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Mission

The Mission of ABQ Dolphins Swimming Team is to teach young people to develop the character, discipline, and confidence necessary to succeed in swimming and life.

 

Affiliation

New Mexico Swimming

USA Swimming

Winter Schedule from Jan 7th to May 9th, 2009.

Days:           Wednesdays and Saturdays

Advanced Group Schedule

Wednesdays   4:30-5:45pm   for swimmers who already can swim two or more strokes.

Saturdays       2:45-4:00pm   for all advanced group swimmers.

Intermediate Group Schedule

Saturdays       1:45-2:45pm for swimmers who already can swim two strokes.  

Beginners Group Schedule

Saturdays       1:45-2:30pm for swimmers who are 5 and younger, who swim only backstroke.

Summer Schedule from June 1 to July 19, 2009.

Advanced Group Schedule

Monday through Thursday   7:30-8:45am  

Note:  The last week of our practice will run to Friday due to the State Meet.

Intermediate Group Schedule

Monday through Thursday   7:45-8:30am   

Kinder Swimmer (Beginners) Group Schedule

Monday and Wednesday  9:00-9:45am

Location:     Los Altos Pool, on Lomas a little west of Eubank, behind Albuquerque Garden Center

Pictures

Head Coach Fujie Xia

Some of her achievements:

Fourth place at the 1988 Olympic Games.

Four-time NCAA National Champion

NCAA II Women’s Swimmer of the Year

14-time Chinese National Champion

Three-time Asia Champion

(Google Xia Fujie swimming if you want more details.)

Some of her coaching experience: 

Head coach for Lobo Aquatics, Albuquerque, NM, from 2002 to 2003

Head coach for Lafayette Swim Club, Indiana from 2000 to 2002

Stroke Consultant for Purdue University swimming team from 2000 to 2002.

Head coach for Peoria Park District, Illinois, from 1997 to 2000. 

Coach, Thai National Team

Assistant Coach, Chinese National Team, from 1989 to 1994.

Her message to parents:

Having gone through all the training and coaching myself, I know well what it takes to advance a swimmer from one level to another.  I want not only to teach children to swim, but also to develop them so that they will learn and built a good and solid foundation.  Therefore, I would like to have our swimmers to come to practice on time and I want them to get the most from the time I offer.

Training Philosophy

Our team’s philosophy on age group swimming is to develop and build up a basic and solid stroke technique and physical quality. In addition, time and mental commitment must be increased by the time the swimmers move up from one level to the next. Having a correct stroke technique is the main key to the development of young swimmers. They are young and mentally and physically not as powerful as 18-year-olds. It doesn't matter how mature they act because the fact is that they do not have the strength or experience to really swim fast. A few young swimmers may be able to swim fast if they grow faster than other swimmers and so have the power to do so. The main thing however, is to learn good stroke technique at a young age so that they can carry this forward into their later career. If the coach teaches them good stroke technique along with physical fitness and mental preparation, they will become strong swimmers when they grow up. There are no Olympic swimmers with bad strokes. They would not get to that level if they did not have a good stroke. There are a lot of young swimmers who can swim fast with a very bad stroke. These swimmers must be very strong for their age, but will not be able to carry this speed forward to reach their maximum potential.

Each level has a different strength and requires a different strategy for advancement. Here is our expectation for the two groups.

Beginners (Just learning to swim and get comfortable in the water):

For these youngest swimming school students, safety is the most important issue. The second issue is psychological development. The children are young and still afraid of water. For this group of kids, we have to keep them doing things in the water as well as making them happy. Improving skills to stay in the water is the key for this group. The more they feel comfortable in the water they better they will do and more they will enjoy learning. Once they feel comfortable in the water, they will learn very fast.

Advanced (Mostly 5-7 years):

Our team's swimmers are still young and very excited about swimming.  We focus on keeping the interest high and on keeping the fun with water. Only basic swimming techniques need to be emphasized. Especially, kicking is the key to learning for a successful swimming career later. It is very important to practice the strokes correctly.  Children’s swiming ability varies a lot.  We will learn all four strokes rather than the one or two they are good at. Thus, the focus of the training is improving the strokes.  

Our method is more like private group training. In order to benefit the kids as much as possible, the coaches need to coach the swimmers physically in the water, which you will not see in other swimming courses.

Contact

Head coach Fujie Xia, (505) 299 1638, FujieXia@msn.com

 
Fujie Xia