INDIANAPOLIS — More than 50,000 Hoosiers are "water safe," thanks to the Swim IN Safety Program.
The program launched earlier this year in conjunction with the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials here in Indianapolis.
On Thursday, Nov. 21, USA Swimming and Indiana Sports Corp celebrated reaching the milestone, and Hoosier Olympic medalist Blake Pieroni met with kids at Lawrence Central High School for a performance camp.
It's a sport that has had a huge impact on the city.
Pieroni said the connection between Indiana and swimming runs deep.
"Indiana has such a good history and the culture of being really good at swimming and prioritizing swimming," Pieroni said. "I think that I had a major advantage growing up in the state of Indiana, just having people in the state that had done amazing things before me and having that history of people going to Junior Nationals, people being on national teams, people being ranked in the top 10 in the world, and so I think I had a little bit of an advantage like growing up in the state of Indiana. So that's one of the things I'm truly grateful for."
Olympic swimmers will return to Indianapolis on Saturday, Nov. 23 for the Golden Goggle Awards. The event will honor the 2024 Olympic Swim Team and their achievements in Paris.