USA Swimming serves as the national governing body for the sport of swimming within the United States. Despite its prominent role in shaping Olympic dreams, USA Swimming's core mission lies in supporting local swim programs, nurturing talent, and instilling life skills in young athletes. With a vast network of clubs and hundreds of thousands of members, USA Swimming recognizes the pivotal role coaches and officials play in the sport's success and seeks to provide them with comprehensive support and education.
Key Insights
Before adopting Canvas LMS, USA Swimming lacked a centralized platform for coach education, resulting in fragmented resources and inconsistent learning.
Canvas transformed coach education by providing access to comprehensive content accessible anytime, anywhere.
USA Swimming is dedicated to using Canvas to enhance coach education, continually fostering growth and excellence in the sport.
The Challenge
Despite reaching a large audience, USA Swimming faced a big challenge: providing comprehensive education and support to its widespread membership, mainly its 20,000 coaches. They knew coaches played a crucial role in shaping athletes' experiences but needed help offering consistent learning opportunities.
“We had never taken ownership of the education of our coaches, and our board of directors wanted to provide education to our membership because they can make or break the experience for a kid in sports,” said Maggie Vail, Program Director, Education & Curriculum. “We had a team of subject matter experts work on curriculum and then asked ourselves how we get this to people.”
The organization recognized the need for a centralized platform to deliver high-quality educational content and resources to coaches across the country. The answer? Canvas LMS.
The Solution
To address the challenge of providing support to its diverse learning population, spanning from junior coaches to seasoned professionals, USA Swimming turned to Canvas LMS. This centralized platform streamlined access to highquality educational content, catering to learners of all ages and experience levels.
“We did a lot of research into different LMS solutions. There were very few options that checked all of the boxes, or even most of them,” said Vail. “That’s what brought Canvas to the top of our list.“
By leveraging Canvas LMS, USA Swimming effectively addressed the needs of different age groups to online learning, providing a scalable and intuitive platform for delivering educational resources and fostering continuous improvement among coaches.
Our internal IT department had encouraged us to consider custom development, but Canvas solved many of our needs without requiring it.
Maggie Vail
Program Director, Education & Curriculum, USA Swimming
Supporting Online Learning For All Ages
USA Swimming's initial concerns about the adaptability of different age groups to online learning were quickly alleviated when they discovered the widespread familiarity with Canvas among users. Moreover, they were pleasantly surprised to find a demand for more interactive content, such as quizzes and challenges, to enrich the learning experience. This unexpected feedback prompted USA Swimming to pivot its learning design strategy, focusing on asynchronous activities that effectively engage users.
“Just how widespread Canvas is in the market has worked in our favor,” said Vail.
With Canvas LMS, USA Swimming can confidently address its members' diverse needs, regardless of age, better supporting their transition to online learning and providing an enriching educational experience that fosters skill development and personal growth.
Course Mix - Certs, Hybrids, And More!
USA Swimming has developed various courses over the past few years, including certifications for coaches and officials. These courses feature video-based content, quizzes, and other interactive elements. While they primarily focus on certifications, there are also shorter courses for continuing education. They are piloting hybrid courses combining online learning with in-person coaching clinics and plan to expand their offerings based on user feedback, potentially including topics like open-water swimming and nutrition.
The Results
Canvas LMS has been a game-changer for USA Swimming, providing a full suite of resources in an accessible and userfriendly manner. Looking forward, USA Swimming remains committed to leveraging Canvas LMS to continue improving member education and nurturing the sport's growth, showing their ongoing dedication to supporting grassroots development and athlete success.
“Canvas LMS is so ubiquitous in this space…I feel like we are scratching the surface of its capabilities,” said Vail.
Canvas LMS offers the flexibility for USA Swimming to create content tailored to its members' different preferences and learning styles.
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