As summer approached, my friend asked if I was going to have my daughter join the swim team. I informed her Autumn didn’t know how to swim well. She responded Autumn didn’t have to swim well, and with that said, I decided to sign her up.

In no time, I saw vast improvement in Autumn’s swimming ability. When Brogan, her younger brother, saw Autumn in the pool, he wanted to swim, too. Tammy Kudela, the coach, said she would see what he could do. As I watched my son demonstrate his skills, which was limited to the ability to float, Tammy told me, “We’ll have him doing 50-yard freestyle at championships.” I looked at my son bobbing in the water and raised a skeptical eyebrow. Because Tammy has coached for 20 years, I put my faith in her and let him join the team.

At practice, I watched beautiful things happen. I witnessed the grace of swimmers moving effortlessly through the water. I saw teenagers working patiently with kids who were learning how to swim.

Additionally, the swim meets proved to be a rewarding experience. At the camps, a sense of family unity bonded the team. All the kids played with each other; even the teenagers played games with the younger kids. What amazed me most was the coaches’ interaction with their swimmers. After each heat, I watched them make a point to congratulate their swimmers.

At championships, I watched my son swim 50 yards of freestyle. He may have hung on the lane lines every few yards to look over at the crowd and provide a cheesy grin, but Tammy was right – he swam 50 free at championships.

Lastly, everyone in our community could benefit from having an appropriate swimming facility. Our community pool is used by all ages from children taking swim lessons to seniors doing aquatic aerobics. It’s used from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Sadly, our town pool is not regulation length, which means the Mariposa Marlins will never have a home meet.

Over 700 swimmers attended the Los Banos meet. Think of the income that could generate in Mariposa considering some meets last three days. Tammy has worked tirelessly on getting a regulation sized pool and has been frustrated by the lack of commitment from the board of supervisors. I wish they could witness one of these events to experience the program she has developed and the number of kids benefitting from involvement with a sport that not only builds a sense of teamwork and accomplishment but provides a life-saving skill.

Brooke Dobson