Valdez Torpedoes Swim Club

The Valdez Torpedoes Swim Club began in 1994 when a group of interested parents and children came together and decided to create a swim club to serve local children ages 6 to 18. Consensus was that after completing the Parks and Rec. swim program, swimmers had no further resource for swim instruction and no outlet for competitive swimming. It has expanded its services to meet the needs of younger children with the Learn to Swim Program, currently operating as the Bronze swim group. The club competes in meets at home and across the state. We host a popular swim meet at home in Valdez - the Banana Meet - every spring, bringing families and athletes to Valdez for the weekend. VTSC is a member of the Alaska Postal League and club swimmers regularly qualify for Alaska State Championships. For the first three years volunteers did all the coaching for the club from September through May. In its fourth year the club hired its first paid head coach to supervise swimming instruction and competition and has been able to engage the services of a Head Coach ever since. We now have two lead coaches as well as two "deckhands" who help teach our youngest swimmers basic skills. Though VTSC offers competitive swim training, many families use our program to build their childrens' swimming competency to help ensure their safety while recreating in our coastal community, which is also encouraged and important.

Valdez Torpedoes Swim Club is heavily dependent upon fundraising; in fact, in recent years roughly half of program expenses have been covered by fundraising. Money raised through Pick.Click.Give helps enable us to cover our organizational and program expenses, such as payroll, pool rental fees, swim meet expenses, bookkeeping, and more. Your donation directly contributes to keeping our volunteer-run program operational. We also conduct other fundraisers such as a popular holiday wreath sale with participation from our swimmers; however, considering our operational expenses, we typically apply for grants and all relevant funding sources each year, including Pick.Click.Give. We thank you for considering giving part of your PFD to our swim club!