA Swimming Foundation’s Make a Splash initiative is a national child-focused water safety campaign, which aims to provide the opportunity for every child in America to learn to swim. Through Make a Splash, the USA Swimming Foundation partners with learn-to-swim providers and water safety advocates across the country to provide swimming lessons and educate children and their families on the importance of learning how to swim. The USA Swimming Foundation has invested millions of dollars to provide grants to qualified Local Partner learn-to-swim programs, to spread national awareness, and to bring together strategic partners to end drowning. To date, more than 3 million children have received the lifesaving gift of swim lessons through the USA Swimming Foundation Make a Splash Local Partner network, comprised of more than 700 qualified lesson providers across the nation. To learn more, visit www.makeasplash.org.
Swimming news courtesy of USA Swimming Foundation.