WASHINGTON — It takes a lot of passion and determination to want to wake up every morning before the start of school for swim practice. That is what the members of the DC Wave Swim Team do five times a week.
This weekend the swimmers competed at the 36th Annual Black History Invitational Swim Meet.
The three-day competition, produced by DPR and the United Black Fund, Inc. brought together just under 1,000 swimmers from across the United States.
Swimmers competed in standard swim events, such as the individual medley, freestyle, butterfly, relays, backstroke, and breaststroke.
The swim meet was also live-streamed for others to watch the action from the pool deck.
Delano Hunter is the Director of the DC Department of Parks and Rec.
“This is a big deal for us. This is the preeminent swim competition celebrating diversity and minority swimmers in the United States," said Hunter.
Hunter said he loves watching the students succeed.
“We have participants from nearly 20 states, including two swimmers who flew in from California so it is definitely a national competition and we are at nearly thousand swimmers this year alone,“ said Hunter
During Black History Month, swimmers around the nation travel to the nation’s capital to compete in one of the longest-running minority swim meet in the world.
The Black History Invitational Swim Meet was founded in 1987 by the DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and the United Black Fund, Inc. with the mission to provide urban youth exposure to strong competition and a forum to meet positive role models.
This competition is now recognized by USA Swimming, the national governing body for the sport of swimming.