Courtesy: USA Swimming
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Swimming, the national governing body for swimming in the United States, and its fundraising arm, the USA Swimming Foundation, announced the newest Community Impact Grant recipients on July 19. The organizations will award an additional 11 programs $5,000 grants in 2023 to provide aquatics programming, support diverse coaches and create competitive opportunities.
In 2020, USA Swimming and the USA Swimming Foundation introduced the Community Impact Grant program with the goal of increasing competitive opportunities for member clubs. Selected clubs and programs receive $5,000 grants, eligible for renewal annually for up to three years. To date, the program has provided $225,000 to member clubs across 20 Local Swimming Committees (LSCs) throughout the country.
“We are proud to partner with our clubs to expand opportunities and improve access to our sport,” USA Swimming Managing Director of Sport Development Joel Shinofield said. “Recipients were selected by a panel of USA Swimming staff members and focused on factors such as long-term impact and community engagement. With the opportunity to award a total of $335,000 by the end of the calendar year, USA Swimming and the USA Swimming Foundation will have direct impact in supporting our clubs as they create programs in communities we historically haven’t been able to reach.”
The grants focus on three areas of support:
- Creating partnerships between USA Swimming teams and a facility or recreational organization
that doesn’t currently have a team. - Supporting USA Swimming teams led by women and/or diverse individuals.
- Partnering USA Swimming teams with Historically Black Colleges and Universities to create
competitive programs for youth in campus pools.
The following programs were added to the 2023 grant recipient list:
- Atlantis Aquatics (Rochester, N.H.)
- City of South Fulton Swordfish Swim Team (Riverdale, Ga.)
- Johnnie Means Aquatics (Humble, Texas)
- Lake Wales Blue Marlins (Lake Wales, Florida)
- Lakewood Aquatics (Long Beach, Calif.)
- NOVA of Virginia Aquatics, Inc. (Richmond, Va.)
- SOLO Aquatics (Haverhill, Mass.)•Rocket Swimming (Titusville, Florida)
- Team Eugene Aquatics-YMCA (Eugene, Ore.)
- Greater Cleveland Striped Marlins (Cleveland Heights, Ohio)
- Wilmington Aquatic Club (New Castle, Del.)
For more information on Community Impact Grants, please visit here.