NOVA of Virginia Aquatics
A Splashing Success for Henrico County and Beyond
NOVA of Virginia Aquatics began with a ripple as a small nonprofit offering a year-round swimming program.
Forty years later, it’s a cannonball, evolving from community resource to national powerhouse without losing sight of its mission – developing swimmers of all ages by challenging them to reach their full potential.
The organization that started without a pool to call home is one of the premier swim clubs in the United States. Tens of thousands of children have learned to swim through multiple programs, including several that cater to kids with special needs and disabilities. NOVA has produced collegiate swimmers and Olympians.
NOVA’s Regency Aquatics Center opened in 2021 featuring an 8-lane, 50-meter pool.
NOVA-Regency Aquatic Center, a Macy’s reimagined, opened in 2021. It’s a regional jewel that drives economic and workforce development in Henrico County.
CEO Leigh Peterson is inspired every time she shares NOVA’s journey. “I’ve been in every role here and understood the organization from every perspective,” Leigh says. “I was a swim parent. I was a board member. I was on staff as a coach. I was a swimmer.”
She credits relationships with local community partners for growing NOVA’s footprint. One of its most significant partners is TowneBank.
Last year NOVA-Regency opened a second floor to accommodate spectators, a swim shop, and a community room. The 29,000-square-foot addition means NOVA can host state, regional, and national aquatic events, anticipated to attract 60,000 attendees annually.
“To support all of our programs, we had to generate more revenue,” Leigh says. “Our number one way to generate revenue is event hosting.”
The expansion project received grant support from TowneBank and Henrico County. Leigh has enjoyed working with TowneBank senior vice president Curt Straub and Richmond president Pat Collins over the years.
NOVA swimmers have competed in Olympic Trials including Charlie Swanson who won the Gold Medal in the 400-meter individual medley for the U.S. at the Pan American Games.
“Our long-term relationship with TowneBank got us into Regency,” Leigh says. “It’s been wonderful to work with people we trust and have them understand the importance and connection to the revenue that we could generate through our outreach programming. TowneBank has been absolutely critical. We’re really proud of everything we’ve built.”
When Geoff Brown founded NOVA in 1987, Leigh was a 15-year-old swimmer. Swimmers in the program rotated among three area pools. Family and community financial support led to the 1997 opening of NOVA Aquatics Center-Gayton Road, a 10-lane, 25-yard-by-25-meter pool that serves as a training ground for young swimmers. Moreover, NOVA began offering community swim lessons and formed early partnerships with Ruby F. Carver Elementary School and the Youth Life Foundation of Richmond. That opened the door for children to learn to swim who otherwise might not have had access.
“Early on, our goal was to use the resources that we had to open opportunity and support beyond our walls,” Leigh says. “We knew that would make us better and stronger. That’s what you do when you have a community resource.”
By 2004, a second pool was added to the facility. NOVA swimmers went from regionally competitive to nationally competitive and beyond. Two-time Olympian Townley Haas, an alumnus of the swimming lessons program, won Gold in 2016.
Today, NOVA’s competitive swim team is the No. 1 club in Virginia Swimming and ranked among the nation’s top 10. NOVA’s partnership with Henrico County Schools has led to 1,800 second-graders learning to swim every year, a program that started with students from every local Title I school.
NOVA hosts athletes from Sportable’s Adaptive Sports Outreach program, teaching swimming to children and adults with physical disabilities.
“If you are here Monday through Thursday at any week of the school year, you’re going to see school buses coming and going,” Leigh says.
Future plans involve NOVA becoming the East Coast home of Paralympic swimming.
For more information, visit NOVASwim.org.