NEW YORK—Michael Phelps partnered with Visa Inc. to present a $20,000 jump-start grant to the Play Every Day program at the YMCA of Greater New York, one day after his return to United States on August 28.
The 23-year-old swimmer has won a total of 14 Olympic gold metals at two Olympics, a world record. Phelps started swimming at the age of 7, and he feels it is important to fund the YMCA early swimming program.
“Today is going to be a fun start for me, trying to achieve my goal outside the pool,” said Phelps. “I started swimming when my mother put us in water for water safety, and this is where it brought me. So this is a great place for me to start my next goal and my next dream of finding more people involved in the sport, and also more people involved in exercising.”
The grant to the YMCA will promote aquatic facility expansions in Brooklyn and Queens, purchase new swimming equipment, and expand its 2nd Grade Swim program, which is a curriculum for all 2nd graders to have free swimming lessons.
“[Swimming] is good exercise. It’s nice to get in the pool and feel the cool water, and competing is also fun,” said Adam Chan, a 12-year-old swimmer with the YMCA Camp. “[Phelps] is a really good swimmer, and I’ll be surprised to see him, it would be a nice thing. His mom didn’t think at first he could be an Olympic swimmer, but now he is. He is like one of the best.”
Phelps dove into the McBurney YMCA pool water joining some young swimmers. The kids followed him in various water activities such as jumping up from water with their arms in a diving position, etc. Phelps then instructed a few other kids on back kicking and held them afloat in the water. The youngsters showed very happy expressions on their faces, excited for the opportunity.
“This partnership brings together companies like Visa and other national organizations from public, private, and non-profit sectors, to raise awareness about increasing and improving the spaces where kids can play every day,” said Michael Speczzano, Vice President of Membership & Program Development of the YMCA.
“We believe that learning how to swim and how to be safe around water is not a privilege. … Not only knowing how to swim, but also about leadership, water safety, rescue skills and fun activities that can be enjoyed indeed through lifetime.” Said Speczzano.
The goal for Play Every Day is to ensure all children can receive 60 minutes of physical activities every day. Since kids who do not do enough exercise may develop “adult-type” diseases such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, the organizations came together to fund the project.
While talking about Phelps’ early passion for swimming, he said, “I fell in love with the sport, and later on my only thought was on swimming. There were a lot of times I did want to give up, I did want to stop, but I had so many goals I wanted to achieve and I was not going to stop until I accomplished those goals. So I guess what really kept me motivated and focused was just to stay through the hard times, and that was an experience and amazing ride. Something I’ll never forget.”
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