Maryan Maalin is a founding member of the Women’s Swim Program at the Y, which launched in the fall of 2022. That first program welcomed 17 women. By the next offering, 23 women participated. Since then, the program has expanded to offer intermediate swim lessons and lap swimming.
Inspired by her positive experience, Maryan was willing to share her story at the Greater Burlington Y’s 2025 Annual Meeting.
Below is Maryan’s speech given at that meeting. Thank you, Maryan, for sharing your story and help making swimming accessible to more people in our community through the Women’s Swim Program!
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Recognizing Fear
My name is Maryan, and I’m a proud participant in the YMCA’s women-only swim program. I want to share a story that still sits with me, and it’s the reason I’m here.
A few years ago, I took my children to the lake. My son, who loves fishing, asked to stay by the water while I took the other kids to Echo. We had a good day. He fished, the other kids explored, and we all made it home safely.
But that night, I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking: What if something had gone wrong? What if he had fallen in the water? Would I have been able to help him? And the honest answer was no. I didn’t know how to swim.
That night haunted me. As a mother, the thought that I wouldn’t be able to save my child if he needed me was deeply painful.
Learning to swim isn’t always easy—especially for women like me. As a Muslim woman, I wear modest clothing, and I can’t swim in a public pool with men around. It’s not about not wanting to—it’s about not being able to, out of respect for my values and my faith. And for a long time, that meant there were no options for me.
Something changed when I shared my story. The YMCA didn’t look away. They listened. They asked, “What can we do?” And they acted.
Women-Only Swim Was Born
Soon after, a special program was created: women-only swim lessons, held after regular hours so women who need privacy could finally feel comfortable and included.
The first time I walked into the pool area for our lesson, I felt nervous—but I also felt safe. That space was made for us. And for the first time in my life, I stepped into the water not just to play, but to learn.
Since then, we’ve had the chance to take swim lessons at least twice a year. Some women in the group had never been near water before. Some were scared. Some were shy. But we were all eager. We were ready.
What I’ve seen over these past few years is nothing short of beautiful—women gaining confidence, laughter echoing across the pool, stories being shared, barriers being broken.
This program isn’t just about swimming. It’s about dignity. It’s about safety. It’s about opening doors that for so long were closed to us.
Welcome and Included
I can’t tell you how much it means to feel included—to walk into a place like the YMCA and know that someone thought of women like me when they built their programs.
So [today], I just want to say thank you. Thank you to the YMCA for listening and responding with compassion. Thank you to the staff who stay late to make this program happen. Thank you to everyone who believes that inclusion isn’t just a word—it’s an action. You’ve made a difference in my life, and in the lives of so many other women in our community. And I hope we can keep that difference going for years to come.
Thank you for seeing us.