James "Jim" Ellis is an American swim coach and subject of the feature film

Feature film

In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...

 Pride

Pride (2007 film)

Pride is a 2007 biopic drama feature film released by Lionsgate Entertainment on March 23, 2007. Loosely based upon the true story of Philadelphia swim coach James "Jim" Ellis, Pride stars Terrence Howard, Bernie Mac, and Kimberly Elise, and was directed by Sunu Gonera.Pride is a film that depicts...

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In 1971 Ellis formed the PDR (Pride, Determination, Resilience) swim team which was the first African-American swim team and located at the Marcus Foster

Marcus Foster

Marcus Albert Foster was a respected African-American educator who gained a national reputation for educational excellence while serving as principal of Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as Associate Superintendent of Schools in Philadelphia, and as the first black...

 Recreation Center in Nicetown

Nicetown-Tioga, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Nicetown-Tioga is a neighborhood in the North Philadelphia section of the city of Philadelphia, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It comprises two smaller, older neighborhoods, Nicetown and Tioga, although the distinction between the two is rarely emphasized today...

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, a neighborhood in Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

. As of February 2007, Ellis still coaches swimming at the Marcus Foster pool and had begun a sabbatical from teaching mathematics at Bodine High School.

Ellis' protégés include Michael Norment, the first black swimmer on the U.S. national team. His program at the Marcus Foster pool has sent swimmers to the swimming trials

United States Olympic Trials (swimming)

The United States Olympic Team Trials in Swimming are held before every Summer Olympics to select the participators for the USA's swimming team. The event is overseen by the United States Olympic Committee and run/operated by USA Swimming....

 for every U.S. Olympic team since 1992.

In May 2007, Jim Ellis received the President's Award from the International Swimming Hall of Fame

International Swimming Hall of Fame

The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of swimming in the United States and around...

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Since 2010, Jim Ellis has been the coach of the Salvation Army Kroc Aquatics (SAKA) program located in the Salvation Army's Philadelphia based Kroc Center.

• Jim Ellis graduated from Westinghouse High School (Pittsburgh)
  Westinghouse High School (Pittsburgh)
  Westinghouse High School is a public school in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, or The Academy at Westinghouse named for Pittsburgh resident George Westinghouse....
  
   of Pittsburgh Public Schools
  Pittsburgh Public Schools
  Pittsburgh Public Schools is the public school district in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and adjacent Mount Oliver.The combined land area of these municipalities is with a population of 342,503 according to the 2000 census. In August 2005, the superintendent became Mark Roosevelt. His tenure ends...
  
  in Pennsylvania. He is in "The House" Hall of Fame.