Swimmers Step Up to Help Hurricane Harvey Victims

At a time when natural and man-made tragedies have struck places across the U.S. in Houston, Florida, Puerto Rico and Las Vegas, bringing smiles and warmth even for a brief while can be an uplifting distraction for anyone affected.

That’s exactly what two-time Olympian and former Team SwimOutlet swimmer Cammile Adams has been doing in her home town of Houston, Texas, meeting, swimming and talking to young swimmers displaced or affected by the floods of Hurricane Harvey.

SwimOutlet.com donated over 200 backpacks for Adams to distribute to kids within the swim community in Houston and Adams filled them with other donations of gear, suits and accessories to create a swim goody bag.

“When this all happened, I wanted to do something that would directly benefit the swimmers who have been affected,” said Adams. “There were like 20-30 swimmers who lost every thing and didn’t even have the gear they needed to practice, so this was our way to help get them back into the pool.”

Fellow Olympian Allison Schmitt traveled in for a fundraising event and over $5500 was raised directly to fund Gulf Swimming’s (link: http://www.gulfswimming.org/) initiative to help displaced swimmers have their swim dues covered for the next year.

Elite swimmers continue to be some of the best role models in sports and Adams is an example of how our sport and its athletes can be a source of goodwill in our communities during difficult times.