SLC's west side gets a swim team
By Jon Clifford
| Special to The Salt Lake Tribune
Kids on the west side of town are finally making a splash.
They are doing so in the Race Swami swim program, the first U.S. swim club on Salt Lake City’s west side, based out of Steiner West and Northwest Recreation Center.
It was created last year by Judge Memorial swim coach Matt Finnigan and his wife, Mary Chris Finnigan, and the community has embraced it since its January 2011 launch.
"Connecting with the community has happened pretty quickly," Matt Finnigan said. "It’s amazing how much help they really are willing to take. People have believed in our mission, and we have stuck with the mission."
That mission is more than just preparing swimmers for competition. Race Swami is also an outreach program that addresses character-building and promotes giving back to the community through service projects.
Last month, Swamis helped set up Rose Park’s Easter egg hunt. The club also volunteers at the Road Home shelter.
The year-round program also has developed a partnership with Guadalupe School. Students meet twice a week for a half-hour character-building course with Mary Chris Finnigan, followed by 30 minutes of swim lessons and training.
In late winter, the couple started with four kids; now they’re at capacity and looking to add more teachers next school year.
"We are big on making this an educational experience," Matt Finnigan said. "Swimming is the tool to teach life’s lessons. For the area we are immersed in, they need programs like that. We were astounded by how little there is available. I think that’s why the reception to us has been so positive."
The Finnigans and team president Leslie Motley donate their time and solicit funding from friends, family and local businesses, as well as applying for grants. The money helps pay for scholarships for swimmers, most of whom come from low-income situations.
"We are here to mentor," Finnigan said. "It’s not a welfare thing, it’s trying to empower these kids."
Motley, a kindergarten teacher at Edison Elementary, said about 70 percent of the mostly Latino and Polynesian participants have part or all of their program fees covered by scholarships. Club funding also pays for swim coaches and travel to competitions — like the one the Rising Swamis attended at the end of April.
Swimmers of all levels from age 4 to 18 participate in one of three groups: Senior Swamis, Junior Swamis and Rising Swamis. The latter is the program’s fastest-growing group, with 17 members starting who attend twice-weekly sessions, and others are on a waiting list to join.
"West-side kids don’t have access to competitive swimming," said Motley, whose son Jason swims for Swami and Judge Memorial. "The growth has been phenomenal. The kids have friends and siblings joining, and some kids join after seeing us on the [pool] deck."
Some joined after attending free clinics in the Rose Park and Glendale areas. Finnigan said the club has interviews lined up to add to its coaching staff and is planning to expand the Rising Swami group.
The Finnigans spent six months looking at models of outreach programs across the country as they developed the club’s model. The name, Finnigan said, comes from a term used by a former coach.
"He used to call us Swamis," Finnigan said. "It’s about mastering yourself, your life — not just with swimming but with everything you do. Life is really a learning experience as you go along."
