Since 2018, Swim Up Hill has worked to solve a problem hiding in plain sight: millions of people, disproportionately low-to-middle-income people of color, never learn to swim and face an outsized risk of drowning as a result. Using a culturally relevant curriculum developed by founder and Paralympian Jamal Hill, the organization has set an ambitious goal of teaching a million people a year how to swim by the time the Olympic and Paralympic Games return to Hill's hometown of Los Angeles in 2028. 

Swim Up Hill is among the local community organizations selected to receive Olympic tickets through the Los Angeles Rams’ $5 million donation to LA28's Community Ticket Program.  For a founder who has spent his career trying to expand who gets access to the water, this moment carries a personal weight. 

 "So many of the kids and families we work with have never had the chance to watch a swim meet in person, let alone the Olympics. Now some of them are going to sit in the stands for the biggest stage our sport has," said Hill, Swim Up Hill founder and CEO. "That's what this work has always been about: not just teaching people to swim, but showing them they belong in these spaces, as athletes, as fans as part of the story." 

"Swim Up Hill is exactly the kind of organization this program was built for. Jamal and his team are teaching kids and families in Los Angeles a skill that can save their lives, and now some of them will get to watch the Games that inspired that mission in the first place," said Erikk Aldridge, LA28's Vice President of Impact & Legacy. "Making sure our host communities see themselves in these Games as people we're building a legacy with is at the heart of what this program is about." 

Tickets distributed through the Program will go directly to the students and families Swim Up Hill serves, many of whom live within a short drive of venues that will host the very sport at the center of the organization's mission. 

After representing Team USA at the 2018 Para Swimming National Championships and later winning bronze in the 50m Freestyle at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Jamal Hill said he came to see that "a true champion stands for more than just themselves." That belief became the foundation of Swim Up Hill, which he built after spending years privately navigating a neurological disability and pushing back against stereotypes about who gets to be a swimmer. 

Through initiatives like the SoCal Swim Project, which brings swim education directly into Southern California elementary schools, partnerships with LA28, and the educational storytelling of Hill’s children’s book, Sammy Swims, the organization has created a proven approach that helps children move from fear of the water to foundational water safety skills in a matter of hours, not months. 

When Olympic swimmers hit the pool deck at 2028 Stadium, members of Swim Up Hill will have the opportunity to experience the sport on a new level—a powerful reminder of what’s possible when collaborations like the one between LA28 and the Rams bring sport directly to the community. 

ABOUT LA28'S COMMUNITY TICKET PROGRAM  
Launched in November 2025 with an inaugural donation of $5 million from the Los Angeles Rams, LA28's Community Ticket Program invites local professional teams and philanthropists to fund LA28 ticket donations that go directly to local community organizations to distribute within their communities. The program is rooted in LA28's commitment to ensuring that the Olympic and Paralympic Games are accessible to and reflective of the city and people of Los Angeles.  

LA28 welcomes individuals, organizations and community leaders to participate in this effort. More information for interested organizations can be found here.