# D O I N ’ G O O D
It’s a Matter of Life
A local swim club benefits the community by offering
free lessons — and a chance to compete.
NBy Christine R. Gonzalez | Photography by Allison Potter ORTHSIDE’S Earl Jackson swim-ming
pool is the home of NSEA Swim,
a Wilmington nonprofit dedicated to
giving all children and adults the oppor-tunity
to learn to swim.
NSEA (Northside Elite Aquatics) began as a swim-ming
club. Coaches and officials soon realized that the
Northside community where they practiced, at 750
Bess Street, was not bodily represented on the team.
They set out to increase multicultural, ethnic and socio-economic
diversity in the sport. Their goal is to one day
have the most inclusive swim team in the state.
The pool’s namesake, Earl Jackson, was known and
respected throughout Wilmington for his drive to
involve children in sports, to keep them busy and off
the streets. Superstar athlete Michael Jordan is one of
the children he coached along the way. Jackson was
memorialized in May with the presentation of new
murals in his honor at the pool.
Like Jackson, the families of the NSEA Swim dedi-cated
themselves to a cause. They formed a foundation
to “set goals to promote water safety, improve health,
decrease obesity, and prevent drowning. And, at the
same time, we initiated our plan to increase multicul-tural,
ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity in the sport
of swimming,” states NSEA.
The year-round swim club competes in official USA
Swimming meets locally and throughout the state.
Swimmers range from 5 to 16 years old and include
competitors at all skill levels.
The foundation’s mission is to break barriers by
training a diverse group of athletes from any ethnic
and economic situation. And it doesn’t stop with
children. Adults who have never had the opportunity
to swim can learn the potentially life-saving skill.
A founding member of the NSEA Swim Founda-tion,
Lisa Hill, spoke about the process of taking over
the closed pool facility from city ownership.
“Because the pool had been closed awhile and
there was hurricane damage, some of the people in
the neighborhood were leery of going to the facility.
But we came in and cleaned everything up, painted
lines on the bottom of the pool, cleaned out the locker
rooms, and made it safe for people to use,” she says.
Hill has cycled off the board and her sons have
rotated off the swim team, but the pool was her life for
a few busy years.
“The thing I loved the most about when the lessons
started for neighborhood kids, is that the parents
asked if they could have lessons too. So, we started
giving free adult swim lessons as well,” she says.
With the help of the city, dozens of local businesses,
parents and volunteers, NSEA offers free swim lessons
in conjunction with the Red Cross. The lessons are
available various days and times and include water
walking and aerobic classes. Lifeguarding certifica-tions
can also be earned through the club for a fee.
Donations and volunteers are always welcome.
Water Safety Instruction certification isn’t neces-sary
24 july 2022
WBM
to do non-teaching volunteer work at the pool,
although WSI help is needed at times.
Needs exist for volunteers to do a variety of tasks,
including registering visitors or handing supplies to
instructors giving lessons.
Hill had two sons on the swim team and one is now
a lifeguard at the pool.
“The whole family volunteers at the pool. There
is a short training session to learn how to assist with
lessons, but people are encouraged to come out and
volunteer,” she says.
Leslie Cohen teaches an NSEA Swim lesson at the Earl Jackson pool in June.