Inglewood, CA, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tuesday, September 29th, 2020 — Los Angeles, CA -- A crowd of over 40 engaged aquatic community leaders came together last Thursday, September 24th to celebrate the sharing of ideas at the first annual Swim Up Hill virtual-event in Los Angeles, with the theme “Building a More Inclusive Waterscape.”
The crowd was filled with representatives of USA Swimming, AirBnb, LA28, LA84, Nike Swim, Procter & Gamble, Boys & Girls Club of America, City of Carson, City of Lynwood, Culver City, local businesses, nonprofits, educational institutions, as well as coaches and athletes from local high schools and colleges.
The event featured 3 speakers who brought talks that ranged from standardizing sustainable swim education practices, coaching and officiating development, virtual platforms for in-home water safety, teaching one million new swimmers water competency in the next five years, and building momentum into the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held here in Los Angeles. Speakers included Chief Athlete Officer of LA28 Janet Evans, Swim Up Hill founder Jamal Hill, and mental training coach Wilma Wong. It was an occasion filled with emotion, inspiration, humor and passion. People got to experience cutting-edge aquatic education techniques and picture themselves as a part of the growing solution to accidental drowning in low-to-middle income communities.
Videos of all presentations will be posted on Swimuphill.ORG and on the Swim Up Hill YouTube channel in the coming weeks.
One speaker was 25-year-old Jamal Hill, a Paralympic-hopeful swimmer who has been representing the US since September of 2018. He has spent the last 24 months collecting data from around the world on best practices for time effective and cost efficient swim lessons as a part of the Swim Up Hill organization's flagship program. The specific program is dedicated to teaching one million people how to swim through direct impact efforts, and educational curriculums for both professional trainers and those wanting to teach themselves. “I can change the world; you can change the world,” he told a rapt audience after sharing that his misconceptions about the economic challenges of basic swim education were changed after spending time teaching people who didn't have access to pools, and expressing his desire to share that reality universally. “Our goal was to bring ideas to the community that brought us to the edge of our comfort zones and pushed us to think about things in a different way,” said Jamal when asked why this address was so necessary.
The SPLASH AT HOME virtual learn to swim program was an included feature spotlight, powered through a partnership with the Swim Up Hill Organization and AirBnB providing beginning level water competence training using only a bowl, bench and bucket. The Swim Up Hill method curriculum has currently helped hundreds of families from six of the world's seven continents.
To experience the virtual platform for yourselfhttps://www.airbnb.com/experiences/1718675
Ideas shared during the day included author Wilma Wong, whose talk “Underdogs (In Real Life)” showed that failure is never the end, only a change in the story and that providing greater resources to coaches and officials will ultimately engage the imagination and teach teamwork, collaboration, and empathy to developing better swimmers and people of all ages. “Is this the right way,” she posed, “or are we just used to the limitations that we've created for this sport?”
Olympic Legend Janet Evans presented “Investing in A Beautiful Future,” showing insight into the funding and investments of private and public entities across Los Angeles toward youth development specifically as it pertains to swimming and basic water skills education. In addition she spoke on the generational cost of limited facilities in low-to-middle communities and advocated learning about how organizations can collaborate to make basic swimming instruction apart of grade school curriculums.
The event was hosted by representatives of the Swim Up Hill Organization.
*** Purple ribbons represent international drowning impact awareness
Jamal Hill ON LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamaljhill/
About Jamal Hill
#1 Swimmer in the USA & #7 in the World - US Paralympics Teaching 1,000,000 people to swim with the Swim Up Hill Method - A 5-Hour Learn to Swim Curriculum for ages 7+ (including adults/elderly suffering from aquaphobia).
Jamal is the president and founder of the Swim Up Hill Foundation, which has a mission to teach 1,000,000 people to swim and to inspire millions more through underserved community building and tech integration. Join the ’Swim Up Hill’ movement by following ‘@swimuphill' on Instagram, or visiting the ‘www.swimuphill.com.
Airbnb and Jamal Hill have recently entered a partnership though the Paralympic committee that provides access to an online program where Jamal virtually trains students from around the globe on beginning water safety skills and aquatic education.
Visit: http://airbnb.com/swimuphill for more information.
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