Wednesday, December 7, 2022
Opening the Floodgates in a “Swim Desert”
Photo courtesy of Jeremy Fewell
Many teams and programs have experienced the frustrations of a swim desert. It is the concept of trying to expand a swim program in an area where not much interest in swimming has been developed. So how do programs open the floodgates so that they can be successful, while at the same time offering lifesaving skills for many that need it?
USA Swimming spoke with SURGE Head Coach Jeremy Fewell about the difficulty of starting a new swim program in a “dry” area. The Indiana coach shared his thoughts on the topic, explaining how he has expanded his program in a rural community filled with people containing very little knowledge about the swimming world.
“A lot of times these swim deserts happen because if the one person that liked to use the pool in these small rural communities, if they didn’t grow up and develop an opportunity to swim or have that, then that passion doesn’t reenergize and continue on. If we build this, then maybe in future years all the kids that have an experience here will come back, and say ‘Yah, I was a part of that and it was awesome’ and they’ll keep it going.”
The “swim desert” phrase was coined by Jay Chambers, Senior Advisor of Team Services at USA Swimming and a veteran Ohio and Indiana coach for more than 40 years. When Fewell approached Chambers about starting a swim program in a small rural town in Indiana he responded with, “In those swim deserts, we usually have to beg people to go and start programs in those areas.”
Yet, Fewell was motivated to stir up the desire for a swim program in several Indiana small towns because he knew there was a need for it. He said that just 10 or 15 years ago, they were going to close down the rural pools in those communities.
“The reason many pools in rural areas are getting closed down is because it is expensive and it’s not efficient, and they don’t look at extrinsic benefits of we’re teaching kids to swim and saving lives,” he said.
Fewell initially started the SURGE swim program in March of this year in Hagerstown, Indiana, with the goal of providing opportunities for families in the area to learn life saving skills as well as opening the door for a sport many did not know existed. He partnered with the Lion’s Club, which was instrumental in helping him get the program off the ground. Soon after, Fewell expanded SURGE to Charlottesville in September with the same purpose in mind, and has already enrolled 70 kids in swim lessons along with 25 kids on the competitive team.
The SURGE swim programs in Charlottesville utilize the pool located at Eastern Hancock K-12 school, where Fewell also works as a special education teacher. However, SURGE allows swimmers from surrounding schools and communities to join the program, not limiting the need for children wanting to learn how to swim or to progress their swimming abilities.
Fewell stated that the desire for swimming has definitely grown in recent months. He recently spoke to a parent who informed him, “My son quit basketball to join the swim team,” which in Indiana is unheard of, he said jokingly. Fewell explained how big of an influence basketball has in their state and referenced the movie Hoosiers, a film based in Indiana about a coach developing a winning high school basketball team. But for a child to give up a sport so popular to participate in swimming is a pretty big deal, he said.
He added, “My goal is to see the growth of the program and the connection with the community.”
“Putting programming in a pool is saving lives by teaching people to swim,” Fewell said. “You are providing an avenue or opportunity in a sport that maybe kids didn’t think about in those areas. And it’s one of those things if you have programming in set, it provides an opportunity for the kids both in that school and in the surrounding communities that don’t have pools to do those things.”
He continued, “I believe water safety skills are paramount. We want to teach kids to be safe in and around the water. We want them to know at the youngest level if they fall in that they can roll over and get back to the wall. We want to make sure that they understand to never swim alone. The water is not safe at any point in time. Teaching a child to swim has the greatest possibility of saving their life from drowning.”
Fewell said that developing swimming programs in a swim desert is definitely possible, but that there has to be people passionate enough about the importance of swimming involved in order for the programs to succeed.
“I’m happy to give up my time,” he said. “Because when we leave here, as much as it’s just swim lessons, we’re saving lives, right?”
For Fewell, it’s also the happiness he sees in his swimmers when they first learn a new skill that makes him want to continue swim instruction day after day.
“A kid learning to swim the length of the pool, and the joy you see in their faces, the joy you see in their parents’ faces, the joy that they have in order to be able to do that, you can’t put a price on that.”
