One child, eight lessons
Eight 30-minute lessons — four hours in the water — paid for in full by the Foundation.
About us
Three national champions who swam for Texas.
We fund swim lessons for Central Texas children whose families can’t pay for them.
Our story
It started as a tailgate.
We swam at Texas between 2013 and 2020, on teams that won national championships. For four years we have run a tailgate outside the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center before every home football game, underwritten by Austin businesses.
In July 2026 we gave it a legal structure: a Texas nonprofit corporation with one purpose — free swim instruction and water safety education for Central Texas children.
No scholarships have been awarded yet. What exists today is a named provider at a negotiated rate, a fundraiser with a four-year record, and the three founders.
First cohort forming
- 2015–18 Four consecutive years in which the founders were part of NCAA national championship teams at Texas
- 4th Year of the tailgate that funds this work
What we run
A scholarship, not a school.
Taught by professionals
Instruction is delivered by Waterloo Swimming in Austin, at a rate we negotiated so that gifts reach further.
Paid for by the tailgate
Sponsors cover the event, so what guests and donors give goes to lessons. See the program.
The board
All three directors are founders.
William Glass
President and Chair
Swam for Texas from 2013 to 2017 and was part of the national championship teams of 2015, 2016 and 2017, with a 2017 advertising degree from the Moody College of Communication at UT Austin. He is president and founder of Bluebonnet Barrel Company, and the Foundation’s registered agent.
Preston Varozza
Vice President
Swam for Texas from 2016 to 2020 and was part of the national championship teams of 2017 and 2018, with a 2020 degree in sports management from UT Austin. He runs operations at a leading Austin swim school.
Ryan Harty
Treasurer and Secretary
Was part of the national championship teams of 2016, 2017 and 2018, and holds a 2019 economics degree and a 2020 Master of Science in Business Analytics, both from UT Austin. He works in finance, investing in early-stage companies.
The community
Texas Swim & Dive shows up.
Alumni, families and friends gather before every Texas home football game. What they give at the tailgate is what puts children in the water.
