Tuesday, February 8, 2022
Social Media is Changing the Face of Georgia Swimming LSC
Georgia Swimming Local Swimming Committee (LSC) is paving the way for all other LSCs and teams across the country with its innovative social media presence, revealing a new way to bring its athletes, coaches, officials and committees’ voices to the forefront.
Founded in the 1980s, Georgia Swimming LSC has been growing its 72-team memberships by leaps and bounds due to its massive reach through many social media platforms.
Business Manager John Pepper, and Social Media Manager Veronica Burchill, (both from Georgia Swimming LSC) have been working in partnership together for more than a year on growing their LSCs social media influence on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Spotify.
“This past year, we grew our social platforms by the hundreds, and expanded our outreach with new platforms such as a YouTube channel and a podcast, just to name a few of our biggest projects. Within these projects, we are interviewing people in our LSC with amazing stories and insight that we feel is important for not only our members to hear, but the swimming community as well,” Burchilll commented in their most recent newsletter.
At the beginning of the social media marketing, Georgia Swimming explained who they were and what they had to offer the swimming coterie. The LSC initially reached 10,000 individuals through Facebook and then they expanded the campaign to reach more people across the state.
The first project Georgia Swimming debuted that has made quite an impression was their ‘Thank You Thursday’ posts to take notice of members of their community who are making a difference. The posts appeared in a weekly newsletter and recognized individuals in their LSC, whether it was parents, coaches, other swimmers or officials. Then, ‘Thank you Thursday’ transitioned into a YouTube series that aired every two weeks. In November of last year, the program changed into a podcast which airs on Spotify and will soon be on the Apple Podcast App as well.
“We have big plans to continue creating these educational and informational conversations. We’ve talked to many incredible people and we think their stories are worth sharing. We’re excited about where the podcast is going,” Burchilll said.
Pepper mentioned that Georgia Swimming has interviewed many individuals that are considered trailblazers within their LSC or in the sport as a whole. Melissa Wilborn, head coach and owner of Dekalb Aquatics, was the first person the LSC conversed with.
“For being one of four female club owners and also being a woman of color in our LSC…we wanted to make sure that we recognized her for her efforts and everything she has accomplished,” Pepper said.
Burchill chimed in, stating that disability and para swimmer officials, Rayleen and Peter Soderstrom, had great stories to share because they have attended a few Olympics and Paralympics. She also spoke to Tommie Jackson, head coach City of Atlanta Dolphins and Georgia Swimming’s DEI Chair, saying he is a “legend within the sport.”
In addition, Georgia Swimming interviewed Harvey Humphries, head coach Athens Bulldogs Swim Club; Lucas Curroto Ferreira, head coach Gwinnett Aquatics; and Ian Murray, head coach Dynamo Swim Club, just to name a few.
“It’s important that we’re recognizing people that are prominent within our LSC but also people within the whole USA Swimming community,” Burchill said.
She stated that they have spoken to coaches, officials and athletes and are working on getting athletes with disabilities involved.
“We want to make sure that athletes with disabilities are also heard. We are currently working on a mini-series podcast. We are really excited because it will be very educational,” Burchill said.
She added, “We are going to be covering a wide range of topics, and we’re happy that we can use the platform to get some really awesome information out to people.”
Pepper indicated that Georgia Swimming is proud to be in the forefront with social media, and that they are continuously upping their game with various social media platforms to stay current with the changing times. For example, the LSC recently created several reels for Instagram to gain more followers and to maintain engagement.
“One of our biggest goals is to stay relevant and to increase the amount of swimmers that we can get involved in Georgia Swimming, and using social media as an outlet for that,” Burchill stated.
Pepper revealed that their LSC has doubled in membership since last season.
“We are doing social media marketing to help bring people—not just swimmers or families that know about swimming—but those who may have kids who need swim lessons. We try to direct them to our site to help them find a nearby team, or help them get their kids into the water,” Pepper stated.
