WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Sunday morning kicked off the final day of events for the 37th Annual Black History Invitational Swim Meet.
The three-day event began Friday, February 16 and came to a close Sunday night.
"It was actually started by Mayor Marion Barry because at the time African American swimmers would not be invited to the meet, so he was like we'll build our own," said Thennie Freeman.
Freeman is the director of the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation.
"You see today the manifestation of that, 37 events later, over a thousand young people from Florida, California, Texas and even locally so it is magnanimous to see," said Freeman.
"This year we have 31 teams and just over a thousand participants," said Robert Green, the head coach of the D.C. Wave swim team and the meet director for the event.
"It's really fun to come out here and see all of these different people from all over the country," said Malaijah Brinkley-Tyson.
The 15 year-old is a member of D.C. Wave. She told WUSA9 she's been swimming competitively since she was about 7 years old.
"I want to be a swimmer and so every time I go to practice and get to these meets I'm like alright how am I going to build myself up to be where I want to be," she explained.
The swimmers competed in a number of traditional events like medley, freestyle, butterfly, relays and backstroke.
According to DPR, the Black History Invitational Swim Meet was founded in 1987 by the DPR and the United Black Fund, Inc., with the mission to provide urban youth exposure to strong competition and a forum to meet positive role models.
They say this competition is now recognized by USA Swimming, the national governing body for the sport of swimming, as the "premier minority swim competition in the United States and the world."
The entire event was recorded and streamed live by DPR. You can watch the meets here.