Wikipedia
Aquademics was a Michigan nonprofit organization established in 1990 to increase the number and presence of African American children in competitive water sports. In addition to sponsoring a competitive swimming team, Aquademics operated an academic support program. Based in Ann Arbor, Aquademics programs were open to all youth of color children, ages seven to sixteen, living in Washtenaw County. In operation throughout the 1990s, Aquademics formally disbanded at the turn of the 21st century.
The Aquademics model resembled other athletics programs created in the late 1980s and 1990s, whose goal was to increase youth of color participation in sports lacking in diversity and with a history of racial exclusion. The Aquademics program was also guided by the precedent that sporting excellence is a means to teach children other forms of excellence, most importantly, academic excellence.
The Aquademics model's impact can be measured by the number of former members currently in professions where credentials and opportunities require associate and college degrees. Aquademics alums are represented in the following professions: business, communications, nonprofit administration, computer science, law, and the military, including the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy.
Moreover, a few Aquademics alums and former staff have volunteered or are working in water sport professions. Two head coaches, who started their water sport coaching with Aquademics, continued with their coaching careers. Aquademics' original coach,Vicki Hames-Frazier was a water sports instructor of children with special needs for the Washtenaw Intermediate School District. After Aquademics, Hames-Frazier became head coach of the co-ed swimming team at Ann Arbor Greenhills School. She is one of the first African American women to coach a high school competitive swimming team in Michigan.
Kelton Graham was Aquademics' longest-serving coach. Graham was a student athlete on the men's swimming team at Eastern Michigan University. After Aquademics, Graham took head coaching positions at both the club and high school levels. In 2006, he was appointed head coach of the Huron High School (Ann Arbor, Michigan) boys' swimming team. In 2008, Graham led the boys' swimming team to its first Class A championship in 19 years. That same year, Graham was named the Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association Coach of the Year, becoming the first African American to receive this award.