Westport Swim Club, renowned for its coaching, is facing an uncertain future after a scheduling conflict with a new Parks and Rec swim club taking over its original practice time. Coaches and parents are rallying to restore the club’s original time slot, with fears that the new late hours will steer young learners away and put the swim club at risk of closure.
In 2020, Staples swim coaches Kuku Fleming and Mike Anderson took notice of students from Staples teams across the board who had previous training from clubs or teams they had started in previous grades. What they also found was that there was not a real source for swimmers to get that training, which was what inspired them to start Westport Swim Club. Fleming and Anderson’s main goal was creating a pipeline: building something to make good swimmers great for their high school teams.
Fleming describes Westport Swim Club as a feeder club. Essentially, their main goal is to train kids from second to eighth grade, perfect their craft, and then, when they are ready, send them to year-round clubs (i.e., Water Rats, Weston, Zeus). Westport Swim Club operates from the Staples High School pool with a 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. time slot. The reported shutdown is due to the time conflict with a new swim club that Parks and Rec are implementing. The new swim club will be taking over in their earlier time slot, while Westport Swim Club is left with the later, 7:30 P.M. time slot.
“If we are getting the 7:30 time slot, it means the club is dead,” Fleming said. “Because we have young kids, the later time slot is not a reasonable time.”
So far, 11 of the 21 girls on the Staples girls’ swim team are from the Westport Swim Club. One of them is Ariana Saliu ’27, who joined when she was in eighth grade and is now on the Staples girls’ swim team.
“Honestly, when I heard about the club’s impending end, I was devastated,” Ariana Saliu ’27 said. “There are no other clubs on the market, especially in this town, with genuinely good coaches who can balance their coaching style and character.”
Parents have been taking action to return the swim club to its regular times. Backed by the club, parents have been sending emails containing a letter describing the swim club’s importance and impact to the first Selectwoman of Westport Jennifer Tooker and the Second Selectwoman Andrea Moore. They have also taken action by submitting an opinion piece to 06880 journalist, Dan Woog, which should be posted on his website in the coming days.
“I love my parents [of my students]. They’re just really kind, supportive and, you know, appreciative and easy to work with,” Fleming said. “As a result of a good relationship, and when things like this happen, they stand up for the program.
