Founded in 2009 by Jabari King, a former Howard University swimmer, Healthy Lifestyle, Healthy Kids offers a year round swim team program for elementary to high school students within the DeKalb County area. (Courtesy of HLHK)
By Kenny Murry
On a late November evening, when most metro Atlanta students are inside their bedrooms napping or completing homework, the swimmers of Healthy Lifestyle, Healthy Kids are nestled into a spacious swimming pool at Beulah Missionary Baptist Church, completing lap after lap.
As one of the team’s coaches, Brandon Little, a former Florida A&M University team swimmer, offers quick corrections to form and demands for faster kicks. Team parent Gwendolyn Franklin excitedly looks on at the progress being made.
In a youth-based sports world dominated by football and basketball, Franklin notes that the year-round swim program, which she and her daughter Trinity have been members of for nine years, is a welcomed breath of fresh air.
“It’s rigorous work, but it keeps them very active and keeps us coming back,” Franklin said. “The coaches do incredible work … Jabari’s created something really amazing.”
The Dekalb County-based nonprofit, which also offers programs for basketball and soccer, is younger than some of the swimmers on the team. Founded in 2008 by Jabari King, a Dekalb native who began his swimming career with the City of Atlanta Dolphins in the early 1990s with Little. He then transitioned onto a spot with Howard University, the longest-running and only active HBCU swim team.
King created the organization after finding his passion for coaching reignited after working with Dekalb youth basketball teams in the mid-2000s. After leaving his job at Georgia Power as an engineer, King started his program with his own children as his first students. His daughter Pilar is now the current state championship for girls’ 100m backstroke in the 13-14 age group.
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Although struggling at first to keep their heads above water, HLHK has quickly gained a strong reputation among the Atlanta swim community as a steadily growing, but dedicated group of competitive swimmers.
“We have been doing well through word of mouth,” said King, who also serves as the program’s head coach and creative director. “The kids come and show interest, and we just try to get them to the door. We build them up from whatever level they come in at, which is usually the beginning.”
Many of the students who start off taking swimming lessons from King and his instructors typically end up making the transition to HLHK’s year-round swim team, which consists of swimmers ages 7 to 17.
Read the original story on Decaturish.com.
