New USU Swim Club Makes a Splash

By Ian Neligh

Butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke — or even the doggy paddle — regardless of a swimmer’s experience level, a new student club at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) encourages anyone with an interest in swimming to get their feet wet.

The swim club, the first of its kind at the university, is looking to help students, staff, and faculty with improving fitness, and building community. The swim club joins the university’s already robust roster of extracurricular groups, including everything from singing to hockey.

Navy Ensign Shannon Exley took part in competitive
swimming and coaching on masters-level teams as well
as the Nation's Capital Swim Club. (Photo credit:
Ensign Shannon Exley)

Navy Ensign Shannon Exley, a doctoral student in clinical psychology, and a member of the new group’s leadership team, said the swim club is currently trying to gauge interest in organized swimming workouts and has nearly 60 people interested in joining.

“Right now we’re sending out weekly updates and workouts for people to do on their own,” Exley says. “But we’re making plans for the fall to do some more organized workouts where we set aside times that hopefully work for our members.”

There’s a lot about swimming to be enthusiastic over.  

Swimming is considered one of the best ways to get in shape — 20 minutes equals a full-body, 250-calorie workout. In addition, several recent studies have shown that swimming might also be the best form of exercise for your brain. In humans and rodents, studies have shown that swimming helps create and improve brain cells, reduces the cognitive effects associated with aging, and improves memory.

Exley has been swimming competitively since she was six years old and continued competing at the American University for their Division 1 women’s team. After graduating she took part in competitive swimming and coaching on masters-level teams as well as the Nation’s Capital Swim Club.

“Now I just incorporate swimming into my schedule regularly and am excited to get back to some organized meets.” Exley says. 

Exley says the club’s leadership is excited about building a sense of community through swimming and helping members to grow their technical skills in the sport. 

“I think it is something that is very close to all of our hearts and any opportunity for us to help pass on some things that we learned through our swimming careers is an incredible opportunity,” Exley says. “… People of all levels of swimming backgrounds are welcome.”

USU swim club president and medical school student Navy Ensign Andrew Greenhalgh discovered swimming in high school and in college qualified for
the Olympic Trials, earning a spot on the United States National Junior Team. (Photo credit: Ensign Andrew Greenhalgh)

Club president and medical school student Navy Ensign Andrew Greenhalgh says he discovered swimming once he began attending high school in Bethesda. He later attended Johns Hopkins University and was on its swim team, becoming a junior national qualifier in the mile and the 500-yard freestyle. After his freshman year in college, he qualified for the Olympic Trials and earned a spot on the United States National Junior Team and was the national champion in the 500 freestyle. 

“My swimming career always gave me a sense of not only pride in terms of my accomplishments, but also the community it gave me,” Greenhalgh says, adding even today his closest friends come from his time on the college swimming team.

Navy ENS Andrew Greenhalgh poses with Shetland, the USU facility dog.
Greenhalgh said he wanted to start the swim club to help others build fitness
and community. (Photo credit: Ensign Andrew Greenhalgh)

“That’s what swimming means to me — it has always been a place of community,” Greenhalgh says. “It’s always, obviously, been a good source of exercise but more than anything it has helped me expand and reach out to people I wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to interact with.”

Greenhalgh says building a swimming community and introducing others to the sport was why he wanted to start a swim club at the university.

“Not only did I want to interact with people who had similar backgrounds as me who were college swimmers — but I also wanted to get other people involved in swimming because of how much it meant to me,” Greenhalgh says. 

He adds that, with his coaching background, and particularly with everything that swimming has given him, he wants to spread that sense of community across the university.

“When we look back on our time at USU, we will remember not only the important lessons learned in the classroom, but also the strong interpersonal connections we made with other students, faculty, and staff,” Exley says. “We are confident that this swim club will help build these connections across the university.”