SPLASHForward was invited by the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce's Policy Council to speak at their weekly meeting on May 12th.

The Policy Council serves the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce to set public policy on governmental issues facing the City of Bellevue. The Council also serves to address regional issues and form partnerships across organizations to promote policies.

We shared our mission and work with the City of Bellevue. We asked the Policy Council for advice as we socialize our efforts at the local and state levels. We also welcomed introductions to businesses that should hear our story. The response has been positive and we look forward to revisiting the Policy Council later this year.

As of this past weekend, ten Bellevue School District high school students have successfully obtaining their Lifeguard Certification through our sponsorship. We are providing them with resources to seek lifeguard jobs at our local facilities.

We all know that the pandemic put learn to swim and most youth aquatics programs on hold. As pools expand offerings and parents rush to find lessons, it is proving to be pretty hard to find classes.

We want to hear your story. How hard was it? Did you find lessons? On the waitlist? Loosing hope? Building a pool in your backyard? Send your stories to us.

The CG Sports Co is firmly behind our SPLASHForward mission with deep ties to our local Northwest swimming community. CEO and Founder, Cejih Yung grew up swimming in the PNW going from an age grouper to a UW swim team member.

His mom, like so many of our swim moms, drove many miles and volunteered countless hours to keep Cejih in the sport so he could fulfill his dreams. His aunt, Colleen Kwan, volunteered as a stroke and turn judge and became a Meet Referee during Cejih's club and college career. Both his mom and aunt still to this day attend his masters meets at King County Aquatic Center!

Thank you CG Sports Co!

A $9.2 Million renovation makeover is complete for Redmond Pool. Wave Aquatics operates the facility and the doors are back open after being closed to the public since the summer of 2019 (22 months).

North Minneapolis, a place that was the center of racial discrimination in the dark history of our country's swimming pools will soon have a community center with both a 25yd teaching pool and a 50m competition pool.

The disparity in access to learning to swim facilities and disproportionate drowning rates for people of color (7x higher than white people) inspired the vision for the V3 Center. They are creating a world class place for the community to gather, learn to swim, reach for big goals, and foster a greater sense of community.

SPLASHForward has connected with the visionary leader for the facility to learn from their journey to success. We are in alignment in our goals to reduce the barriers for access to water, learning to swim, preventing drownings, and creating a year-round health and wellness oasis for the community.

Watch this video to see the impact a community pool will have on the community in North Minneapolis.

The V3 Center has purchased the 2021 Olympic Trials pool that is being used right now in Omaha as our nation's top swimmers vie for a spot on the USA Olympic team. We are taking notes because it is possible to dream about the 2024 Olympic Trials pool being purchased for a new facility here in Bellevue bringing world-class technology and slice of inspirational history to a facility.