by KYW's Jim Melwert
Philadelphia Department of Recreation swim coach Jim Ellis was joined by many of his current and former swimmers to watch the US Olympic swimming trials.
PDR coach Jim Ellis says he loves watching his swimmers get excited watching the Olympics and the US trials. Ellis was made famous by the movie Pride, and one of his former swimmers, Atiba Wade, is taking part in the trials:
"He reached that goal, and he's swimming at the trials and that's something that the kids here can relate to, that a young man that came from our program."
Ellis is currently working with the Salvation Army to raise money for an aquatics center in the Nicetown-Tioga neighborhood, and says a competitive swim program can bring so much to a community:
"It's just a marvelous thing, you're a healthier person, your family becomes healthier because they're supporting you, the community becomes healthier because they're supporting the kids who swim on the swim team. It's like a domino effect."
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