Audrey Cohen, a 17-year-old swimmer for Southern Maine Aquatic Club (SMAC) and Maine Swimming’s Safe Sport Chair, discusses why Safe Sport plays an important role in Local Swimming Committees (LSCs) below. 

Why did you join the Safe Sport Committee?

I joined because it was something I didn’t know a lot about and was interested in learning more. After being elected as Junior Athlete At-Large, I joined a variety of committees so I could be as informed as possible. After being on the Safe Sport Committee for some time, there was an opening for Chair. At first, I wasn’t sure about taking this position but Taylor Rogers and Mary Ellen Tynan recommended I try it out. 

Why is having an active LSC Safe Sport Chair important?

It’s super important to have an active Safe Sport Chair to help keep your LSC safe. This is important to me because I want everyone to enjoy the sport as much as I do. We should all be able to have fun and feel safe while doing so. Being active helps spread awareness and keeps the sport fun for everyone. Currently, the Safe Sport Committee is working on increasing awareness and understanding of the Safe Sport rules. We hang posters and have used Instagram to reach more people. Our goal is to increase coach and athlete participation on the Safe Sport Committee. I would love to apply for the National Safe Sport Committee next year. 

How is being an athlete in this role helpful?

I think being an athlete Safe Sport Chair helps bring a unique perspective a coach may not. Since I’m on deck with all the athletes, or in the locker rooms with everyone, I can see first-hand how we can help educate within the LSC. Maine Swimming’s Instagram has been really helpful in educating others. One of my roles as Maine Swimming’s Athlete Representative is helping to run Instagram, and through this, I’ve been able to implement Safe Sport weeks. Every six months of so, we have a week focused on Safe Sport with Q&A for our audience. For March’s Safe Sport week, I asked questions in person on deck and posted stories on Instagram Stories, and those who answered correctly got a free Safe Sport kickboard. This has been a great opportunity to use my position to help educate others and spread awareness about Safe Sport.