Wednesday, August 29, 2018 – White River Junction, VT – Upper Valley Aquatic Center’s (UVAC) Hartford Learn-to-Swim program was chosen as one of 151 Make a Splash Local Partner programs in the U.S. to receive grant funding from the USA Swimming Foundation in 2018. The awarded money will go toward UVAC’s continued efforts to provide free or reduced cost swim lessons to the Hartford community.

The USA Swimming Foundation awarded a total of $702,819 to programs across the country that will help provide swim lessons to an estimated 27,239 children, the most distributed since Make a Splash’s inception in 2007. With this grant money and other generous contributors in the community, UVAC will teach more than 130 Hartford students to swim free of charge this year.

“We are thrilled to be chosen for this grant,” Rich Synnott said. “The money we received will be put toward drown-proofing children in our most immediate community. We are proud to offer this program in partnership with USA Swimming and other local businesses.”

Through the Hartford Learn-to-Swim Program, over 130 Hartford students learn to swim, or improve their swimming ability each year. Developed to teach ALL Hartford second and third graders to swim, this program is free and includes transportation with after-school care, in collaboration with Hartford Parks and Recreation Department.

Some happy parents say this:
“For working parents the hours made the program so convenient”
When asked in surveys what we could do to improve the experience, many respondents write, “Nothing, my children loved it!” or “The instructors spent extra time with my son who is hard to handle.”

Upcoming Program Dates:
Ottaquechee School October 10 – Nov 14 (no lesson Halloween)
Dothan Brook School Jan 16 – Feb 13
White River School March 13 – April 10

This program would not be possible without support from these generous sponsors in addition to Make a Splash Foundation USA Swimming:
Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital
Caldwell Banker Lifestyles
Hartford Park and Recreation Department
Henderson’s Tree & Garden Services
Norwich Solar Technologies
TYR Swimwear
White River Rotary
White River Family Practice

The USA Swimming Foundation vetted over 200 applications through a competitive annual review process and chose 151 programs to receive funding, many of whom are first time Make a Splash grant recipients.

“We are thrilled to be awarding this funding and so proud that it will be used to create a valuable swimming experience for thousands of children who may not have had the opportunity to learn how to swim,” USA Swimming Foundation Executive Director Debbie Hesse said. “These exciting and lifesaving opportunities would not be possible without the support of our USA Swimming Foundation partners and donors, who continue to help us make a difference across this country.”

More than 850 Make a Splash Local Partners in all 50 states promote water safety education in their communities and provide scholarships and transportation for children to participate in their swim lesson programs.

For more information on the Hartford Learn-to-Swim program visit http://uvacswim.org/swimming/hartford-learn-to-swim/

For more information on sponsoring the Hartford Learn-to-Swim program visit
http://uvacswim.org/about/support-uvac/sponsor-a-program-2/

Find our more information on the Make a Splash Foundation with USA Swimming here.