The Mayerson JCC is participating in a summer swim league that the coach, Becca Blumer, calls a “beer league.”
Grown-Up Swimming, a new semi-competitive adult swim league, is designed to be low-pressure, community-focused, and open to adults 18 and older, regardless of competitive experience.
“It’s more inclusive, it’s more accessible,” said Becca Blumer, who is organizing the Cincinnati region of the national league and coaching a team based at the Mayerson JCC.
Four meets this summer will be held at Cincinnati Recreation Center pools, including an outdoor Olympic-sized pool. Blumer does not want people to be scared away by that. According to her, the races are short, with the longest individual race being 100 meters. Teams can be made up of friends, families, or former competitors. And there will be events, like jeans races and cannonball contests.
Grown-Up Swimming is an offshoot of Masters swimming, and by design, focuses more on fun than competition.
“It’s about having fun, not winning,” Blumer said.
For Blumer, making swimming accessible is something she has already been doing for years. Over the past year, she has begun teaching not only kids swimming lessons but also adult swimming lessons. Now, some of those adult beginners have signed up for Grown-Up Swimming.
“They’ve gone from signing up for a beginner class to now being part of a swim league,” she said. “It’s really, really cool.”
Blumer says the adult lessons started with a mission: increase access and equity in a sport long associated with wealth and privilege.
“Swimming is kind of seen as the upper echelon,” she said. “If you’re living in a food desert, chances of you having access to a pool are also very low. But everyone in this city should have access and the ability to learn how to be safe around water.”
The league is open to JCC members and non-members alike. Practices for the JCC team – name still TBD, though “JCC Jellies” and “The Smoked Salmons” are in the running – are held Monday nights. She’s hoping to reach 100 participants across Cincinnati.
“You don’t have to be fast. You don’t even have to have swum competitively,” Blumer said. “As long as you can swim a lap of freestyle and backstroke, you’re in.”
Anyone interested in joining can sign up through Grown-Up Swimming’s website or email Blumer directly at becca@grownupswimming.com.
“I remember when I first heard about it, I was like, ‘Holy crap, that’s for me,’” she said. “Now I’m running the whole region. It’s gonna be fun.”
