As this tumultuous year finally comes to a close, we are taking a moment to reflect on our experiences and count our blessings.
Unquestionably, this was a difficult year for our organization. From the postponement of the Olympic Games, to the closing of our local pools, every one of our dedicated members faced a realm of unforeseen challenges. We have made progress, but we know we are not yet out of the woods. There is much work left to be done, as many of our swimmers and clubs remain out of the water as we head into this new year.
But through these uncertain months, we have found hope within the swimming community. We have come together like never before to fight for what we love. The level of communication, collaboration and solidarity was simply unparalleled.
While we thought the highlight stories of 2020 would come from successes in the pool, they instead arose from actions taken by our clubs, coaches, volunteers, parents, swimmers and staff. Leaders emerged and new bonds were formed.
From the moment we wrote to request the postponement of the Tokyo Games, we came together as one, striving to provide a platform for all voices to be heard and to be considerate of all constituents. Zoom meetings quickly became the norm, with Local Swimming Committee (LSC) leaders, club coaches, National team athletes, and many more, meeting frequently with staff and board of directors’ members to exchange ideas and best practices to forge ahead.
There is no doubt that the most significant collaboration was a financial one, with USA Swimming, the USA Swimming Foundation and LSCs delivering more than $9M of support to our swimming community. Hundreds of clubs were aided by the Foundation’s $3M COVID-19 Relief Program, and countless others via the 59 LSCs.
Leaders of the U.S. aquatics industry also came together in a historic way to create the Aquatics Coalition. Spearheaded by USA Swimming, this group of more than 30 water safety and competitive water sports organizations joined together with one aim: to advocate for a return to purpose-driven instructional aquatics. Their work is not done. Beyond the immediate, this long-overdue collaboration will continue to strengthen the efforts of our aquatics’ community across the country.
The events of this year also presented us with another unique opportunity to recommit ourselves to our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts, and to establish new partnership groups to help us further grow our initiatives and welcome a greater number of diverse athletes and families into our membership. We look forward to the incredible guidance and support we will receive from both the DEI Council and the Black Leadership in Aquatics Coalition (Team BLAC).
With the positives, we also faced the negatives, and the most devastating blow was undoubtedly to our athletes – our Olympic hopefuls and age groupers alike. For such dedicated, passionate, and driven individuals to be stripped of what they love is the saddest of all. But what an incredible sight to see – the social workouts, the support videos, the online letters, and the group streams! The creativity was unstoppable.
And this was only a pause. A break, to further appreciate what we all have.
As we charted a path to wade back into the water, we are thankful to every club, coach and swimmer who joined our inaugural virtual competition series and participated in its continued improvement. While not how we know you wanted to compete, it allowed us to take our first steps forward. It laid down a path for a challenging National Leaderboard, the return of the Toyota U.S. Open and the launch of the 18&Under Winter Championships. We promise to create more competitive opportunities as swiftly and as safely as we can.
While the pandemic has most definitely affected USA Swimming’s finances, our team has strived to do more with less, and will continue to endeavor to deliver our programs without interruption. We remain confident that with our current partners, along with the promise of new ones, we will rebuild and be better off for it.
As we look towards 2021, our hope for recovery is strong. We will return to training, we will delight in competition, and we will collectively cheer the world’s greatest swim team to gold in Tokyo.
From the USA Swimming family in Colorado Springs to you and yours across the country, we send our most sincere wishes for a safe and healthy holiday season.
See you on the pool deck soon.
Respectfully Yours,
