2026 Fall Swim Safely Series on Sept. 11 at the PLU Pool

Theint Han

Lutes Give Back with Swim Safely Series

By Mark Albanese, Director of Sports Communication

Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for young children and the second leading cause of accidental death for teenagers. It’s a statistic the Pacific Lutheran University swimming program is determined to change. Putting the athletic department’s core value of service into action, Lute student-athletes partnered with the non-profit No More Under in September for the Swim Safely Series, equipping local youth with vital water safety skills to help save lives.

It's the third time the Lutes have hosted the Swim Safely Series, bringing under resourced children from Pierce County to the PLU Pool for the free five-day clinic. The Lutes first ran the series during September of 2025 before also running the clinic last spring.

We’re very honored and excited to have completed our third collaboration with No More Under! It gives me goosebumps seeing the confidence and comfort not only the participants gain in the series with us, but also the growth with our student-athlete instructors. As we grow in this experience with No More Under, we see our team members developing into great leaders, servants, and stewards in the community here at PLU and in the greater Parkland community.

Head Coach Andrew Lum

The Swim Safely Series is designed to make aquatics more inclusive and equitable, helping communities build lifesaving skills and confidence to prevent drownings. This fall over 40 children from ages five to 15 participated in the series with over 30 Lute student-athletes volunteering over the five days.

“What I love most about it and why I continue to do it is seeing all the kids having fun in the water. Obviously they’re learning very important skills but what’s moving to me as a swimmer is seeing everybody going from being scared on the first day to everyone jumping in that final day,” said Ellie Cutting.

The clinic has been such a success with Lum and his team that the Lutes have already scheduled a spring iteration of the event for 2027. Through the partnership with No More Under, over 100 families are on the waitlist to participate and through the feedback, 100 percent of the families would repeat the swim safely series and 92 percent intend to sign up for additional lessons.

It’s really neat to be able to interact with the kids and to be able to make a difference in their lives. I’ve really enjoyed knowing I can impact the families and children involved and spark a joy in their hearts for swimming and having fun in the water, while also knowing how to save themselves in case of an emergency.

Ella Norby

A non-profit out of Seattle, No More Under has supported over 1,500 under resourced children through free swim lessons and have distributed 3,000 water watcher badges by partnering with collegiate swim teams around the country. So far, the organization has partnered with swim teams from all three NCAA divisions across five different states.

In addition to having fun in the water and learning crucial lifesaving skills, PLU’s clinic provided all participants with a free swim cap and goggles thanks to community partners Piece County Parks, Active Youth Coalition, and the Names Family Foundation.

Seeing the transformations and having fun in the water, is really what drives me to continue this work and it’s so much fun to do this for so many kids.

I think from my perspective, it’s my third time leading the swim safely series and each time it’s been a little different. But what remains the same is we have such a large cohort of children each time and every time it never fails to surprise me and move me about how much improvement we can give these children in a week. My hope is that improvement will help these children be safer in the water, have more fun in the water, and hopefully inspire them to continue their swimming journey. And maybe we will see some of these children join their high school swim teams and potentially even their college swim teams because some small act of exposure we were able to give them while they were younger.

Aiden Koshinsky

The Lutes host their annual Alumni Meet on Homecoming on Oct. 10 before beginning the competitive season at home on Oct. 30 with a dual meet against Northwest Conference rival Whitman College.

2026-2027 Swim Schedule