Director Mary Ellen Wiegand has been a member of Swimkins since the club's inception in 1956. She starred as an athlete under Mildred Moore and took over the club responsibilities in 1964. When asked how Swimkins received its name, she states that the athletes naming the club turned to the water and said they were kin to the water- thus the name Swimkins. The club was first called the Buffalo Swimkins due to the fact that practices were held  in pools in the city of Buffalo, New York. 

The Logo of the team is an "S" with eight flower petals in the middle of it, representing eight athlete team members.

According to USAAS membership, Swimkins is the oldest continuous registered team in USAAS membership history.  There are teams older than Swimkins; however, they were not always registered with USAAS. Our athletes live throughout the entire Western New York area. Practices currently take place at Maryvale High School, Buffalo State College, and University at Buffalo pools.   

Swimkins has attended and competed in all Association, Regional, Zone, Junior National, Senior National, US Open, and National Junior Olympic Championships.  Our athletes have been finalists in many of these championships and have won several medals and championship titles throughout the years.  They have qualified swimmers for various National Teams, International competitions, National Elite Training camps, and Empire State Games, and many graduates of the program have obtained college scholarships and have participated in collegiate synchronized swimming programs.

The Swimkins Parent Board is a volunteer organization that raises its own funds, provides its own transportation, and utilizes volunteer and paid coaches. No additional funding is presently received from any organization or agency.  The main function of the Parent Board is to relieve the coaches of the many non-swimming duties as possible.   These duties include organizing and driving carpools to away meets, making swimsuit purchases, setting dues levels, collection and disbursing funds, and raising those funds.  The monies raised in this process are used primarily for Swimkins - defraying pool rental costs, sponsored meet expenses, coach certifications, and athletes’ competition cost.  Swimkins has sponsored two National Age Group Championships and one Junior National Championship.