The Greensboro Community Swim Association (CSA) is a non-profit organization comprised of 20+ local swim clubs and more than 2,000 swimmers from ages 5 to 18 in the Greensboro, NC metropolitan area. CSA encourages and promotes competitve summer swimming as a part of the programs offered by the member community pools. Each independent club has its own membership and requirements. CSA organizes the member teams based on performance at the previous City Meet and conducts weekly dual meets over a 5-week period beginning in June and ending in July. At the end of the dual meet season, a City Swimming Championship is held over a three-day period at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE COMMUNITY SWIM ASSOCIATION
The Community Swim Association was formed in 1958 by a local dentist, Dr. James Finn, with the help of Red Cross Water Safety Director, Garland Murray. Seven teams participated in the first City Meet held the following year: Friendly Homes, Sedgefield Country Club, Hamilton Lakes, Guilford Hills, Lawndale, Elks Club, and Greensboro Swim Association Junior Team. Lindley Park pool was the home of the City Meet for many years, until it was moved indoors in 2012, never to be rain-delayed again.
The first dual meet in Greensboro was held in 1957, one year before CSA was formed. The competing teams were from Guilford Hills Park and Friendly Homes. The Friendly Homes team was coached by Bob Sawyer, a two-time All-American backstroke champion, who later became head swim coach at Grimsley High School. Sawyer, together with Robert B. Jamieson, were instrumental in the promotion and improvement of swimming in Greensboro.
David Meredith of Meredith Pools established the Golden Swimmer awards in 1965. Golden Swimmer awards are presented to those swimmers who win three gold medals at the City Meet.
The James C. Finn award, established by his family in 1975, honors the founder and first CSA president, who served eight terms. It is given to a CSA swimmer who exhibits “great sportsmanship, team spirit and desire to excel. He or she need not be a consistent champion, but rather one who works hard to improve and dedicates himself wholeheartedly to swimming.”
The Nancy Welch Gentry Award is given annually to the most improved CSA swim team. It was established in 1977 in honor of its namesake, who served as CSA secretary from 1969 to 1976.
Team sportsmanship is recognized by the Mildred Ball Stancil Award, established in 1981 by the children of its namesake, Lynn Stancil Buchanan and Hal Stancil.
Through the efforts of Bob Sawyer, CSA instituted the Swim for Cancer fund-raiser in 1973. The first year receipts were $ 3,284.94; in 2014 CSA swimmers raised $228,000. Today it is the largest swim-related fund raiser for cancer research in the country. Through 2014, the program has raised a total of approximately $3.5 million for the American Cancer Society.
Today the CSA includes 23 teams and more than 2,000 swimmers. The City Meet is a festive and impressive undertaking that requires many volunteers and attracts thousands of spectators.
For those who would like to read more, see A History of Swimming in Greensboro, compiled and written by Mary Lynn Bell (1998)
