Nauset Student Founds Free Swimming Program

With summer coming to a close, students across the Cape are doing their best to enjoy their days away from the structure of the school day. Some may be getting in that last paycheck from a summer job. Some may just be trying to binge a final Netflix series. One local high school student is seeing four months of work pay off as they provide a resource to the community.

The Nauset High School swim team, in collaboration with Brewster Day Camp and The Family School, is hosting “Nauset Swim to Start,” a cost-free program for anyone ages 5 to 17 to learn to swim. The program, which runs through Sept. 4, was founded by rising Nauset senior Edith Spiegel, a competitive swimmer for 11 years and member of the Nauset Swim team, who said she wanted to provide a place for young people to feel more comfortable in the water. 

Spiegel recounted a story about helping teach a classmate to swim as being a flicker of inspiration for the project.

“It basically inspired me and I said, I realized how many people don't know how to swim on the Cape and how the prices on the Cape are so hard for families,” said Spiegel. “So I decided to come up with this nonprofit program idea.”

The program came together quickly, according to Spiegel. In collaboration with Nauset Swim coach Justin Bohannon, she approached the athletic director at Nauset in April with the idea. From there she applied for a grant through the United Way Micro Grant Program and then approached Milisa Galazzi, president and executive director of The Family Schools, about pool access. 

Galazzi was more than willing to help Spiegel with her vision. Galazzi said that her mother, Marcia Pioppi Galazzi, the founder of The Family School, put the pool “right smack in the middle of the campus” as she felt that kids living on Cape Cod should know how to swim and feel safe in and around water. Spiegel’s mission was the same as her mother’s, Galazzi said.

“When Edie came to me and said there's so many people that aren't swim proficient or aren't safe around water and that she wanted to create a free program to teach kids, it was right in line with my mom's original mission,” said Galazzi. “I said, ‘I'm totally interested. Come see the facility. Let me explain to you what we can provide you with.’

“I'm interested in supporting someone this entrepreneurial and her ideas and I also really love giving back to the community,” she said.

Spiegel also created a website, swimtostart.com, for people to sign up. The website outlines a list of goals for the program, her qualifications as an instructor, and a list of water safety rationale that shares data about why a program like this matters. Some of her points include: “Nearly 900 children and adolescents ages zero to 19 die from accidental drowning each year;” “drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional injury deaths for children and adolescents ages 5 to 19;” and how “one of the key solutions proposed by the American Academy of Pediatrics is ‘children and adolescents should learn basic swim skills including floating and moving through the water.’”

According to Spiegel and Galazzi, parents would typically have to spend around $45 to $50 per student for a 30- to 60-minute session depending on where a lesson took place. A program like this allows for parents to save money while students learn a fundamental life skill in a safe environment.

Spiegel said that she also enjoys working with the kids.

“I just love showing kids that the water's not scary. Like we literally live around it,” said Spiegel. “I've always loved seeing the kids be happy when they learn how to take their first strokes or kicking across the pool, getting the deep ends, everything like that.”

Lifeguarding for the day was Sandwich rising senior Sam Thompson. She heard about the event from her swim coach and said “of course” when asked if she could help out. She noted the close relationship between the Nauset and Sandwich teams (they share a practice space) and was ready to help when asked. 

“Nauset Swim to Start” runs through Sept. 4 with classes taking place from 4 to 6 p.m. Each day consists of four 30-minute classes with five to 10 people per class. For more information or to sign up, visit swimtostart.com.