Special Task Force Revisits Outreach Effort
USA Swimming understands the importance and significance of issues related to equal participation in the sport by all segments of American society. We are committed to providing opportunities for under-represented segments of the population to learn to swim and to participate in the sport.
To this end, a special task force was asked to review our outreach efforts, design a vision for the future, and develop a comprehensive plan to achieve that vision. Read more...
Outreach Manual
Several years ago, USA Swimming began to address the problem of the population of underrepresented and economically disadvantaged youth in the sport of swimming at all levels. The lack of underrepresented swimmers, especially at the elite levels, was distinctly noticeable... USA Swimming is producing this manual to respond to the interest expressed in starting Outreach club programs. This will be a dynamic document to be edited, expanded and rewritten as we learn, from your feedback, what works and what doesn’t. Read more...
Water Colors
A special Splash magazine excerpt from the January-February 2002 issue of Splash magazine
Combine swimming and diversity and two simple truths emerge: the sport isn't diverse, and there are no quick fixes.
 It was time to move on and Michael Norment knew it. The coach who had taught him how to swim, and the club that had nurtured him through the formative years of age-group swimming, didn't have the horsepower to boost him to the next level. Norment concluded as much when he mentioned an aggressive goal in the 100y breaststroke, only to have the coach temper his enthusiasm with a doubtful look.
Norment knew the split from his club wouldn't be easy. There would be doubts and possibly recriminations, as there had been for the hundreds of other talented swimmers over the years who had switched teams to jumpstart their careers. Norment's move, however, would be considerably more problematic. He was a rarity among competitive swimmers: fast and African-American. He had grown up in an all-black club in Long Island, N.Y. He didn't need a demographic study to tell him that the makeup of American swimming resembled a bowl of rice sprinkled with a few specks of pepper. At what other club would he feel comfortable? Read more...
Inner City Swimming: A Coach's Perspective
Almost every time I ride on an elevator someone will ask me “What team do you play for?” My reply has always been, “I am a swimmer.” Then, with a look of complete disbelief that person will ask, “My God why don’t you play basketball?” This is just one example of what happens when people assume that all young people with considerable height are basketball players. Everyday in the inner city, there is a kid who chooses basketball, football and baseball because it is the expected thing to do. 
What does it take for an inner city or minority youth to choose swimming over these other sports? Read more...
Swimmer Profiles
Mya Gabriel Davis was born June 20, 2001 in Los Angeles, Calif., with some incredible genes. The son of beach volleyball star Annett and 12-time NCAA All-American swimmer Byron Davis has the world at his tiny feet.
 Mya, also the first name of his talented father, means "quiet strength," which has been the biggest quality in the life of Byron Davis. Not only was he one of the nation's top swimmers who just missed making the 1996 Olympic team, but he remains a role model for thousands of young student-athletes across the country.
"If there's one word that I had to use to describe myself, I would have to say persistent,” Davis said. “Swimming has taught me that success is definitely a choice and failure is never, ever final if you use it as fertilizer for future success."
In 1996, the former American record-holder was three-tenths of a second shy of becoming the first African-American to make the Olympic team. Read more...
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