Club Swim

About Club Swim at Pitt:

Formerly known as The Panther Swim Club, this team was founded in 2011 by a group of students at the University of Pittsburgh who wanted to create a competitive and fun team for students to continue swimming in college. Our current team for the 2021-2022 season consists of about 130 swimmers of all skill levels. We participate in four Invitational style meets a year, two of which we host. Our members choose the events they would like to participate in, allowing them to enjoy the meet. Additionally, we do the typical team bonding events like Pasta Parties, Spirit Week, and Fun Practices that bring everyone together. Anyone who enjoys swimming laps or wants to try for the first time can be a part of our team which really feels more like a family.

Our project:

We are reaching out to you all to help our team continue to grow. We travel to one away invitational at Ohio State and host an invitational meet during the fall semester and then travel to one away invitational at Penn State and host another invitational during the spring semester. Our away meets require the team to pay for van rentals, hotel reservations, and meet entry fees. We are also raising money to help send a handful of our top swimmers to the College Club Swimming National Championships in Atlanta, Georgia this year (April 8-10). This ends up being an expensive trip considering the costs of flights, hotels, and meet entries for each swimmer.

As a Club Sport on Pitt’s campus, we are an independent organization responsible for the majority of our own funding. Throughout the year, we set up a variety of fundraisers through on campus and off campus opportunities, such as the local restaurants in the area. However, we tend to spend a liiiiitle more than what we raise during those fundraisers, which is why we need your help. All of the funds we raise will help us lessen the financial burden of nationals as well as contribute to our dues, apparel, and meet expenses for next season!

How you can help: 

There are many different ways you can help Club Swim at Pitt reach our goal! Some things you could do include but are not limited to: making a donation (any amount you can give will make an enormous difference), spreading the word, sharing this campaign with your friends or family on social media, and cheering us on at our swim meets throughout the season.

 We would like to thank all of our supporters for their continued support in helping our team grow, be successful and for allowing us to continue to do what we love in the water. 

 MEET INFORMATION

Ohio State and Penn State:

The trip to Ohio State University is often the first major team college experience we have, as the meet is held at the start of the fall semester. It is a large meet, with around 400 swimmers participating, and it is also the first chance of the season for our athletes to qualify for nationals! Similarly, Penn State is the first meet to kick off the spring semester, acting as a great way to reunite everyone after the winter break. Trips to both of these venues allow for great team bonding among our team, and with more funds we can continue to bring as many people as possible!

The costs of our trips to Ohio State and Penn State include:

• Meet entry fees
• Hotel rooms for 80+ athletes for 1 night
• Van rentals and transportation fees for 80+ athletes 

Nationals: 

This year the College Club Swimming National Championship meet will be held in Atlanta, Georgia from April 8-10. This is a wonderful experience for our members to meet people from all over the country, as there are over 115 other colleges and 1800+ swimmers who attend! Atlanta, Georgia is home to the McAuley Aquatic Center formerly known as Georgia Tech Aquatic Center (GTAC) which is a beautiful facility that has hosted a variety of national meets, including 1996 Olympics, and the 2016 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. Unfortunately, last year due to COVID, we were unable to travel for our Nationals meet and it was held virtually instead. Although we loved that we were able to still participate, it was just not the same as getting to travel out of state. Therefore, this year we would love the opportunity to bring as many people as possible, giving them all the chance to honor our team and the University of Pittsburgh.

Costs of Nationals Include:

• Meet entry fees
• Round trip flights for approximately 25 athletes 
• Hotel rooms for approximately 25 athletes for 2 nights

Ground transportation between the airport, hotel, and aquatic center 

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Contributions received for this project shall be used in accordance with the purpose described herein, the terms in the FAQs and applicable law. For questions that cannot be answered in the FAQs, please call 412-648-4658 or email engage@pitt.edu.