Division II swimmers and divers took a break from flexing their muscles in the pool to flex some community engagement at Houston’s Campus Recreation Center on Thursday.

Student-athletes hosted about 100 seniors from two Houston community centers who came to watch them in the preliminaries and then interact over snacks and sodas.

The event fits a pattern of outreach at Division II National Championships Festivals during which student-athletes over the years have helped with everything from Habitat for Humanity builds and youth clinics to engaging with school children and now senior citizens.

“It’s good to be known not just as an athlete who comes to the host city, uses the athletics facilities and goes home,” said Shippensburg freestyler Theresa Simcic. “Every city in which we compete has a different culture, and it’s good to go out and meet the people.”

The seniors certainly enjoyed it. Several said they had been student-athletes themselves or had taken an interest in college sports. Some participate in a weekly “floor hockey” league, while others are involved in a cheerleading group. Still others are “Golden Steppers,” who demonstrated some smooth moves to the student-athletes during a presentation of their skills.

“Many of us enjoy these physical activities in order to get back our youthfulness,” said Houston resident Marsha Listen, who leads the floor hockey group. “Interacting with these young student-athletes is exciting for us. We’ve been talking about this for three weeks!”