USA Swimming Foundation Announces USA Deaf Swimming as an Affiliate Coalition Partner

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, August 7. THE USA Swimming Foundation has named USA Deaf Swimming as a member of their Affiliate Coalition. This partnership was forged in an effort to increase drowning prevention nationwide.

“The USA Swimming Foundation is pleased to partner with USA Deaf Swimming to promote the Make a Splash initiative. We are thrilled with the opportunity to reach out to Deaf children and believe that USA Deaf Swimming is the premier organization to do so,” said USA Swimming Foundation Executive Director Debbie Hesse. “By working together to promote water safety and learn to swim, we expand the reach of our message into more communities across the nation, educating families and positively impacting kids by providing additional opportunities to learn to swim. This partnership also provides our respective organizations the opportunity to develop and promote joint educational events, combining our resources in the interest of greater national awareness of the importance of learning to swim, while supporting the expansion of our sport.”

The USA Swimming Foundation’s Affiliate Coalition is comprised of businesses and organizations who share the common goal of promoting the importance of learn-to-swim and water safety to children across America

All USADS Team USA swimmers are USADS Ambassadors and its network of athletes will work with USAS and USSF to help develop and promote USSF and other USA and USADS water safety and learn to swim events of common interest around the nation.

“USA Deaf Swimming is thrilled to join forces with the USA Swimming Foundation in support of swimming for all athletes. This landmark agreement melds together resources and efforts from both organizations in support of water safety and the sport of swimming” stated Ben Hobbins, partnership lead, USADS Foundation Director and Head Coach.

As an Affiliate partner USA Deaf Swimming will promote the USA Swimming Foundation’s message of water safety and learn-to-swim to the public and Deaf communities across the country in an effort to provide the opportunity for every child to learn to swim.

USADS conducted their first Make-A-Splash event for USSF in Rochester NY January 18 2014 at the Deaf International Short Course Championships as part of the event. The event was a large success with USADS’s Team USA teaching water safety and learn-to-swim to over 800 kids and families. USADS was also a partner in the Phillips 66 Make-A-Splash Tour this summer.

Sobering Drowning Statistics

Approximately 10 people drown every day in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and more than one in five fatal drowning victims are children younger than 14. Drowning is also 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.

Furthermore, 60-70 percent of African-American and Hispanic/Latino children cannot swim, and only 13 percent of kids who come from a non-swimming household will ever learn to swim, according to a national research study by the USA Swimming Foundation and the University of Memphis. African-American children drown at a rate nearly three times higher than their Caucasian peers, the CDC reports.

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 the USA Swimming Foundation’s Make a Splash Initiative

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 2 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 600 qualified lesson providers across the nation. To learn more, visitwww.usaswimmingfoundation.org/makeasplash.

About USA Deaf Swimming

The mission of USA Deaf Swimming is to support and develop Deaf athleticism through swimming and associated activities across the United States at local, state, national and international levels. To learn more, visitwww.usdeafsports.org/swimming. USA Deaf Swimming can also be followed on Twitter and Facebook at @ USADeafSwimming.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com.

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