An Eagle Scout—And a Swim Program—Grows in Brooklyn

An Eagle Scout in training. An ambitious community aquatic project. A non-profit focused on health and wellness. A Brooklyn community desperate for pool time so kids and adults can be safe in the water.

These are the components that made up a free learn-to-swim and splash ball program which delighted the Midwood community of Brooklyn for five Sundays in March and April. The program was designed by Demyan Kruglov, a member of Manhattan Scouts BSA Troop 728, and supported by Inclusive Community Wellness (ICW)—a non-profit sponsoring swim and water polo programs in Brooklyn and Manhattan—and USA Water Polo, the national governing body for the sport in America.

Demyan Kruglov directing the program. Photo: K. Hanna

“I was working with ICW as a swim instructor and excited to see young kids learn to swim,” Demyan said about the project’s origins. ”That’s how I got the idea of a splash ball and swim program for local families.” 

A long-time member of a Scout troop in upper Manhattan, Demyan is a junior at Brooklyn Technical High School who began playing competitive water polo at the age of six. As he thought about what type of project would get him to the rank of Eagle Scout, Demyan focused on introducing children to splash ball, USAWP’s entry-level program for water polo.

It was not your typical BSA community service project, required to attain Eagle Scout status, the Scouts’ highest rank.

“Demyan's project is about as original and atypical an Eagle Project as I have seen in many years of scouting,” Scouts BSA Troop 728 Advancement ASM Neil Flint Worden said “He found ways to teach Swimming Merit Badge while building the swim skills and pedagogy necessary to teach these eager, young Flatbush community swimmers. I knew Demyan had a winning and fascinating project to execute.

“Handling every community parent, swimmer and all his instructor trainees from our troop along with [ICW] mentees his own age, Demyan led the project with graceful leadership, skilled swim technique and tireless teaching. He has become the Eagle Scout we saw in him 6 years ago when he joined Troop 728 as an 11 year-old Cub Scout.”

A community’s need fits a scout’s service

Locating the project at the Brooklyn College pool in Midwood connected Demyan’s idea to a community seeking more swim opportunities. 

Alma, Caroline and Anna Mwaniki. Photo: M. Randazzo

Caroline Mwaniki, who learned about the program from a fellow mom in her Flatbush neighborhood, was at the pool with daughters Anna, 10, and Alma, 7. Mwaniki said that there’s very few local opportunities for children or adults to swim. 

“It is a huge problem,” she said about swim availability in her community. “The city lessons fill up before we can sign up, so this is great.”

Catherine Kane, another local parent, was with her son Luca, 5. After slowly getting in the water, mother and son spent time together in the shallow end under the watchful eyes of scouts and lifeguards. Asked about her experience, Kane said it’s been helpful for Luka who’s not used to being in the water.

Catherine and Luca Kane. Photo: M. Randazzo

Prior to the Covid 19 pandemic local families could use the pool at Erasmus High School but no longer. “It’s nice to have this in the neighborhood, otherwise we’d have to go to Park Slope or to Bed Stuy,”

Four splash ball participants exited the session, excited from playing with a ball and a net in the water. 

“I played a goalie game, and we were on each other’s teams,” said Matthew, 9. “We got to have fun!”

Ava, also 9, has been taking swim lessons for months but was new to splash ball. “I think the game is a good game to come together with people,” she said. “It was fun that each team had a captain. I felt it was similar to a real soccer game.”

It takes an idea… and a lot of planning

A pool program overseen by eight scouts as well as multiple lifeguards and staff serving up to 60 individuals a week doesn’t just happen. There was a lot of prior planning, led by Demyan and Michael Randazzo, ICW Executive Director, to develop a successful, if unusual, Eagle Scout project.

Jada, Ava, Katelaya, Matthew are all smiles. Photo: M.Randazzo

“Demyan has been a dynamo in advocating, planning and executing this project,” said Randazzo. “His passion for community service and for water polo have encouraged many children and adults to come to Brooklyn College and swim.”

“When Demyan [described it] to me, I thought [the project] was way too ambitious,” explained Worden, who oversaw the project for Troop 728. ”I didn’t know if it was going to work. But he’s such a great scout, and a representation of what we believe in—he’s a real leader. And he thinks creatively about how to make something happen. 

“I told him: ‘The idea is great but there are tangible things to the program, too. You’ve got to build a map for how to do this well,’” the scoutmaster said. “This is your experiment which becomes the teaching guide of the next moment. You have to create that guide.’”

Explaining that expanding the proposal—which made it more ambitious—was necessary to qualify for Eagle status, Warden said: “What you have to do is create something you can continue ad infinitum; something that ten years from now [...] has grown into something. Then Demyan  [will have] made an impact on a community.”

Jamison Young in the water. Photo: K. Hanna

Jamison Young, a member of Demyan’s Scout Troop, helped carry out the project. He enjoyed being part of a Scot project that was different than usual.

“Most projects are not going into the water and teaching kids how to swim,” he said. “It’s more doing things for the community, building benches, stuff like that. 

“This is definitely special and very different,” Jamison said, then added: “I like it a lot.

For ICW the opportunity was to introduce swimming and splash ball to a new community.

“ICW has been making great strides in their efforts to make the sport of water polo accessible to underserved communities,” said Ryan Cunnane, Chief Growth Officer for USA Water Polo. “Through their innovative programs and community engagement they are fostering a passion for the sport across the city’s diverse neighborhoods. 

“We could not be more supportive and appreciative of their mission,” Cunnane added.

With his proposal finished the newly minted Eagle Scout is eager for more service.

Splash ball in action at Brooklyn College. Photo: K. Hanna

“Given our success, we look to expand the program into additional pools and promote water polo, the sport I play and love, as a regular activity in New York City,’ he said.

Demyan’s scoutmaster had high praise for what his protege accomplished.

“The biggest thing about most Eagle projects is a failure to have enough leadership,” Worden said. “What Demyan did from the very beginning—these [scouts] are getting their swimming merit badge because of what he’s taught them. They’re now all swimmers; he’s got a whole group of teachers to aid in the [project].

“That’s true leadership; that’s the thing Eagle Scouts do.”