In 2020 and 2021, USA Swimming did not require teams to submit a 5% donation in effort to help teams affected by COVID-19. The five percent donation is used for USA Swimming club development and success programs.
Since 2012, Swim-A-Thons have raised $2.7 million for the USA Swimming Foundation through the required 5% donation.
Starting February 1, all Swim-A-Thon resources will be completely digital.
Swim-A-Thons are a way for USA Swimming Clubs to fundraise. Athletes raise money by swimming lengths of a pool. Swimmers ask family, friends, and businesses to pledge money per length, or to make a flat donation to their team. Participants are eligible to earn prizes from the USA Swimming Foundation.
This year’s prizes include a bag tag for swimming at least 100 lengths, a rally towel for raising at least $400, a stainless steel water bottle for raising at least $600, a silicone swim cap for raising at least $800, and a towel for raising more than $1,200.
Teams are automatically entered in a contest to win prize packages, with the grand prize being a visit from an Olympian.
$400 rally towel
$600 water bottle
$800 swim cap
$1,200 towel
Money taken by USA Swimming = Priceless
No thanks, money should go back to the club.
95% would, but yeah, with the recent shakeup and questionable hires a little more transparency as to where that 5% is specifically being used would be nice to know. Especially when we are being told it’s going to club development programs… an area where we haven’t seen any improvement in the last 4 years.
The money that kids raise for their clubs should stay with them. It might help a swimmer pay for their monthly dues to the club.
Maybe. But doesn’t redistributing a very small percentage of the money from clubs in richer areas to clubs in poorer areas make sense for the health of the sport?
Haven’t we spent years talking about Make a Splash and getting more access to the sport?
How do you expect that to happen without money?
Call it swim-a-palooza and don’t give USA swimming any money. They don’t deserve a dime of club fundraising money
Maybe I’m misunderstanding things, but I think this idea of claiming ownership of a word is ludicrous. There are dance-a-thons, bike-a-thons, sing-a-thons. Or maybe I should register the word “corporate merger” and demand 5% of all resulting profits?
Also, if USA Swimming wants to fully commit to their idea, then I hope that they in turn are giving a cut of their funds to the city of Marathon, Greece, who by any measure can claim ownership to half of the term.