Film Review: "Swim Team"

by Doris Carpenter

"Swim Team" is a documentary about a New Jersey swimming team that consisted exclusively of teens on the autism spectrum. This hour-and-a-half feature film chronicles the Jersey Hammerheads, a competitive swim team formed by the parents of an autistic teen boy.

The story follows three of the team's star swimmers for one whole year, revealing the struggles and triumphs they had as they strived for independence, inclusion and a life that feels like winning.

The athletes profiled are the team's standout swimmer whose parents lead the swim team with patience and high expectations, the team's leader and captain of his high school swim team whose mother helps him deal with his autism, and one young adult who struggles with Tourette's Syndrome.

As we follow their stories, we see their families their children grow up in a society where services and support for adults on the autism spectrum are sometimes hard to find, and learn that many with this disability never get the help they need.

The film's director, Lara Stolman, said she was inspired to make the film after running across the Jersey Hammerheads while looking for swim lessons for her children. "I was immediately struck by the energy and optimism of the families who were coming together to form the team. Some of the kids were teenagers and had never been on a sports team before. And some couldn't yet swim. But this team was determined to dominate the competition," Stolman was quoted as saying.

The documentary has won several awards at film festivals across the country, and was shown nationwide on PBS recently.

We see that swimming organizations provide a range of support and resources to families of children with special and diverse learning needs, as well as training programs for educators who work with these kids. NGOs fund programs like recess facilitation, social skills play groups, seminars, teacher training, support groups and socials for families.