City of Riverside Aquatics Program Receives 2022 Grant Funding From USA Swimming Foundation

Published: 5-20-22

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 20, 2022

 

City of Riverside Aquatics Program Receives 2022 Grant Funding From
USA Swimming Foundation  

 

Grant supports efforts to offer free or reduced-cost swim lessons

  

 The City of Riverside, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department (PRCSD) is committed to reducing the number of drownings, near drownings, and water-related incidents through education, prevention, and public awareness.

The Aquatics program opens for the season on Tuesday, May 31. The program offers a wide variety of cool activities that include swimming lessons, recreation swim, splash camp, adaptive and private swim lessons.

The City of Riverside Aquatics Program was chosen as one of 102 youth programs from the USA Swimming Foundation’s nationwide network of swim lesson providers to receive grant money in early 2022. The grant award will go toward Aquatics program continued efforts to provide free or reduced-cost swim lessons. The USA Swimming Foundation has awarded a total of $898,184 to programs across the country.

“We are thrilled to be chosen for this grant,” Director of Parks Recreation and Community Services Department Pamela Galera said. “The $10,000 we received will be put toward youth swim lesson scholarships!”

PRCSD will provide a variety of subsidized aquatic programming for youth to promote the importance of water safety and life-long physical activity. The program guides participants in ways to choose an intentionally healthy lifestyles while leveraging additional resources and partners to positively impact the Riverside community.

The City of Riverside has over 325,000 residents and 7 public city pools. PRCSD, intends to play a significant role in reducing the rates of preventable drowning deaths in Riverside County In addition, drownings are the leading cause of accidental injury- related death in children ages 1-4 years old in Riverside County. The new Adaptative Learn-To-Swim lessons were designed to help teach participants with disabilities to learn water safety skills in a slower more calming environment.  

The USA Swimming Foundation vetted more than 250 applications through a competitive annual review process and chose 102 youth and 40 adult programs to receive funding.

“It’s an incredible feeling to know that USA Swimming Foundation funding will be used to create a valuable swimming experience for thousands of people who may not have had the opportunity to learn how to swim,” Scott Usher, Director of Development for the USA Swimming Foundation said. “We are thrilled with the depth of this year’s swim lesson provider applicant pool, and we couldn’t be prouder to support these life-saving opportunities across the country. We owe a tremendous thank you to our partners and donors who continue to make a difference in our mission of saving lives and building champions.”

Millions of children have received the lifesaving gift of swim lessons through the USA Swimming Foundation’s network of swim lesson providers, comprised of more than 1,500 qualified lesson providers across the nation. To learn more, visit www.usaswimming.org/foundation. 

For a full list of 2022 USA Swimming Foundation grant recipients or to donate to the Foundation, please visit www.usaswimming.org/foundation

For more information on PRCSD swim lessons visit Swim Lessons | Parks, Recreation and Community Services (riversideca.gov)

Contact: Kristin Moorman, email. [email protected] Phone. 951-826-2233