Courtesy: SwimRVA (Swim Richmond)
Richmond, Va. — Thanks to a partnership between Richmond Public Schools (RPS) and SwimRVA, RPS varsity swimming will return for the 2024-25 school year with their first meet slated for Saturday, December 21st. Prior to last season, RPS had not sponsored a swimming program in over 40 years. Participation has exploded from last season. RPS has increased from two schools with only seven high school swimmers last year to five schools with 64 high school swimmers and 58 middle school athletes. RPS and SwimRVA have made the commitment to offer swimming at both the high school and middle school levels, making it one of only two school divisions out of twelve in the capital region to offer swimming at the middle school level.
“Our goal in RPS Athletics is to create as many opportunities as possible to enhance our student’s experiences and learning in every capacity” said Richmond Public Schools Coordinator of Athletics & Events Dr. Stefanie Ramsey. “Being a part of a team significantly empowers our student-athletes by fostering personal growth and developing valuable life skills like teamwork, leadership, and resilience. All of which can positively impact academic performance and their social well-being.”
The partnership between SwimRVA and RPS extends beyond just competitive swimming; It is a pipeline of impact running from elementary through high school levels. The Learn-To-Swim program, giving second graders cost-free lessons designed to enable every child to swim 15 feet unassisted, has expanded to every school in Richmond’s 7th district through programming out of SwimRVA-Church Hill located at the Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club. SwimRVA partners with the YMCA of Greater Richmond to offer this program across the school division. This pipeline of possibilities is further fueled with work readiness programs that create a continuous circle of opportunities by teaching high schoolers to become future lifeguards through SwimRVA’s groundbreaking workforce programming. The Lifeguard School deploys through partnership with five high schools in the RPS system through the advanced PE curriculum. Students graduate the program with advanced work skills that will enable them to enter the workforce and careers in aquatics.
The Lifeguard School is critical work as the City of Richmond has nine pools in their Parks and Recreation division, seven outdoor seasonal pools and two indoor year-round facilities. The starting pay for lifeguards in the City of Richmond is $17 per hour. Young people can begin working as a lifeguard at fifteen years old. In the summer months alone a young person can make up to $10,000 working as a lifeguard in their neighborhood with career advancement opportunities to become pool managers prior to leaving their high school years – opening doors for a lifetime of opportunities in aquatics careers.
Adam Kennedy, Executive Director of SwimRVA, believes the power of aquatics is transformational for the region. “We have witnessed unbelievable investment in aquatics in our region over the past decade.” He explained. “Public funding for infrastructure, programming and curriculum development has collaborated with private investment and energy to create lasting impact in water safety and equitable opportunity. Together, we are making huge strides toward eradicating unintentional drownings and near drownings by sustaining our pools with qualified staff through innovative school-based work readiness programming like the Lifeguard School. Coupled with growth in varsity athletics and school based learn-to-swim programs at the elementary level, we are creating a continuum of service to Richmonders that is opening doors for a lifetime of opportunity, safety and enjoyment around water for our residents. SwimRVA is passionately charging toward every community in our region having access to pools and programming that forms a continuum of service through partnerships and collaboration that works.”
The boom in VHSL-sanctioned swim teams in RPS, returning after nearly five decades, is a testament to the RPS and SwimRVA collaboration in providing opportunities and changing the landscape for future generations. With RPS swimming in full swing at all five primary high schools, now almost every major jurisdiction sponsors the sport in the Richmond region thanks to the movement that took off with the advocacy work of SwimRVA and motivated parent groups. Since 2014, over 900 new after-school varsity opportunities have been created for high school students in competitive swimming.
The upcoming RPS meet will take place at SwimRVA-CSAC located at 5050 Ridgedale Parkway, Richmond, VA 23234 on Saturday, December 21. High School athletes from Armstrong, Huguenot, John Marshall, Richmond High School for the Arts, and Thomas Jefferson will take the dive into their first swim meet, marking the historic return of High School swimming not seen since the combined school era and multiple generations. The meet will start at 2PM. It is free to attend and all Richmonders are encouraged to come watch these driven athletes compete.
