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If you care about the future of swimming, not just at the elite level, but at every pool in every community across the country, then it’s time to consider AAU.
The Amateur Athletic Union, often remembered for its legacy, is becoming an increasingly important part of swimming’s future. AAU understands something we often forget: Growth doesn’t start at the Olympics. It starts at the local level with access, affordability, and opportunities to race.
Here’s how AAU can help grow the sport of swimming, and why smart coaches, clubs, and communities are starting to take notice.
1. Lower the Barrier to Entry
Swimming has become expensive. Between team fees, gear, tech suits, and governing body registrations, it can cost hundreds just to get started.
AAU changes that. With a $20 annual registration fee, affordable meet sanctions, and more flexible insurance options, AAU gives programs the chance to bring in more swimmers.
For families dipping their toe into competitive swimming, AAU offers a softer entry point. No sticker shock. No overwhelming schedules. Just the basics: pool, coach, meet. And that matters because if we want to grow swimming, we can’t scare new families away before they even hit the water.
2. Empower Coaches and Clubs
AAU is structured to put control back in the hands of the coach.
Want to host a meet? AAU can approve it in a day.
Want to run a developmental league? Do it.
Want to blend AAU with your USA Swimming athletes? Many already do.
There’s no gatekeeping. No endless paperwork. No bureaucratic slowdowns.
By giving clubs more autonomy, AAU lets teams build programming that fits their swimmers, not the other way around. That freedom is the backbone of sustainable growth.
3. Keep More Swimmers in the Sport Longer
Here’s a stat you won’t hear often: Most club teams have 30–50% of swimmers who never compete in a USA Swimming-sanctioned meet. They swim for fitness, for fun, or to prep for summer league or high school. But they’re not paying $80+ for a membership they won’t use.
That’s where AAU becomes critical. It allows those swimmers to stay insured, stay engaged, and still compete locally without forcing a full buy-in to the national system. That flexibility is key to retention, one of the most important (and overlooked) pieces of growing the sport.
4. Build a Local Meet Ecosystem
AAU gives clubs the tools to create their own competition circuits.
No travel. No waiting for LSC approval. Just a pool, a starter, and a plan.
This gives younger and newer swimmers a chance to race without the stress of big, intimidating USA Swimming meets. It builds confidence. It builds habits. And it builds a stronger culture at the grassroots level.
Plus, when clubs run their own meets, they keep more revenue, which helps fund scholarships, pay coaches, and improve facilities.
5. Create a Parallel Pathway, Not a Rival
This isn’t about picking sides. It’s about building a more complete swimming ecosystem. AAU doesn’t have to replace USA Swimming. It can complement it. Think of AAU as the community college of competitive swimming, a place where kids start, learn the ropes, and build toward bigger things. The clubs that do both AAU and USA Swimming are seeing the benefits. They’re growing faster. Retaining longer. And offering more options to more families.
We don’t see that as a threat to swimming. That’s a way you grow it.
If we want more Olympic champions, we need more swimmers.
If we want more swimmers, we need more access.
And if we want more access, we need systems that meet families where they are.
That’s what AAU offers. It’s not the only path, but it’s an important one to consider. For teams ready to think creatively, serve their full community, and build a stronger base for the sport they love, it might just be a smart move they can make.
Growing swimming doesn’t happen from the top down. It starts at the bottom, with local pools, local coaches, and local kids falling in love with the water. And right now, AAU might be the best grassroots tool we’ve got.
In my community outside portland oregon my unofficial assessment of kids involved in swimming is this. Out of 100 kids boys and girls a great percentage participate in little kids soccer, basketball, or spring baseball softball. It is easy and fun to participate with so many classmates involved. However an amazingly small percentage, 1 or 2% of kids are involved in competitive swimming. With such a low number of kids involved in competitive swimming.It is no wonder that high school swimming is mediocre at best. One model that should be examined is the northern virginia swim league, which is a summer sprint program with practices during the week and a dual meal on the weekend. The nvsl has thousands of… Read more »
What benefits does AAU provide to athletes, teams, and coaches? I can’t find any reasonable resources to improve our sport with detailed google searches.
From this article, and the others SwimSwam has written, it seems like the AAU financially benefits, while contributing zero to the actual swimming community. I have not heard of any swim meets, athletes, coaches, education programs, or anything that benefits the sport of swimming in the US coming from the AAU.
What up and coming Olympic hopefuls has the AAU supported financially in recent years?
Swimswam “articles” about this topic seem more like editorials in this regard. From what I’ve read publicly on swimswam, it seems like teams such as SwimAtlanta charged their… Read more »
Insurance
does AAU swimming have representation in every state?
Everything indicated here can all be done within the USA Swimming ecosystem, and your dollars also partially go towards supporting USA Swimming’s part in the Olympic movement. The blueprint should be recognizing that the elite athletes on your team should not be the only thing your team focuses on. Look to teams like DACA and their way ahead of its time “multi-track” system for athletes. Many different ways to do this right!
Thank you, John, and our readers should beware of who you are: “John Bradley served on the USA Swimming Board of Directors, representing the Central Zone (coach), from 2015 to 2019. During his tenure, he was a member of the USA Swimming Safe Sport Working Group and the USA Swimming Nominating Committee. He was re-elected to the board in 2017.”
1- Flex Memberships exist. Ideally, USA Swimming will extend them to 13-14s as well, but for 12-Us, they are there.
2- Block Parties exist. I sanction them during warmup for our non-travel development groups. I sanction them on a whim to do suited up time trials with my senior group. My coaches and I run them, or we let our awesome officials come in and get their hours in. Whatever works. Sometimes our younger travel kids participate in the local meets if they’re missing a day of an upcoming travel meet.
3- That’s what’s happening with Flex and the Block Parties. But they can also participate in our hosted USA meets if they’d like, or test a travel… Read more »
Unfortunately not all LSCs will allow the times to count as USA Swimming approved times. If that’s the case, then why bother with the flex membership and the block parties?
This is not talked about enough.
The times go into SWIMS. But anyhow, AAU times wouldn’t count for your LSC either.
I don’t know. Maybe some of the red tape stuff is easier for the club, but I don’t really see much in the way of advantages, especially in terms of cost for parents. If club fees are $2,000 a year, and an AAU membership is $20 and USA Swimming is $80, that $60 difference isn’t much of a difference at that point. Especially when USA Swimming opens up so many more opportunities down the road. In the end, it’s all pretty much just $2k (and the more the club charges, the less relevant the savings between the two organizations).
Now an article on how to make the insurance for everyone work, some in pool AAU some in pool USAS. Specifics.
Everyone needs to get AAU, essentially. So all that $ they’re “saving” is getting lessened by the USA registered athletes having to add $20 or you have to take their $20 and spread it among the AAU kids, so it isn’t $20, it’s a bit more depending on your break-down of USA/AAU kids. Making the difference between AAU/Flex negligible.
Excellent Blueprint!
The real John Leonard?