DC Area Boys To Graduate From Swimming Program Founded By Holton-Arms Student

BETHESDA, MD — A group of 12 boys will be graduating Tuesday from a summer swimming program founded by a 15-year-old student at Holton-Arms School in Bethesda.

Lindsay Alisbah, a rising junior at Holton-Arms and a competitive swimmer, launched the WJA Swim Club earlier this summer. She and her friends spent five weeks teaching a group of 5th through 8th grade boys from the D.C. area to learn how to swim in the pool at Lindsay's home.

Lindsay, who competes on the Holton-Arms swim team and the Nation’s Capital Swim Club, will be holding the fifth and final swimming lesson Tuesday afternoon — along with the graduation ceremony — for the 12 boys.

“I was lucky enough to have many friends on my swim team that were more than willing to help me out with the program, and I also asked some of my other friends from my summer swim team to help,” Lindsay told Patch.

The boys who participated in the free swimming program — three boys each from 5th through 8th grade — attend Washington Jesuit Academy in Washington, D.C. Many of them come from low-income and underserved areas and may not have access to swimming classes.

Swimming is "a crucial life skill that many underprivileged kids do not get to experience," she said.

Lindsay learned about Washington Jesuit Academy through her parents, who decided to sponsor a boy at the school for the 2022-23 school year.

Each Tuesday, the boys arrived in a bus at Lindsay’s home during the five-week swimming program. The primary goal of the lessons was to teach the boys how to tread water, float on their stomachs and backs, and feel confident being alone in the water without assistance.

Along with founding the swim club, Lindsay is active with Doorsteps Donations, a nonprofit organization run by young people committed to addressing food insecurity.

Lindsay, who serves as the Maryland director for the organization, works with her colleagues to collect bags of nonperishable food donated by the public and then delivers them to food banks in Maryland.

As they were establishing the WJA Swim Club, Lindsay and her parents worked with the head of school and other staff members at the Washington Jesuit Academy. They got to tour the school, see how the school is run and meet the students.

WJA staff chose the boys who were the best fit for the program. "I wanted boys that were not comfortable at all in the water and could not swim," Lindsay said, "so they ruled out anyone with prior swimming experience."

Lindsay said she plans to conduct the WJA Swim Club again next summer, in between her junior and senior years at Holton-Arms. On the club website, boys and their families who are interested in participating in the 2023 program can subscribe to the club's mailing list to receive updates.

After the completion of next year's program, Lindsay is hoping another student at Holton-Arms or one of her Nation's Capital Swim Club teammates will take over the program when she heads off to college.

At college, Lindsay is hoping to continue her swimming career at the Division I level. As a highly ranked swimmer in Maryland, Lindsay said seeing the success of her older teammates on the Holton-Arms swim team has inspired her to train and work hard to become an even stronger swimmer.

Lindsay said she has noticed that the swimming classes have given the boys in her classes more confidence in themselves. For Tuesday's graduation, Lindsay and her friends who helped with the classes will join the boys to celebrate their accomplishments.

"I saw an opportunity to give back to my community, and launched WJA Swim Club," she said. "We hope to grow in the coming years to provide a permanent opportunity for WJA students."