U.S. Masters Swimming Club of the Year Award

Recipient:	Swim Fort Lauderdale
Year:	2015
LMSC:	Florida Gold Coast

Swim Fort Lauderdale (SFTL) was active in the "Save Swimming In Fort Lauderdale" initiative and was focused on the building of a new aquatic facility.  The team supported the importance of the history of swimming in Fort Lauderdale and worked to educate their community and their city commissioners. In addition, under the leadership of their head coach, Marty Hendrick,  SFTL had 299 members, was successful at National Championships and was supportive of swimmers of all abilities.

SFTL served their membership in many ways. SFTL welcomed 5-10 visitors daily that came to swim with them in the winter months. Some of these swimmers eventually joined their team. They had 9 USMS certified and recognized coaches at all of their 22 weekly practices. They hosted 2 large swim events every year. Their team entered the USMS ePostals and virtual events. They were involved in their LMSC and USMS National level committees.

SFTL promoted education and had good communication. Coach Hendrick wrote Swimmer and Streamline magazine articles, and LMSC newsletter stories, on swimming subjects. Example article titles are: "On Being Late", "Off to a Good Start", "Travel and the Need to Swim", "How To Be A Good Visitor", and “Workout Insurance Coverage”. SFTL had a good website with a visitor policy and contact information they kept current and the team also used Facebook, weekly emails, local newspapers, USMS Places to Swim, the FL Gold Coast LMSC website, and bulletin boards. SFTL had a booster club that raised money to help pay their coaches’ travel expenses to meets, clinics, or education, and also for swimmers’ team apparel, relay fees, and travel to national championships.

SFTL supported all of their swimmers with HEART and made their team successful.