About

The Founding of BH-JSL

The Jefferson Swim League (JSL) began its commitment to youth swimming and community engagement in 1966 and has operated continuously since that time, growing to a registered population of swimmers that now approaches 3,000 children annually.

In 2008, the Jefferson Swim League’s leadership recognized the extraordinary need to reach out more broadly to the community with a “learn to swim” program for “at risk children” to be called “Just Swim for Life” (also, JSL). In 2010, the JSL Board of Directors unanimously voted to help establish and partner with the Ben Hair Just Swim for Life Foundation (BH-JSL) as its charitable arm – a 501(c)(3) public charity with the purpose of providing solutions to the problem that extraordinary numbers of people in our community never learn how to swim at all.

The BH-JSL received a “charter gift” of $5,000 from the Jefferson Swim League during its 2010 Championship Swim Meet and the BH-JSL Board of Directors is significantly integrated with the Jefferson Swim League. The Jefferson Swim League continues to make an annual financial commitment to the success of the BH-JSL, drawing from its very successful membership fees and corporate support.

The BH-JSL Foundation proudly carries “JSL” as part of its name and the BH-JSL logo contains elements from the JSL logo to emphasize the high level of mission-integration and commonality of purpose.

BH-JSL in conjuction with the Jefferson Swim League seeks to improve the current state of water safety by:

Training more Water Safety Instructors
Making Water Safety Instruction more accessible
Training children and adults who would otherwise not have the opportunity to learn water safety skills and feel safe around the water.
Improving the quality of life for all people by giving them the gift of water safety.

What is BH-JSL?

The mission of the Benjamin Hair Just Swim for Life Foundation (BH-JSL) is to raise awareness of the need, and to provide the motivation, systems, and tools to waterproof our community so that all children have basic swimming skills and are safe around water.

A recent study has found that 40% of white children, nearly 70% of African-American children, and 58% of Hispanic/Latino children cannot swim and feel uncomfortable around water. BH-JSL works to remedy this statistic.

BH-JSL will fund certified Water Safety Instructors to conduct learn-to-swim programs to improve water safety in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area.

Other partners include:

Fry Springs Beach Club
Jefferson Swim League
Piedmont Family YMCA
Louisa County Parks and Recreation
Gordonsville Pool
Crozet PARC

The BH-JSL Foundation is a 501(c)(3) Public Charity with headquarters in Charlottesville, VA.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the mission of the BH-JSL?
The mission of the BH-JSL is to promote aquatic safety by funding programs that train Water Safety Instructors and teach basic swimming and water safety techniques.

Will BH-JSL be partnering with USA Swimming’s Make A Splash Program?
We expect all members of the BH-JSL to also be a local partner of Make a Splash first and then to use Make a Splashto make water safety more visible in our local community. As of July 7, 2010, the City of Charlottesville Park and Recreation is a certified Make a Splash Local Partner, and will receive funding from BH-JSL to hold water safety courses.

Who can receive funds from the BH-JSL?
As adequate funds are developed, the BH-JSL plans to support any organization that supports its mission within the scope of its guidelines and policies. This could include, but not be limited to, Jefferson Swim League teams, USA Swim Teams, YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, Schools, Community Centers, and for-profit fitness centers.

I have heard that young children under 5 are at high risk of drowning. Will you be addressing this issue?
YES. The BH-JSL’s “train the trainers” program will fund the training of new Water Safety Instructors and Water Safety Instructor Trainers (or their equivalents). By dramatically expanding the availability of instructors with these advanced certifications, the BH-JSL will be providing the community with a valuable new resource for teaching young people, including those 5 years of age or younger, how to swim safely. It is expected that these additional instructors will partner with numerous clubs and organizations to develop new and expanded programs to teach swimming. Over time and with expansion of our donor base, we plan to directly fund programs that teach younger children to swim as well.

Will BH-JSL address adults who cannot swim?
YES. Just as the BH-JSL will support programs for young people with its “train the trainers” program, so will the BH-JSL’s funding support adults who have never learned how to swim. By dramatically expanding the availability of instructors with these advanced certifications, the BH-JSL will be providing the community with a valuable new resource for teaching ANYONE, including adults, how to swim safely. As additional funding becomes available, we hope to directly fund programs that teach adults to swim as well.

Is there a particular “at risk” group that BH-JSL will be focusing on during its first years?
We will first look to the 8 to 12 age group as this group is the most “at risk” to never learn to swim, but the mission of the JSL and BH-JSL will be to expand awareness about the importance of water safety and the need to learn to swim for all ages. The BH-JSL is a child-focused water safety initiative, however by helping fund the training of Red Cross Water Safety Instructors in each of the JSL pools we also expect to teach adults water safety and how to swim.

