The National Learn to Swim Day, conducted each May, is an event dedicated to educating parents and children about water safety in and around all types of water. Touched by the tragedy of a drowning in her own family when her 20-year-old brother drowned in a boating accident, Mannino is a fierce advocate of the importance of teaching water safety and swimming and has conducted numerous annual community water safety events at the Y and in the community. This year, the Special Olympics Area Meet was conducted on March 19 at the Deer Path Branch pool.

While the event lasts a single day, Mannino has recruited a dedicated group of volunteers and staff who help the athletes train nine months of the year. Held annually, thousands of athletes, from the Y team and other teams in New Jersey, have participated in this day.

The team seemed a desirable “next step” to a program she had created to teach special needs children and adults water safety and swimming. Wanting to provide the opportunity for these athletes to experience the joy of competition and attend the Special Olympics Summer Games, she organized and conducted the first Special Olympics Area Meet in 1993. Mannino introduced Special Olympics Swimming to Hunterdon County when she began the Special Olympics Swim Team at the YMCA in 1992 in coordination with Special Olympics of New Jersey. READ MORE: Hunterdon County soccer team wins title Many of these programs were created to help those with special needs, physical and/or intellectual, reap the multi-faceted benefits of swimming and water exercise. She is proud of the fact that the Hunterdon County Y has provided many teens their first job.ĭuring her tenure as YMCA aquatic director, Mannino has achieved many milestones and has been instrumental in introducing and developing new aquatic programs and special events. She also supervises more than 65 part-time aquatic staff, many of whom learned to swim at the Y. Mannino oversees youth, adult and teen swim lessons, aquatic fitness, lifeguard certification classes and the Special Olympics Swim Team. Passionate about teaching aquatic fitness, swimming and water safety, she said, “I started working for the YMCA because I saw it as a place to use my skills and do something I loved. I have stayed because I help the Y make a difference to the children and families we serve.”

Lesson by Julie Mannino