Hundreds of Salinas kids will get a chance to learn to swim thanks to a donation from the USA Swimming Foundation.
"I feel very blessed," said Dia Rianda, aquatics director and head coach for Salinas Valley Aquatics Inc. "Getting 400 suits was a huge surprise."
The group received suits for both boys and girls in several different sizes. They were all name-brand and each had a $70 retail value, Rianda said. She said she received the swimsuits last week, and plans to use them in programs to help kids learn how to swim.
"Our goal is to be able to teach every child in Salinas how to be safe in the water," Rianda said.
Lots of kids that come in can't afford proper swim attire, she said. They're not allowed to swim in other clothes, not just because it's unhygienic, but more importantly because it's dangerous. Normal clothes weigh you down in the water, which is especially a problem for first-time swimmers, she said.
Finding swimsuits for these kids, "is our biggest issue," Rianda said. When she can, she will buy them swimsuits with her own money. Principals and teachers do the same with school supplies for their students, she said.
"We're all doing what we can to provide suits. And then all of a sudden we've got these suits," she said. "It's a pretty wonderful thing."
USA Swimming Foundation made the donations as part of their Make A Splash program, which aims to teach every child in the United States to swim. The program started in 2007 and has more than 300 local partners in 43 states, although this is the first swimsuit donation to Salinas, said Kristen Daniels from USA Swimming.
Make A Splash focuses particularly on minorities, said Daniels. Minorities have a higher drowning rate, and nearly six out of 10 Hispanic and African American children are unable to swim, nearly twice as many as white children, according to USA Swimming.
The foundation picked Rianda and Salinas because of the "sheer amount of children she helps, and how underserved the kids are," Daniels said.
"It's awful to have to turn them away just because they're lacking this one simple piece of equipment," she said. "Now there'll be hundreds of kids in the pool that otherwise couldn't be there."
Salinas Valley Aquatics Inc. took over the Salinas Aquatic Center after the City of Salinas planned to shut it down at the beginning of the year. "We stepped up, and we're really doing the best that we can to provide opportunities for these kids."
Rianda said people were happy with the way the pool was running. "I've never heard so many positive comments about the job that we're doing."
And people can help to keep the pool open, either by patronizing the pool, sponsoring a kid's swim lesson, or by donating directly to the nonprofit organization (www.mcatsva.org).
"We want to keep the pool open for the public," Rianda said. "This is a life-saving thing for many people, and they're very grateful."
