As with all other sports, being inspired and having fun in swimming drives kids to join teams and make swimming part of their lifestyle.

Role models certainly play a big role in participation in youth sports.  However, over the years it has been difficult for most kids participating in grassroots swimming to establish true heroes in the sport because elite level swimmers have not been easy to see in person or even on television.

The goal of Swim Champions is to make elite level swimmers more accessible throughout the world.  The Fitter & Faster Tour™ is a series of exciting events featuring many of the world’s greatest swimmers – individuals who are champions in the pool and out of it.  Participants swim with the Olympians, have their photos taken with them, are involved in interactive question and answer sessions, receive gift bags and much more.

Currently there are over 20 Olympians participating in the Fitter & Faster Tour who have combined to win over 60 Olympic medals, hundreds of national and NCAA titles, All American honors and other distinctions.  Also touring with the Olympians are several “up-and-comers” who are contenders to make the Olympic team in 2012.  All of the athletes who participate in the tour have been carefully selected.  They are not only great athletes, but they are a pleasure to be around – they make our events truly special and memorable for participants.  All the elite athletes who are part of the tour come from different backgrounds and have different stories and experiences that attendees can relate to.  Many of the featured athletes have graduated at the top of their class in college, have been Rhodes Scholarship finalists, attend medical school, and are pursuing careers that inspire them as much as their swimming.

When the idea for the Fitter & Faster Tour was first conceived, we thought it would be an annual three-month series of events that visits approximately 20 cities.  However, after our first three months of running the tour, we saw that the demand for our events was so great that we decided to continue doing them year-round.  Between August and November of 2009, the Fitter & Faster Tour visited 27 cities and we sold almost 3,000 tickets.  2010 kicked off with ten cities scheduled over the first five weekends of the year.  We are projecting to visit over 80 cities throughout the United States in 2010.

The Fitter & Faster Tour is the only series of swimming events positioned to reach the millions of swimmers participating in swim programs throughout the United States as part of YMCA programs, high school teams, recreation and summer leagues, and master swimming.  We have significantly broadened the access to elite level swimmers by eliminating the need for an upfront investment by teams and opening registration to all local swimmers by selling tickets online. 

The Fitter & Faster Tour generates media in each local market in which we host an event.  However, the Tour’s national scope, enables us to create media at the national level. 

Swimmers and parents coming to a Fitter & Faster Tour event are treated to a quality experience. Typically at each event we send two to three elite level swimmers.  We send a large number of visuals to each event to enhance the experience.  If you are a swimmer who goes to that particular pool every day for practice, you will feel like you are some place special when the Fitter & Faster Tour is at your pool.  All registrants receive a gift bag that contains various gifts including:

·      64 page Fitter & Faster Tour Event program that features full color photos of all the athletes and their bios – a lot of the attendees use this piece as an item to be autographed

·      Speedo Fitter & Faster T-shirt

·      TYR F&F swim cap

·      Shampoo courtesy Ultra Swim

·      and much more. 

The event is broken down as follows:

·      Immediately after checking in, each registrant has the opportunity to take an individual photo with each of the Olympians and try on their medals.

·      After the photos, the kids and parents are divided into two groups.  Since we always have more than one elite athlete at each event, at least one Olympian will go talk with the registrants while the other Olympian(s) speaks with the parents.  Then, the athletes switch.  This way, the registrants and the parents all have an opportunity to meet each Olympian and ask them questions. 

·      After the talks/q & a session, all of the registrants get in the water with the Olympians for about an hour and a half of racing and drills.  This portion of the event is high energy and there are excellent photo opportunities for parents. 

·      Following the time in the water, all of the elite-level swimmers on hand go back and speak with the parents for 10 more minutes.  At this point in the event the parents always have more questions.  Then, we wrap the event up with an autograph session in which the athletes will sign anything that attendees bring them.

The Swim Champions’ Fitter & Faster Tour is produced by Arluck Promotions, Inc., the world’s leading sports marketing company focused on swimming.  We are dedicated to extending the reach of the sport, entertainment for fans, and value for sponsors.