What is the relationship between BH-JSL and USA Swimming’s Make A Splash Program?
BH-JSL has adopted the requirements of the USA Swimming Foundation Make a Splash. Because Make a Splash is a national program, the benefits are numerous as we can share promotional materials and best practices. Most of all we share a common goal of saving lives and getting kids more fit.

What is the relationship between the JSL and BH-JSL?
The JSL and the BH-JSL share the mission of providing a healthy, challenging, and rewarding growth experience through swimming for children and adults. The Jefferson Swim League does this by assuring its participants have fun, learn the fundamentals of swimming, learn teamwork, sportsmanship, and put forth their best effort in the sport of swimming. The Benjamin Hair Just Swim for Life program provides the additional dimension of training the community in water safety. By partnering together, the two organizations exhibit the important qualities of teamwork, participation in life of the community, and accepting the important challenge and opportunity of assuring that our friends and neighbors are safe around the water. At its June 20, 2010 Board of Directors Meeting, the JSL Board unanimously voted to partner with the BH-JSL to further promote their related missions. JSL and BH-JSL will share leadership positions in their mutual organizations.

Did you know that drowning is the number one cause of death by accidental injury for children ages 1-4? For people under age 24 drowning is the third most common cause of accidental death. You’ve got to learn how to swim, especially if you plan to spend time at the beach or the pool!

Make a Splash is a national child-focused water safety initiative created by the USA Swimming Foundation.

It works by aligning the nation’s top learn-to-swim resources in an effort to save lives. Make a Splash educates parents through a national awareness campaign, saves lives by joining forces with grassroots learn-to-swim programs and reaches thousands of children through wide-reaching in-school materials.

The end goal is to create real solutions designed to ensure children are water safe, especially minority youth who are at a higher risk for drowning. The USA Swimming Foundation, African American Olympic gold medalist swimmer Cullen Jones and Make a Splash are teaming up this summer and will utilize the information from the findings presented in the studies below as they travel the country to educate parents and kids about the importance of learning to swim and the resources available for families in need. Make a Splash is the national water safety initiative created by the USA Swimming Foundation in an effort to provide access to swim lessons at low to no cost for children across the country.

Water Safety Facts

9 people drown each day in the U.S.
In ethnically-diverse communities, the youth drowning rate is 2-3 times higher than the the national average
Nearly six out of 10 African American and Hispanic/Latino children are unable to swim, nearly twice as many as their Caucasian counterparts
The key indicator in this was not race, but family — Children from non-swimming households are eight times more likely to be at-risk of drowning
While about 1/3 of white children from non-swimming families go on to learn to swim, less than 1/10 of children in non-swimming African American families do. By teaching these children, Make a Splash is breaking the cycle and creating generations of parents-to-be who will know how to swim
Drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death in the U.S. among children under 14 and theleading cause of accidental death for children five and under.
For people under age 24 drowning is the third most common cause of accidental death.
The key indicator for drowning risk was not race, but family– children from non-swimming households are 8 times as likely to be at risk for drowning.
In 2007, there were 3,443 fatal unintentional drownings in the United States, averaging ten deaths per day.
More than one in five fatal drowning victims are children 14 and younger. For every child who dies from drowning, another four received emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries.
Nonfatal drownings can cause brain damage that may result in long-term disabilities including memory problems, learning disabilities, and permanent loss of basic functioning.

*The USA Swimming Foundation commissioned a national research study as a part of its national Make a Splash anti-drowning initiative. The survey was conducted by the University of Memphis. 1,772 children ages six to 16 years old were surveyed in six U.S. metropolitan area in 2008; Chicago, Houston, Memphis, Oakland and Philadelphia.

*The Constraints Impacting Minority Swimming Participation, Phase II study was conducted by the University of Memphis between February 1, 2010 and May 26, 2010 and surveyed more than 2,000 children and parents in six cities across the U.S, including Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Memphis, Minneapolis and San Diego.

Board Members

Gordon Hair – President

Amanda Budd – President Elect

Jessica Simons – Treasurer

Bob Garland – Member at Large

Lisa Bendall – Albemarle County Athletics Representative

Kristen Wells – Fairview Swim and Tennis Club Representative

Advisory Board
Beth Bullard – Aquatics Director

Kim Basile – Fundraising

Susan Turner – Rivanna Gear and Apparel

George Mogambi Onguae – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Advisor

Quanisha Raven – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Advisor

Malva Morgan – Grants and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Advisor