USA Swimming Announces Strategic Recovery Plan with $1 Million in Grants

Photo Courtesy: Connor Trimble

USA Swimming on Tuesday announced a strategic recovery plan to extend resources, both logistical and financial, to clubs struggling during the COVID-19 crisis.

The initial pledge from USA Swimming is a minimum of $1 million in grants, funded by the USA Swimming Foundation, to support clubs and members in precarious financial positions among the local swimming committees (LSCs). Grant applications, which go directly through USA Swimming’s COVID-19 Relief Program for Teams, will progress in two phases.

The first phase covers “immediate need to clubs in current financial peril,” while the second phase aims to help clubs reopen once the pandemic lifts, aimed at occurring later this year.

Relief grants will be as much as $5,000 with an expected average amount of $3,000. They are designed to replace lost anticipated revenue from cancellations this summer and offset operating expenses that clubs cannot defer even without swimmers/events.

USA Swimming released these details in a letter to its members Tuesday, thanking the collaborative effort between directors at USA Swimming, the USA Swimming Foundation and input from members of the swimming community. From the letter:

“The strong strategic partnership built between the USA Swimming Foundation, USA Swimming and its 59 LSCs is the catalyst for the success of this program.

“USA Swimming will look to LSCs to support its commitment to the sport of swimming by creating local grant funding for their local member clubs. Our collective goal is to generate more than $5M in funding across our 59 LSCs and provide grants to those clubs that successfully apply and are approved based on need.”

The USA Swimming Strategic Recovery Plan will also extend other “products, services and benefits” to its clubs and members, from coaching resources to online engagements (webinars, Zoom meetings, etc.). Programs that USA Swimming specifically cites include:

Providing all uninsured coaches access to USA Swimming’s “EAP” (Employee Assistance Program) to support mental health needs and requests
Providing access to Zoom to any club or LSC that currently does not have access to this video communication tool for a minimum of 90 days
Providing access to USA Swimming’s 401K provider OneAmerica (based in Indianapolis, IN) for private financial health counseling sessions over the phone
Providing referrals to outside legal counsel that can offer guidance to LSCs and clubs, as needed
Providing governance support from Charney & Associates
Providing access to our athlete Ambassadors and National Team athletes for individual club virtual “drop-ins” to talk to clubs and athletes
Creating and delivering a marketing toolkit to all clubs in anticipation of heading “back to the pool”
Providing strategy sessions for clubs to plan for resuming operation

USA Swimming and its foundation have also suffered losses as part of the coronavirus shutdown, and part of the USA Swimming Strategic Recovery Plan is an appeal to its Annual Fund Campaign, which helps provide funds for maintaining the national team as well as other responsibilities as a national governing body. USA Swimming is doing that by working with its corporate partners and “work[ing] to find creative solutions to continue these critical relationships.”

The organization has also sought to reduce non-essential expenses at its office in Colorado Springs, and the letter cites Swim-a-Thon in the fall as a significant and national campaign to raise funds to help clubs. To that end, USA Swimming is deferring its 5 percent share of funds raised from Swim-a-Thons in 2020 and 2021 back to participating clubs.

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Jenny Johnson

3 years ago

Lisel Johnson