Olympic Gold Medalist Heads to Capitol Hill to Promote Water Safety Initiative

WASHINGTON (March 11) -- Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Cullen Jones will be on Capitol Hill Thursday (March 12) advocating for the USA Swimming Foundation's innovative water safety and swimming education initiative, Make A Splash. 

Make A Splash is the national child-focused water safety initiative that aims to provide the opportunity for every child in the nation to learn to swim. Jones will speak to lawmakers about designing and implementing a program that will combine the benefits of swimming skills with the advantages after school programs offered to underserved children.  Jones, who won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the men's 4x100m freestyle relay, learned how to swim after nearly drowning as a child. 

"Many kids in certain ethnic minorities just don't have the opportunity to learn how to swim, and as a result they are much more likely to drown," said Jones.  "This is an opportunity to change that.  There is no good reason for children to be put at risk simply because they never learned to swim.  Make A Splash is helping prevent needless deaths while also creating opportunities for these kids to embrace a healthy and rewarding sport."

Make A Splash programs currently exist in Atlanta and Houston, where the initiative has touched thousands of children.  On Thursday, Jones will be meeting with lawmakers to help extend the program to multiple cities in his native New Jersey.

Jones will be visiting several Members of Congress and Senators throughout the day and will be available for a photo opportunity with Senator Frank Lautenberg.

About the USA Swimming Foundation
Respected for its mission, its strength of programs and its record of excellence, USA Swimming is a blue-ribbon institution in both amateur athletic and community service arenas.  Through USA Swimming and the USA Swimming Foundation, millions of America's youth have been introduced to the sport of swimming and have experienced the life-altering power of the sport - they see it manifest itself in ways such as safety, health and fitness, academic achievement, improved social skills, discipline, focus, community leadership and eventual personal and professional success. Based in Colorado Springs, the Foundation is governed by its own board of directors and is managed by USA Swimming staff members.