ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Olympic gold medalist and swimming advocate Rowdy Gaines visited western North Carolina this week and left the YMCA of WNC swimming in grant money.

Gaines held a press conference and grant presentation to a crowd of journalists, YMCA staff and young YMCA swimmers from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., Monday, May 5 at the Reuter Family YMCA, 3 Town Square Blvd.

A crowd of journalists, swimmers and YMCA staff attended Rowdy Gaines’ presentation.

The Olympian was representing his swim advocacy foundation, Step Into Swim, which seeks to reduce nationwide drowning rates through low-cost swim lessons and community programming. Gaines donated $10,000 to the YMCA of WNC to expand their swim programs alongside an in-kind grant of $50,000 for new pool equipment donated in partnership with Hayward Pool Products.

“I really wanted to try to do something in Asheville with our Learn to Swim grant because, obviously, I’ve heard and read and felt so much for the community,” Gaines explained.

Before his presentation, Gaines toured the area, surveying community pools destroyed by Tropical Storm Helene last fall.

“So many pools were damaged or completely destroyed,” Gaines mourned. “The main thing is to get them up and running, because you can’t see it on the radio, but right behind me are kids in the water, and the greatest joy I’ve ever had in my life as a kid, as a parent, as a grandparent is around the swimming pool.”

Olympian Rowdy Gaines stands in front of glass with a pool behind him.
Rowdy Gaines spoke at the Reuter Family YMCA directly in front of their swimming pool.

Many of the public pools in the Asheville area were wiped out by the storm.

Read our story about the state of public pools in Asheville this summer.

“That’s going to be taken away in a lot of ways in this community this summer, and that breaks my heart,” Gaines said.

The swimmer hoped that the grant money will not only help pools get back up and running but also teach more kids in the area how to swim.

“Drowning is an epidemic in our country. It’s the number one cause of death in children ages one to four, it’s the number two cause of death in children five to 14, so it truly is a huge problem in our country,” Gaines said. “It’s heartbreaking in so many ways because there’s a cure. And the cure, literally, is swim lessons.”

For more about swim lessons at the Y, visit www.ymcawnc.org/programs/swimming.