Asphalt Green, a non-profit dedicated to providing high-quality sporting programming to people across New York City, will hold its annual Big Swim on the Upper East Side this Saturday, inviting more than 1,000 children aged between 6 and 13 to take part in an event that promotes water safety and celebrates competitive swimming.
The free event, which takes place in an Olympic-sized pool at Asphalt Green’s Upper East Side campus, will also feature athletes from Special Olympics New York for the first time ever.
The Big Swim runs from 12-4 p.m. on Saturday, immediately after Asphalt Green’s annual “Swim-a-thon,” a fundraiser aiming to raise $100,000 to help promote swimming and water safety initiatives across the city.
The Big Swim, which has been running for 29 years, is one of the organization’s most effective methods of teaching people the importance of learning to swim, according to Asphalt Green’s Senior Director of Aquatics, David Rodriguez. He added that the event helps raise awareness about Asphalt Green’s free programming throughout the year.
“Learning how to swim is akin to learning how to ride a bike, learning how to walk,” Rodriguez said. “It’s just crucial and I think we’ve been really successful in bringing awareness to it.”
He added that the Big Swim is the ideal way to kick off Water Safety Month in May, raising awareness about the importance of learning how to swim and providing access to swimming programs with no financial barriers to entry. The event also takes place roughly two months before the summer season, when kids across the city will be taking to the beach and city pools.
Rodriguez noted that Asphalt Green serves around 4,000 kids across the city with its swimming program throughout the year, adding that he hopes Saturday’s Big Swim will encourage more children to join programs and learn how to swim.
“It’s a never-ending loop for us,” he said. “Whenever they decide they want to learn how to swim, we’re there for them.”
Saturday’s event, which sees every child race a 25-yard freestyle and see their name on a scoreboard, also aims to celebrate the children who already participate in Asphalt Green’s programming, Rodriguez said. Every child who participates in the event will receive a medal, with the aim to promote competitive swimming among newcomers and regular swimmers alike.
“We’re highlighting competitive swimming to a certain extent, but it’s really an event where everybody and anybody can jump in a pool, get across the pool, and we’ll cheer them on just for taking the initiative,” Rodriguez said. “We hope that it’ll inspire people to do any of the multitude of things that we offer.”
He noted that over 100,000 people have learned to swim at Asphalt Green and said the organization aims to remove barriers to entry for children to pick up a healthy hobby.
“Whatever pathways we can create to allow them to have that lifelong relationship with both the water and fitness in general, is something that’s top of mind for us,” he said, adding that Asphalt Green has provided more than $40 million worth of free swimming lessons since its foundation in 1972.
Rodriguez added that the inclusion of Special Olympics athletes in the upcoming Big Swim is “really exciting” for Asphalt Green. The non-profit’s first official Special Olympics team had its first practice on March 7 at Asphalt Green’s River East club, with 10 athletes taking part. Rodriguez said it is “only a matter of time” before that number rises.
“The more pathways and opportunities we give for anybody and everybody to participate and be part of this is something that we’re looking for,” he said.
Meghan Bentley, head coach for Special Olympics New York at Asphalt Green United Aquatics, said the new initiative aims to “create pathways” into competitive swimming for athletes who may not have had access otherwise. Bentley said the upcoming Big Swim presents an opportunity for some Special Olympic athletes to compete in a swimming event.
“For many of these athletes, Big Swim will be one of their first opportunities to compete in this type of setting, which makes it especially meaningful,” Bentley said in a statement.
Registration has now closed for Saturday’s Big Swim, with more than 1,000 kids signing up. However, Rodriguez said Asphalt Green will be accepting day-of registration at its Upper East Side campus, adding that no child who shows up on the day will be turned away.
