Fitness Alive is excited to announce our first ever Race to Raise fundraiser, benefitting our partners at Children’s Village. Our goal is to raise funds to provide free swim lessons for Philly kids.
The backstory: In summer 2025, the summer camps at Children’s Village started coming to our pool for open swim. The kids had so much fun! But we quickly discovered that 80% of them were unable to swim independently.
We believe swimming is a vital life skill that should be accessible to all. However, we recognize that pool time and quality instruction can be hard to come by, especially in urban places like Philly. So learning that our new friends at Children’s Village couldn’t swim really pricked our hearts, and we have since committed to providing free lessons for the organization. To date, we’ve hosted them for three water-safety clinics, but we want to do more. Race to Raise is an opportunity for you to join us in this effort!
About Race to Raise
We will be hosting two sets of races at our Center City pool, one for kids and one for adults. Each set will contain six different events. Participants will race to claim their spot on our pool record board and be named the reigning champion of the pool until next year. Yes! You get to see your name in print and you keep your title for a whole year! How’s that for bragging rights?
In addition to the races, we will also have an open Family Swim session so that everyone can enjoy the pool.
All funds raised from the day, including Family Swim, will go toward swim lessons for Children’s Village.
Date and Times: May 30, 2026
Kids Races: 12:30-2:30pm
Family Swim: 2:45-4:45pm
Adult Races: 5-7pm
Location: Fitness Alive Center City, 1425 Arch Street, Philadelphia PA 19147
Pricing and What’s Included:
$15 per event (includes pass to family swim)
$5 per spectator (includes pass to family swim)
Just want to attend Family Swim? Great! Buy a Spectator Ticket for each member of your family and you can attend Family Swim.
Winners will receive awards (see below) and will hold the pool record for their event for the next year. Their names will be listed on our pool records board!
Participation Requirements: Children must be between the ages of 7-17, and all participants — adults and kids — must have the ability to confidently swim two lengths of the Center City pool (just shy of 50 yards) without touching the bottom.
Awards will be given to one participant per event in the following age groups:
7 – 8
9 – 11
12 – 14
15 – 17
18+
Fitness Alive Staff
Race to Raise Events (in order):
100 IM
25 free
25 fly
25 back
25 breast
50 free
Interested in Volunteering?
It’ll take a village to pull off this great event! Volunteer will get free entry into the event of their choice and participate in Family Swim for free. Sign up to volunteer here.
Register for Race to Raise
Click the button below to sign up for a race or to purchase a spectator ticket. We can’t wait to see you on May 30th!
Cancellation and Refund Policy (And How to Switch Events)
Please note there are NO REFUNDS, CREDITS, OR TRANSFERS if you register for Race to Raise and later decide you cannot participate or attend. This is a fundraiser so Fitness Alive is not making any money on this event. Rest assured that your fee will be donated in its entirety to the fundraising effort. Thanks for understanding!
You can cancel your entry to free up your spot for another swimmer or switch to a different race in the Fitness Alive Portal. To do so, click the registered participant’s name, then Drop-in Bookings. You’ll see the race listed there. Click it and you can Early Cancel so long as you are doing so with at least 24 hours notice before the race time. If you want to switch to another race, simply re-register for the race of your choice; your pre-paid credit will show up as useable for booking if you early canceled.