From the Desk of the Executive Director

As an action, to fast track is to accelerate the development or progress of (a person or project).

I like to think that what we do here as an association is to help our members fast track their business. We work to offer a variety of services and resources to help you as a swim school owner not reinvent the wheel. To help accelerate the development and growth of your business, resulting in more people learning the life saving skill of swimming.

Recently we have seen an increased conversation in Georgia around learn to swim programs and swimming regulations. We have also heard from swim schools across the country that have been tagged in social media discussions around swim lessons and safety. As a member of USSSA, we want to provide you with solutions and resources that accelerate the development and progress of your staff. I want to encourage you to take some time to review the excellent session Angie Baker presented on Creating a Culture of Safety during our virtual 2020 National Conference. It is available in our Online USSSA Portal and provides important information and ideas for swim school owners to integrate a culture of safety throughout their swim school. We have now made this available at no cost to all USSSA members.

In addition, I wanted to remind you that the board of directors created minimum standards for membership in USSSA. You can find those standards on our website. We encourage each of you to review these standards to ensure you meet them and then share these standards with your swim families. We all want to see swimmers safely learn the life saving skill of swim. When we come together to elevate the profession, we all grow and can serve more swimmers. Help parents understand what is important to look for in a learn to swim program by promoting our minimum standards as well as our We C.A.R.E. initiative that includes member owners running a background check on themselves. Details can be found on our website. USSSA is also in the final stages of the development of the Certified Fundamental Swim Instructor (CFSI). This will be a great opportunity to further enhance the training provided to swim instructors. We are grateful for the support and volunteer work put in by industry experts to develop both the online training course as well as the certification exam.

LISA M. ZARDA, CAE, CNAP

Executive Director | US Swim School Association