Livermore Aquacowboys

At LAC, our Mission is to utilize swimming as a unique educational tool that will develop young people into leaders in their communities. We aim for Excellence in thought, speech and action; steadfastly striving toward Excellence will create young people who are a benefit to everyone around them.

LAC is committed to providing a safe environment for all participants. To do so we have athlete protection policies and guidelines in place that follow USA Swimming's Safe Sport MAAPP guidelines. More information about MAAPP can be found in our Safe Sport Tab. We also have a drug and alcohol-free environment where athletes are expected to adhere to exhibit positive behaviors in and out of the pool. Creating an environment where safe and positive behavior is expected makes us better athletes and better people!

Since beginning with 13 athletes in 2007, LAC has steadily grown in size and achievement. We have qualified numerous athletes for National level competition and currently have numerous athletes in the top 50 in the country for their events and ages. We have had people in finals at US Olympic Trials, US National Championships, and US Junior National Championships. We have placed an athlete on the National Team and on the National Junior Team. We have had athletes win 14&un Champs, Far Westerns, and Sectionals. In 2021 we were granted Level 4 Club Status, which is the highest level awarded for organizational structure by USA Swimming. In 2023 we earned Silver Medal Status which put as a top 100 performing team in USA.

LAC is known as a team that develops swimmers for life with a focus on Excellence in Attitude, Effort, and Skill. Our athletes participate in Swim Strong Dryland, the top swimming dryland program in the country, with a focus on agility, strength and flexibility, and have regular mental training practice. Through a holistic approach, that values growth mindset, we are able to help develop young people who will continue improving in swimming through college. Our goal is to be pound for pound the best team in the world! It doesn't matter if an athlete is shooting for the Olympics, or for their first A time. Everyone who strives to be Excellent can help us reach our goal. If you enjoy a challenge, and always want to keep learning, we would love to have you on our team!

Our practice groups are structured to focus primarily on stroke technique and swimming etiquette in the Pre-Comp, Novice 1, and Novice 2 groups. Swimmers will learn sound fundamentals in the four competitive strokes, learn how to read the clock, and learn basic set and practice structure. The children will be encouraged to be good teammates and to be conscientious of the experience of their teammates as well as their own experience. In the Novice 3, Bronze, Silver and Gold groups, competition is emphasized more within the framework of skill acquisition and mastery. We also want to make racing fun and approach

competition as a way to bring out the best in ourselves and others. In the Junior 1, JV 1, and JV 2 groups, athletes are often coming to the sport later in life and can move through these groups into the more competitive side of our team, or can take a slower pace of improvement, depending on their commitment level. In the Varsity, Pre-Senior and Senior groups, swimmers are expected to take even more responsibility for their success as counting strokes, being responsible for time progression on sets and test set performance is emphasized. College swimming is seen as a great opportunity to achieve admittance into a high- level school, gain a highly motivated peer group, and possibly gain a scholarship. Achieving standards for regional and national level meets is a goal.

All of our coaches are members of the American Swim Coaches Association and as such, have access to the leading-edge ideas in our sport. We are constantly implementing the leading-edge technique and training concepts of our sport, using equipment that enhances swimming technique, and working with video to bring a greater level of awareness to the swimmers. We use video filming several times a season and have recently acquired a Athlee underwater video system, which we will implement for technique improvements. Some of the schools our athletes have swum at gone to/ gotten scholarships from include: UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UC Davis, Cornell, Biola, Azusa Pacific, UNLV, Pamona College, Westmont, Occidental College, Cal State East Bay.

Swimming can be seen as an expensive sport, but when compared to the amount of instruction offered at practice and at meets, it is one of the most affordable educational activities available. Each Aquacowboy athlete gets quality guidance in a sport that can have life-long benefits such as increased confidence, expanded social circle with a highly positive peer group, low impact aerobic exercise, body awareness, nutrition education, strengthening of focus, an increase in GPA*, and support from a highly trained staff, all for less than the cost of babysitting.

*Did you know swimmers consistently rank in the top 3 of collegiate sports in GPA?

What can your child gain by swimming?

 Confidence

 Fitness

 Flexibility

 Friends

 Fun

 Focus

 Strength

 Persistence

 Patience

 Possible scholarship