The exciting trend with social media has been expanding throughout the state as well. Many teams within the Georgia Swimming LSC have increased their social media presence after watching what the LSC has been doing.
“We repost and share a lot of their photos and videos on our main Facebook page. Another thing we are really proud of are the college commits that we get that we get tagged in. We just love sharing those. We just really take pride in the kids and we’re excited that we can share their commitments,” Burchill commented.
She continued, “I personally receive nothing but good reactions from our social media. Not only with our podcast, but with more interactive things on our social like different polls, quizzes and that sort of thing.”
Burchill said they recently did a ‘Would You Rather?’ post on social media that asked the swimmers “Would you rather break your goggles right before a race or not have a cap?”
“It’s content that not only kids like to see, but parents even have a fun time with it too. It’s really awesome to see people want to get involved in what we are putting out there to the world,” she said.
Pepper mentioned that Georgia Swimming’s aim for the future (in addition to their current social media strategies) is to create news videos about upcoming meets, events, board meeting information and other important happenings.
“We want to help bridge the gap between the parents, the swimmers and these committees. We are here to serve the athletes. Without them, we wouldn’t be here,” Pepper said.
He added, “My honest goal is that I want to be able to see or hear from teams saying we are promoting so much that all of our teams have a waiting list of 100 people or more. Or to have teams that teach swim lessons reach out to us and say that they are getting so many people who want swim lessons that they no longer have enough instructors to cover the needs of the people who need lessons. This would be a good problem to have. And that’s where I would like to see things go.”
Burchill stated, “It’s more just about getting as many people involved. And if we keep growing by a certain percentages each year, then we’re in a good spot. It’s not going to be immediate, but as long as we’re making genuine connections, I think that’s the most important thing. Because if we are not actively trying to be there for the better of our sport, then why are we doing it?”
Facebook: Facebook.com/gaswim
Instagram: Instagram.com/ga_swimming
YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCr1TJUkanFDY1P25P24x1NQ/videos
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0DWea2KwHMBa9SpCHoxbvW?si=FiHpKDKCTYiqZYWcKcaZAw
Founded in the 1980s, Georgia Swimming LSC has been growing its 72-team memberships by leaps and bounds due to its massive reach through many social media platforms.
Business Manager John Pepper, and Social Media Manager Veronica Burchill, (both from Georgia Swimming LSC) have been working in partnership together for more than a year on growing their LSCs social media influence on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Spotify.
“This past year, we grew our social platforms by the hundreds, and expanded our outreach with new platforms such as a YouTube channel and a podcast, just to name a few of our biggest projects. Within these projects, we are interviewing people in our LSC with amazing stories and insight that we feel is important for not only our members to hear, but the swimming community as well,” Burchilll commented in their most recent newsletter.
At the beginning of the social media marketing, Georgia Swimming explained who they were and what they had to offer the swimming coterie. The LSC initially reached 10,000 individuals through Facebook and then they expanded the campaign to reach more people across the state.
The first project Georgia Swimming debuted that has made quite an impression was their ‘Thank You Thursday’ posts to take notice of members of their community who are making a difference. The posts appeared in a weekly newsletter and recognized individuals in their LSC, whether it was parents, coaches, other swimmers or officials. Then, ‘Thank you Thursday’ transitioned into a YouTube series that aired every two weeks. In November of last year, the program changed into a podcast which airs on Spotify and will soon be on the Apple Podcast App as well.
“We have big plans to continue creating these educational and informational conversations. We’ve talked to many incredible people and we think their stories are worth sharing. We’re excited about where the podcast is going,” Burchilll said.
Pepper mentioned that Georgia Swimming has interviewed many individuals that are considered trailblazers within their LSC or in the sport as a whole. Melissa Wilborn, head coach and owner of Dekalb Aquatics, was the first person the LSC conversed with.
