New York state leaders in government want to make water safety a priority.
Governor Kathy Hochul, as part of her budget plan, has proposed millions of dollars to expand access to safe swimming, boost free learn-to-swim programs, and expand municipal pools.
Swim clubs not only teach a lifelong skill, but also serve as a place where young people learn valuable life lessons and develop comradery among their peers.
It’s February break. But while schools are empty, the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester is packed.
At the Mount Kisco facility’s pool room, about two dozen are swimming laps.
Zac Hojnacki is head coach of the Marlins’ swim team.
“So really, this facility is operating through most of the day starting as early as 5:30 in the morning, I was here at 5:30 this morning, as late as 9:30, 10 o'clock,” said Hojnacki.
Hojnacki comes from a swimming background. His mother is an Olympic medalist, and his parents run a competitive swim program in Arizona. It’s that passion, he says, that pushed him to become a coach. Being involved from such a young age, he says, also helps him relate to new swimmers from a coach’s perspective.
“It can be very valuable to just share with a kid, ‘You know what, like, I know, in your eyes, I'm an adult, and I'm a coach. And you can't even imagine me like being a kid or being vulnerable. But this is a moment where I failed. And this is a moment where I didn't feel good about myself or I struggled through something. And this is how I navigated it. And this is how I came out better for it.’ And I do think that that's one of the most meaningful things that a coach can do for an athlete,” said Hojnacki.
The Marlins are a club team, which Hojnacki says is more intense than a typical school program. For one, it’s year-round. But it’s also something young athletes might be a part of for 10 years or more.
Fourteen-year-old Natalie Lovig has been swimming competitively since third grade.
“When I was younger, I did a lot of different sports, like basketball, lacrosse, soccer and swimming. So, I definitely had an interest in sports, but the one sport that’s always stuck with me is swimming,” said Lovig.
For many swimmers, including Lovig, the sport can be a solitary one. But she says there’s something to take away from a contest that’s often between you and the clock on the wall.
“The only person you can really focus on is yourself. Like, you can't waste energy on your time or how other people are doing. And I think that helps me with a lot of different things in life too, in school and just with social skills in general,” said Lovig.
Sixteen-year-old Grace Gerosa has also been a lifelong swimmer.
“I think when I was little, it was mostly just my friends and the fun I had here. And then when I was older, it was just a sense of, ‘I've always came here, and I love it,’” said Gerosa.
Gerosa says, for her, swimming is about being confident and consistent.
“There are days you're gonna wake up and be exhausted, or you're gonna have other opportunities. And you really have to decide if you want swimming to be a part of your life,” said Gerosa.
While a swimmer is alone in their own lane, Gerosa is happy to know her friends are cheering her on. She also participates in the club's Big and Little Marlins mentoring program.
“Because obviously, you have your friends your age, but it's good to see different age cohorts, like a role model, sort of,” said Gerosa.
Eighteen-year-old Marlin Paige Fagan says she wouldn’t be able to train and compete in such an individualistic sport if not for the people around her.
“And you can obviously tell that these people, they want to be here. It's not like they have to, they want to come in every day, they want to say hi to you, and they want to talk to you. And it's just such a fun place to be. And it really has helped me grow,” said Fagan.
In addition to swimming, Fagan works at the club as a water safety instructor, a summer lifeguard, and an occasional volunteer. Fagan says swimming has helped her become more confident in the way she speaks, and that’s valuable for teaching swim lessons – including when teaching the strokes that were personally challenging.
“So, breaststroke, the way they teach it, it can be a lot difficult for kids and I’ve made it into, like, I like to say, ‘You make a heart and break the heart with your arms.’ And kids find that hilarious and it gets them to think about their arms and do it the right way. Instead of, like, the traditional sense that I was taught with. People were like, ‘Oh, but they would find that too funny.’ I'm like, ‘Yeah, but if they find it funny, it sticks in their head and they think about it every time they swim,’” said Fagan.
Fagan says swimming helped her deal with anxiety and stress during the pandemic. And she wants to carry that with her to college next year.
“I will take that as a way to just take some time to myself and to decompress from the whole day and take everything in,” said Fagan.
The BGCNW Marlins swim team boasts a long list of hall-of-famers who’ve continued at the college level, and some who have gone on to train for the Olympics.
Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester CEO Alyzza Ozer said the swim team is also unique for its diversity.
“For two years in a row, we've had over 50% of the swim team members self-identifying as non-white in a sport that historically had been predominantly a sport of white swimmers. And people wouldn't necessarily understand this, but swimming is a very expensive sport. There's a lot of travel involved relative to competition, you have to be able to sustain and support and subsidize a pool. Many of our swimmers are on scholarship in many different ways. But then you also need a diverse pipeline of kids to be able to be strong enough swimmers to be on a competitive swim team,” said Ozer.
The club welcomes more than a thousand kids each year, and swimming is a part of the experience for its youngest members.
Ozer said this past September, three of the club’s preschool classrooms did not have a child who spoke a word of English.
“A very diverse group. And now they're like little fish, because they it's a preschool program where they have swimming twice a week. And all of our afterschool programming kids who otherwise would not have the opportunity to learn to swim, are swimming within the pool to such an extent that our swim team has to swim outside of the pool on the summer, so that we have access to the pool so that we've got approximately 350 kids in the summer learning to swim,” said Ozer.
Ozer said the swim team serves as more than a sport: it's a pathway to higher education.
“So many of our members here are first gens for college. And to be able to be part of the swim world is really important, even if they're not swimming in college. What they're learning about is you know, supporting the people with on their team, all kinds of important lessons relative to discipline,” said Ozer.
The Marlins are an anchor for many. Aquatics Director Eric Mitchell swam here from ages 7 to 17. After pursuing a career in aquatics, he returned to Mount Kisco about five years ago. He’s now 43.
“I’m doing a special job. I know a lot of people in their careers are going to work everyday doing their job, but mine is particularly impactful,” said Mitchell.
Mitchell says he takes particular pride in teaching skills, but also, in training lifeguards as one example, in helping young people find employment to support themselves.
“If they do come back one day, that's the full circle, right? They learn how to swim here they get hooked into some kind of program as a as a kid. And then at some point there an employee or a board member or parents of a current Learn to Swim kid or swim team member. That's kind of the vision and the long-term plan every time a kid registers,” said Mitchell.
The pool at the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester is named after longtime former aquatics director and Mitchell’s predecessor, Dennis Munson. He’s still here, as he has been for 56 years.
Munson, age 73, began teaching swimmers when he was a teenager.
“And then it just kind of grew. And next thing I know, they were like, ‘Hey, start teaching lessons. So, working with kids with disabilities, I started doing that. And then it was, you know, it became more and more enjoyable. And let's see, I know I was hooked. I was living here,” said Munson.
For Munson, there’s one important reason why everyone, at any age, should learn to swim.
“Because you never know when something's gonna happen. You know, parents will say to me, ‘Well, I don't know how to swim, but doesn't really matter.’ I say, ‘Yeah, but you have kids and your kids fall in the water. Are you going to just stand there and look at them if they're in trouble? Are you going to jump in?’ And if you can't swim, all you are is another person to rescue. You want to get your kids involved and start young. And it's just something you can do for life. It's a lifelong exercise. You know, if your knees start to go, you can still get in a pool.”
