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Keeping Swimming Fun Anthem Dolphins teach young people the basics of the sport By Laura Latzko
Becoming a strong swimmer starts with basic strokes, practiced repeatedly to get them right. The Anthem Dolphins swim program lets kids start early so they understand more basic or advanced techniques by the time they are older.
Run through the Anthem Community Center, the year-round swim program offers lessons, swim groups and lifeguard training. The community center also has a summer recreational swim team called the Anthem Aquabats, which runs spring through summer.
The Anthem Dolphins competitive swim team is under the umbrella of a larger organization called USA Swimming, which sanctions club swim teams throughout the country.
The spring and summer tend to be the peak times of the year for the Anthem Dolphins program, but swimmers can join anytime. The Anthem Dolphins was designed for children and teens at different levels in their swimming abilities.
The different divisions are broken down by age and skill level.
The bronze group is made up of kids 10 and younger who are learning basic strokes; the silver group, children 8 to 11 who know basic techniques and are moving onto more
advanced skills to race competitively; and the gold level, swimmers 11 to 14 who are more advanced in their swimming abilities and are competing at meets.
The program also offers the pre-senior level, for pre-teens and teens ages 11 to 14 who are newer to swimming, and a senior level, for high schoolers 15 and older who are also part of their high school swim teams and are more advanced in skill level.
The students practice anywhere from three to six days a week for one to two hours a day, depending on their level.
The groups are led by Scott Newell, Paul Root, Olga Smirnoff, Alice Martin and Ray Van Deusen.
The program is designed to teach young people how to swim at a high level.
Head Swim Coach Root, who coaches senior- and silver-level students, says they are taught similar techniques as top-level swimmers.
“Here with the smaller groups, we can really focus on doing things the best way,” Root says. “Starting at 8 to 9 years old, they are doing what the best in the world are doing stroke-wise. Technique-wise, we aren’t teaching anything less than I would ask my seniors in high school to do.”
Root coached swim teams for younger people and college students before coming to Anthem this season.
Root says by working on small elements, such as taking more frequent breaths or maintaining a certain tempo with underwater kicks, he can make sure swimmers develop good habits at a young age.
The coaches have a chance to work one on one with swim team members, helping them to develop over time.
“It’s moving quickly through the kids and making sure they aren’t repeating the same thing that they did twice. You need to limit their exposure to bad habits,” Root says.
Although the program emphasizes skill development, swimmers have a chance to play games, especially when they are starting out. The coaches will also play music and joke around with the swimmers, who they get to know over the years.
Root says it’s important to keep swimming fun, so kids want to keep doing it.
“I think what we do better than anyone else is that light dynamic on the deck. When you walk outside, it feels fun. The coaches have energy, the kids have energy and everyone is there for the same purpose,” Root says.
Many of the swimmers start prior to high school. Aquatics Manager Newell, who works with students at the silver level, says begin
ning at a young age can allow swimmers to become more competitive by the time they are in their teens.
“Most of the kids in our program that are swimming at the state level or higher have been swimming for multiple years. It’s hard to jump in late and be really good right away. It takes work to get there,” Newell says.
Throughout the year, competitive swimmers in the program take part in competitive local, state, regional, junior national and sectional meets.
Some of the swimmers are working toward trying to qualify for U.S. Olympic Trials.
Each year, the Anthem Community Center hosts three to four Dolphins meets as well as high school and summer rec meets at its eight-lane pool.
Local high school swim teams also use the pool for practice, and the coaches in the Dolphins program help to prepare students for their high school meets.
Around 100 to 120 swimmers are part of the year-round program at any given time.
Swimmers are encouraged to train and compete in different events early on and later become more specialized.
“Once we’ve seen everything, we can make a true evaluation and start training you where you will be most successful,” Root says. “The goal would be, until you are in high school or even until you’ve been in high school a couple of years, you should still be trying a lot of the events,” Newell adds.
Although many of the swimmers gravitate towards races of short distances, some train for longer races.
“When you are training to swim a mile, that takes a lot of discipline,” Newell says.
All of the teens in the program are also part of their high school swim teams, and some also work as lifeguards at the community center’s pool and water park.
Sometimes, swimmers will return to help coach the Anthem swim team before or after college.
A number of local families have or have had multiple children on the team. The parents play a huge part in helping the swimmers by driving them to practice and encouraging them.
“There are hard days, where they may have swum a lot. The older kids have days where they go home hungry and tired and they want to go to bed. The parent support really comes into play,” Root says. “It takes a lot out of these kids each day. So, without that parent support of telling them, ‘Hey, you are doing great,’ it becomes very challenging to stay in the sport.”
Root says older swimmers help mentor younger ones, so it is especially important for older siblings to understand techniques so that they can pass on the knowledge to their younger siblings.
Newell has also noticed during meets with different age groups, swimmers in the program mentor and support one another.
“That’s when you will see a lot of the older kids cheering for the little kids, and the younger kids watching the fast kids race,” Newell says.
To learn more about the Anthem Dolphins, visit teamunify.com/ Home.jsp?team=azad.
JESUS IS RISEN
Holy Week at St. Rose
Holy Thursday, April 9 - 7pm Good Friday, April 10 – 7pm Easter Vigil, April 11 – 8pm Easter Sunday Mass times are April 12 – 7am, 9am, 11am
Easter Sunday Mass at Good Shepherd Mission April 12 – 9:30am
ST. ROSE PARISH 2825 West Rose Canyon Circle Anthem, Arizona 85086 GOOD SHEPHERD 45033 North 12th Street New River, Arizona 85087