“For being one of four female club owners and also being a woman of color in our LSC…we wanted to make sure that we recognized her for her efforts and everything she has accomplished,” Pepper said.
Burchill chimed in, stating that disability and para swimmer officials, Rayleen and Peter Soderstrom, had great stories to share because they have attended a few Olympics and Paralympics. She also spoke to Tommie Jackson, head coach City of Atlanta Dolphins and Georgia Swimming’s DEI Chair, saying he is a “legend within the sport.”
In addition, Georgia Swimming interviewed Harvey Humphries, head coach Athens Bulldogs Swim Club; Lucas Curroto Ferreira, head coach Gwinnett Aquatics; and Ian Murray, head coach Dynamo Swim Club, just to name a few.
“It’s important that we’re recognizing people that are prominent within our LSC but also people within the whole USA Swimming community,” Burchill said.
She stated that they have spoken to coaches, officials and athletes and are working on getting athletes with disabilities involved.
“We want to make sure that athletes with disabilities are also heard. We are currently working on a mini-series podcast. We are really excited because it will be very educational,” Burchill said.
She added, “We are going to be covering a wide range of topics, and we’re happy that we can use the platform to get some really awesome information out to people.”
Pepper indicated that Georgia Swimming is proud to be in the forefront with social media, and that they are continuously upping their game with various social media platforms to stay current with the changing times. For example, the LSC recently created several reels for Instagram to gain more followers and to maintain engagement.
“One of our biggest goals is to stay relevant and to increase the amount of swimmers that we can get involved in Georgia Swimming, and using social media as an outlet for that,” Burchill stated.
Pepper revealed that their LSC has doubled in membership since last season.
“We are doing social media marketing to help bring people—not just swimmers or families that know about swimming—but those who may have kids who need swim lessons. We try to direct them to our site to help them find a nearby team, or help them get their kids into the water,” Pepper stated.
The exciting trend with social media has been expanding throughout the state as well. Many teams within the Georgia Swimming LSC have increased their social media presence after watching what the LSC has been doing.
“We repost and share a lot of their photos and videos on our main Facebook page. Another thing we are really proud of are the college commits that we get that we get tagged in. We just love sharing those. We just really take pride in the kids and we’re excited that we can share their commitments,” Burchill commented.
She continued, “I personally receive nothing but good reactions from our social media. Not only with our podcast, but with more interactive things on our social like different polls, quizzes and that sort of thing.”
Burchill said they recently did a ‘Would You Rather?’ post on social media that asked the swimmers “Would you rather break your goggles right before a race or not have a cap?”
“It’s content that not only kids like to see, but parents even have a fun time with it too. It’s really awesome to see people want to get involved in what we are putting out there to the world,” she said.
Pepper mentioned that Georgia Swimming’s aim for the future (in addition to their current social media strategies) is to create news videos about upcoming meets, events, board meeting information and other important happenings.
“We want to help bridge the gap between the parents, the swimmers and these committees. We are here to serve the athletes. Without them, we wouldn’t be here,” Pepper said.
He added, “My honest goal is that I want to be able to see or hear from teams saying we are promoting so much that all of our teams have a waiting list of 100 people or more. Or to have teams that teach swim lessons reach out to us and say that they are getting so many people who want swim lessons that they no longer have enough instructors to cover the needs of the people who need lessons. This would be a good problem to have. And that’s where I would like to see things go.”
Burchill stated, “It’s more just about getting as many people involved. And if we keep growing by a certain percentages each year, then we’re in a good spot. It’s not going to be immediate, but as long as we’re making genuine connections, I think that’s the most important thing. Because if we are not actively trying to be there for the better of our sport, then why are we doing it?”
Facebook: Facebook.com/gaswim
Instagram: Instagram.com/ga_swimming
YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCr1TJUkanFDY1P25P24x1NQ/videos
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0DWea2KwHMBa9SpCHoxbvW?si=FiHpKDKCTYiqZYWcKcaZAw