Help UCLA Club Swimming get to Nationals!

Overview:

Formed in 2007, UCLA Club Swimming has given students the opportunity to swim competitively in college without the rigors of being a Division-1 athlete. We welcome students of all ability and we have about 120 swimmers registered with the club. This year, we continue to experience some of the highest levels of practice attendance we’ve ever had with between 40 and 50 swimmers in the water at each practice!

The club, originally called UCLA Swim Club, began with the idea of a club sport that allowed students to find a community based on their love for swimming. Swim meets and competition were the secondary focus. In recent years, the team has begun to focus more on the competitive side of the sport, eventually re-branding itself as UCLA Club Swimming. This gives others a sense of our competitive side.

As part of our competitive shift, many of our swimmers strive to compete in the Collegiate Club Swimming & Diving National Championships. This year it is being held at the Greensboro Aquatics Center in North Carolina. It is our most important meet each year – however, the travel and lodging costs are a huge financial burden on many of our swimmers.

The cost per swimmer last year was $662, and with your generous support we were able to send 18 athletes to compete. However, many of our swimmers that qualified and wanted to go were unable to since they and their families were already paying for tuition, housing, and books. Why would they spend that much money when they could put it towards those more important items?

What We Are Asking For:

This year, the estimated cost per swimmer is $600, which is still too expensive for many of our swimmers. We need YOU, the donor, to help us reach our goal of $4500. We would put 75% of the donations towards the cost of Nationals for each swimmer. You could help reduce the cost per swimmer by more than $150. Only with your help can we succeed!

While not all our swimmers will be attending nationals, this fundraiser will still benefit the entire team.

The remaining 25% of money raised would go towards paying meet officials to run our home meets and additional swim paddles to fit all of our swimmers. UCLA Club Swimming is renowned for holding well-organized, highly-attended meets throughout the College Club Swimming community – however, our meets are entirely student-run. This limits the amount of time some of our swimmers get to spend competing. The ability to pay officials to run our home meets is the next step in bringing our swim meets to a higher, smoother-running, and ultimately more profitable level. Swim meet officials charge around $250 each per day; we host two home meets a year, each requiring two officials to run smoothly.

Lastly, the team currently practices with kick boards and pull buoys; however, to give our athletes a greater competitive edge, we'd like to add to our equipment by purchasing swim paddles. Paddles allow swimmers to focus and strengthen their shoulders in practice and are critical for training. The paddles we've researched will cost $225 in total.