It is rare when adults get the chance to act and feel like kids again especially if they were once competitive athletes. That is why the inaugural season of the Grown-Up Swimming League in the DMV is bringing pure joy and rekindling the fire these ‘swammers’ once felt as children and teenagers.
The Grown-Up Swimming League debuted in Atlanta in 2020. The idea has spread around the country, and places like Montgomery County now have chapters.
The local league kicked off its summer season in mid-June, and 175 swimmers already are participating. The swimmers are currently broken into eight teams.
MCM spoke with the chapter’s founder, Lauren Eldridge, swim captain Akshay Gandhi, and swimmer Joshua Kim. They say this new league is lots of fun, and it has reawakened the passion they have long held for the sport:
Eldridge says she is hoping the league will grow next year and possibly expand into Northern Virginia. The teams currently competing all have unique and fun names. Gandhi’s team is called the “Slowbro Swim Club.”
The last meet of the season is July 23. If Montgomery County residents still want to join Grown-Up Swimming League, or watch a meet, they can check out the league website for more information or contact Lauren Eldridge at lauren@grownupswimming.com.
The people MCM spoke with are accomplished outside of the pool. Eldridge is an aerospace engineer with NASA while Gandhi is a science teacher at Richard Montgomery High School. Kim is a civil engineer who works on land development in Montgomery and Prince George’s County.
