Thursday, November 18, 2021
National Diversity Select Camp Attendees Share Takeaways From Experience
Last month, USA Swimming held its National Diversity Select Camp in Chula Vista, California. The National Diversity Select Camp provided 56 athletes from diverse backgrounds and under-represented populations with the opportunity to participate in a one-of-a-kind swimming experience. In the three-day camp, campers participated in pool training, motivational and educational sessions, as well as team-building activities. 2020 Tokyo Olympic alumni of the program include Simone Manuel, Jay Litherland, Torri Huske and Natalie Hinds.
This camp hosts swimmers between the ages of 14 and 16 and selection is based on times swum at USA Swimming-sanctioned events. Each athlete was selected for the camp was provided with lodging, meals, ground transportation to/from the designated airport and full airfare.
On the final day of camp, USA Swimming gathered the following attendees to ask them a series of questions:
Here were some of their responses:
What was your favorite part of this year’s National Diversity Select Camp?
T. Brilmyer: “My favorite part is not only meeting everyone and learning all of their different backgrounds, but being able to spend time training with them and just having a different perspective than what I get from training with my teammates at home.”
M. Brown: “My favorite part was definitely being able to talk to Leland (Brown, USA Swimming’s Program Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). His speeches and the way he carries himself was really motivational and he brings off a positive energy no matter what situation he is in.”
H. Dona: “My favorite part of the camp was seeing people from different backgrounds who have different experiences, yet having similar attributes and wanting to drive towards the same thing together.”
M. Khadembashi: “The best part of the camp, for me as a coach, has been not only learning from the athletes because of their different backgrounds, but learning from the coaching staff from across the country. The way that they think, the way they apply different techniques and different coaching methods and seeing kids grow over the four days here.”
What was your biggest takeaway from the camp?
A. Reyna: “My biggest takeaway is that you’ll never stop learning. You could think that you reach a point where you’ll never go past it, but going to this camp has opened my eyes to new strategies and that there are always different things to learn.”
C. Murray: “Even though sometimes you can feel isolated, you are never alone. There are people who look like you, who share the same interests and can relate to you in a sympathetic way.”
M. Chokureva: “My biggest takeaway is that you can always get better. There are always people you can look to [to help] get better – whether that be someone who is a different race than you or somebody who is older than you or somebody who has been in the position that you are in. There is always someone who can help you through whatever you are going through.”
S. Singhal: “My biggest takeaway is that it is important to thrive off other people and use their support and energy to help build yourself up. Then, in turn, you give that energy and support back and build other people up.”
How can you apply what you learned at National Diversity Select Camp to your everyday swimming?
K. Blackmon: “Obviously use it [the experience] as motivation, but also meeting people at meets that you just race and you don’t know – you can still talk to them. Usually I’m the type of person to keep to myself at meets, but knowing how to make new friends in just four days is the biggest takeaway.”
J. Heinlein: “I can go home and put myself out there. I’m pretty quiet at swim meets, I usually stick to myself and don’t talk, but I can teach my team to talk to each other more because we usually just sit at practice and just swim.”
M. Khadembashi: “The biggest way this is going to impact me as a coach and how it can impact me in the future is that, 1) you can always learn from colleagues or athletes or others who aren’t even involved in the sport of swimming; 2) there is so much to be learned, and 3) there are a lot of people who you don’t know how much you have touched their lives and that they are hungry to learn and to be guided.”
For more Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programming, visit https://www.usaswimming.org/resource-center/diversity-equity-inclusion.
This camp hosts swimmers between the ages of 14 and 16 and selection is based on times swum at USA Swimming-sanctioned events. Each athlete was selected for the camp was provided with lodging, meals, ground transportation to/from the designated airport and full airfare.
On the final day of camp, USA Swimming gathered the following attendees to ask them a series of questions:
- Tera Brilmyer (Athlete, Firestone Akron Swim Team)
- Kaitlyn Blakmon (Athlete, Wave Aquatics)
- Matthias Brown (Athlete, Prime Aquatics)
- Michaela Chokureva (Athlete, Phoenix Swimming)
- Hanani Dona (Athlete, SwimMAC Carolina)
- Jaden Heinlein (Athlete, Reach Aquatics Swim Club)
- Mohammad Khadembashi (Coach, Team Santa Monica)
- Camille Murray (Athlete, Metroplex Aquatics)
- Alexa Reyna (Athlete, Badger Swim Club)
- Shivansh Singhal (Athlete, Sandpipers of Nevada)
Here were some of their responses:
What was your favorite part of this year’s National Diversity Select Camp?
T. Brilmyer: “My favorite part is not only meeting everyone and learning all of their different backgrounds, but being able to spend time training with them and just having a different perspective than what I get from training with my teammates at home.”
M. Brown: “My favorite part was definitely being able to talk to Leland (Brown, USA Swimming’s Program Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). His speeches and the way he carries himself was really motivational and he brings off a positive energy no matter what situation he is in.”
H. Dona: “My favorite part of the camp was seeing people from different backgrounds who have different experiences, yet having similar attributes and wanting to drive towards the same thing together.”
M. Khadembashi: “The best part of the camp, for me as a coach, has been not only learning from the athletes because of their different backgrounds, but learning from the coaching staff from across the country. The way that they think, the way they apply different techniques and different coaching methods and seeing kids grow over the four days here.”
What was your biggest takeaway from the camp?
A. Reyna: “My biggest takeaway is that you’ll never stop learning. You could think that you reach a point where you’ll never go past it, but going to this camp has opened my eyes to new strategies and that there are always different things to learn.”
C. Murray: “Even though sometimes you can feel isolated, you are never alone. There are people who look like you, who share the same interests and can relate to you in a sympathetic way.”
M. Chokureva: “My biggest takeaway is that you can always get better. There are always people you can look to [to help] get better – whether that be someone who is a different race than you or somebody who is older than you or somebody who has been in the position that you are in. There is always someone who can help you through whatever you are going through.”
S. Singhal: “My biggest takeaway is that it is important to thrive off other people and use their support and energy to help build yourself up. Then, in turn, you give that energy and support back and build other people up.”
How can you apply what you learned at National Diversity Select Camp to your everyday swimming?
K. Blackmon: “Obviously use it [the experience] as motivation, but also meeting people at meets that you just race and you don’t know – you can still talk to them. Usually I’m the type of person to keep to myself at meets, but knowing how to make new friends in just four days is the biggest takeaway.”
J. Heinlein: “I can go home and put myself out there. I’m pretty quiet at swim meets, I usually stick to myself and don’t talk, but I can teach my team to talk to each other more because we usually just sit at practice and just swim.”
M. Khadembashi: “The biggest way this is going to impact me as a coach and how it can impact me in the future is that, 1) you can always learn from colleagues or athletes or others who aren’t even involved in the sport of swimming; 2) there is so much to be learned, and 3) there are a lot of people who you don’t know how much you have touched their lives and that they are hungry to learn and to be guided.”
For more Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programming, visit https://www.usaswimming.org/resource-center/diversity-equity-inclusion.