NEW HAVEN, Conn.–The Yale men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams partnered with alumni from the Yale Swimming and Diving Association to host Swim New Haven as part of the Yale Day of Service on Saturday. Team members and alumni gave free lessons on swimming and water safety to New Haven area children.
The Yale Swim New Haven program was started by women’s team alumna Annie Killian ’11 and aims to provide free swim lessons to underprivileged children so that they can be water-safe for the summer months. Drowning is a leading cause of death among children in lower income and minority families; Yale Swim New Haven aims to reduce that risk for local children by capitalizing on the expertise and generosity of the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams.
“Yale, particularly Yale Athletics and Yale Swimming, has given all of the volunteers in this Day of Service event so much,” said Matthew Meade ’87, alum of the men’s team and current President of the Yale Swimming and Diving Association. “It is our hope that by giving back to the New Haven community and sharing our love of the water with New Haven children we will make swimming a fun and safe experience for all of the participants!”
This year’s event was held in conjunction with the Yale Day of Service. For more information about the Yale Day of Service, click here.
The event was supported by the USA Swimming Foundation. The Foundation seeks to raise funds to support programs that promote water safety to reduce the incidence of drowning among children in the United States. For more information about the USA Swimming Foundation, click here.
For more photographs from the event, click here.
Swimming news courtesy of Yale Swimming & Diving.