The Ripple Effect

Episode 55: Necolle Banks (Swim instructor who learned to swim at 43 years old)

 

🎙 In this episode: I talk with Necolle Banks, a swim coach and community leader who didn’t learn to swim until age 43, then made it her mission to ensure others didn’t have to wait that long. Her story is one of transformation, access, representation, and breaking generational barriers. From public pools in Louisville to emotional victories in the water, Necolle is changing lives one stroke at a time.

🔹 Learning at 43
Necolle was tired of sitting on the sidelines. In just four days, she learned to swim—and that leap changed everything.

🔹 Breaking Generational Curses
She grew up in a family where no one swam. Now, she’s rewriting that legacy..not just for herself, but for thousands of others.

🔹 Adults Need Swim Lessons Too
So many swim programs focus on kids. Necolle saw the gap for adults and decided to fill it, with empathy and intention.

🔹 Fear, Trauma, and Access
She talks about the emotional barriers that keep people from the water—and how community pools can help people heal.

🔹 Representation in the Pool
As a Black woman leading a team of girls of color, she understands how powerful it is to be seen in a space where you’ve rarely belonged.

🔹 “See It, Be It”
Kids’ faces light up when they see someone who looks like them swimming or coaching. That moment, Necolle says, can be life-changing.

🔹 A 94-Year-Old First-Timer
She shares the powerful story of a woman once denied pool access as a child who just recently learned to swim through her program.

🔹 The Power of Community
At the Central Adult Learn to Swim program, students cheer each other on—husbands teach wives, grandparents learn for their grandkids.

🔹 Pools as Public Health
With the reopening of Algonquin Park Pool in West Louisville, a long-overdue resource returned to a community that needed it.

🔹 Demand Is Sky-High
Over 2,000 adults are on the waiting list to learn. The desire is there—what’s missing is access, space, and investment.

🔹 Beyond Summer
Necolle dreams of year-round covered pools and more facilities in underserved neighborhoods. "We have to keep moving," she says.

🔹 A Future Olympian from Louisville?
She believes it can happen—and she’s building toward that goal. "Someday, there will be an Olympian of color from Kentucky."