From Metropolitan Swimming Diversity Page:
Recap of Metropolitan Swimming’s first Diversity Camp
Friday April 2nd Metropolitan Swimming (LSC) hosted its first Diversity Camp at Pace University. About 40 swimmers from New York City and surrounding areasparticipated (a great turn-out considering holiday weekend ). The day started with a general introduction of coaches and guests followed by two 1.5-hour workouts and an interactive presentation between swim sessions. We were fortunate to have 2000 Olympic gold medalist Anthony Ervin join us for the camp as he participated as a coach, guest speaker and was an overall great mentor.
The goal of the camp was to get the kids together to increase their general knowledge and participation of our sport, as well as gaining stroke development through local coaches. The first pool workout consisted of circuits in which swimmers would rotate through the four strokes. During this time, parents watched a video given by USA Swimming. Coaches would give drills while explaining the development and history of the stroke and “big picture” thoughts to make sure the kids could translate stroke drills into fast swimming. All coaches were extremely energetic, including Anthony who ran the freestyle drills. It was extremely satisfying to look across eight lanes filled with swimmers of all different backgrounds. Everyone was different yet everyone was there to learn more about swimming.
The presentation between workouts was very energetic and interactive. Pizza and quesadillas was served over footage of the Beijing Olympics, kids spoke to each other about their favorite stroke and where they were from, and an overall sense of togetherness filled the room. We began the presentation with some swimming trivia, which ranged from basic swim terminology to legendary Olympic races and prizes were handed out. Anthony then gave a 40-minute interactive conversation with the swimmers. He stressed that we were together not because we were different, but that we are all one in the same – swimmers. He went through his layers of competition, relating to Junior Olympics and Zones and what it took for him to complete the full cycle of our sport. Q&A for Anthony was not silent, but rather the opposite as dozens of hands rose to the air asking questions of freestyle, Olympics and racing habits.
The second workout took the stroke development from the first pool session and translated it to fast swimming. A team warm-up followed by set of fast 25 yard sprints from the blocks brought everyone together as a team and the coaches pushed the swimmers to try their hardest. Relays followed the fast swimming and of course, a team cheer to end the session.
Overall, the event was undoubtedly a great success for the kids and our sport. Personally, my swimmers were extremely excited to participate and meet new friends, as they still have not stopped talking about what we are going to do next year. Given our geographical location, we want this event to be monumental for not only our LSC, but also our organization of USA Swimming a whole. We look forward to making the event an equal success next year, with more participants.
Metropolitan swimming would like to extend their thanks to USA Swimming and Verizon for their generosity.