Many teams and programs have experienced the frustrations of a swim desert. It is the concept of trying to expand a swim program in an area where not much interest in swimming has been developed. So how do programs open the floodgates so that they can be successful, while at the same time offering lifesaving skills for many that need it?
USA Swimming spoke with SURGE Head Coach Jeremy Fewell about the difficulty of starting a new swim program in a “dry” area. The Indiana coach shared his thoughts on the topic, explaining how he has expanded his program in a rural community filled with people containing very little knowledge about the swimming world.
“A lot of times these swim deserts happen because if the one person that liked to use the pool in these small rural communities, if they didn’t grow up and develop an opportunity to swim or have that, then that passion doesn’t reenergize and continue on. If we build this, then maybe in future years all the kids that have an experience here will come back, and say ‘Yah, I was a part of that and it was awesome’ and they’ll keep it going.”
The “swim desert” phrase was coined by Jay Chambers, Senior Advisor of Team Services at USA Swimming and a veteran Ohio and Indiana coach for more than 40 years. When Fewell approached Chambers about starting a swim program in a small rural town in Indiana he responded with, “In those swim deserts, we usually have to beg people to go and start programs in those areas.”
Yet, Fewell was motivated to stir up the desire for a swim program in several Indiana small towns because he knew there was a need for it. He said that just 10 or 15 years ago, they were going to close down the rural pools in those communities.
“The reason many pools in rural areas are getting closed down is because it is expensive and it’s not efficient, and they don’t look at extrinsic benefits of we’re teaching kids to swim and saving lives,” he said.
Fewell initially started the SURGE swim program in March of this year in Hagerstown, Indiana, with the goal of providing opportunities for families in the area to learn life saving skills as well as opening the door for a sport many did not know existed. He partnered with the Lion’s Club, which was instrumental in helping him get the program off the ground. Soon after, Fewell expanded SURGE to Charlottesville in September with the same purpose in mind, and has already enrolled 70 kids in swim lessons along with 25 kids on the competitive team.
The SURGE swim programs in Charlottesville utilize the pool located at Eastern Hancock K-12 school, where Fewell also works as a special education teacher. However, SURGE allows swimmers from surrounding schools and communities to join the program, not limiting the need for children wanting to learn how to swim or to progress their swimming abilities.
Fewell stated that the desire for swimming has definitely grown in recent months. He recently spoke to a parent who informed him, “My son quit basketball to join the swim team,” which in Indiana is unheard of, he said jokingly. Fewell explained how big of an influence basketball has in their state and referenced the movie Hoosiers, a film based in Indiana about a coach developing a winning high school basketball team. But for a child to give up a sport so popular to participate in swimming is a pretty big deal, he said.
He added, “My goal is to see the growth of the program and the connection with the community.”
“Putting programming in a pool is saving lives by teaching people to swim,” Fewell said. “You are providing an avenue or opportunity in a sport that maybe kids didn’t think about in those areas. And it’s one of those things if you have programming in set, it provides an opportunity for the kids both in that school and in the surrounding communities that don’t have pools to do those things.”
He continued, “I believe water safety skills are paramount. We want to teach kids to be safe in and around the water. We want them to know at the youngest level if they fall in that they can roll over and get back to the wall. We want to make sure that they understand to never swim alone. The water is not safe at any point in time. Teaching a child to swim has the greatest possibility of saving their life from drowning.”
Fewell said that developing swimming programs in a swim desert is definitely possible, but that there has to be people passionate enough about the importance of swimming involved in order for the programs to succeed.
“I’m happy to give up my time,” he said. “Because when we leave here, as much as it’s just swim lessons, we’re saving lives, right?”
For Fewell, it’s also the happiness he sees in his swimmers when they first learn a new skill that makes him want to continue swim instruction day after day.
“A kid learning to swim the length of the pool, and the joy you see in their faces, the joy you see in their parents’ faces, the joy that they have in order to be able to do that, you can’t put a price on that.”