What happens at a Dolphins stroke evaluation

Every swimmer who joins the City of Atlanta Dolphins Swim Team starts in the same place: a stroke evaluation. Membership is accepted throughout the year, and the evaluation is how the coaches learn where a swimmer fits. If your child is five or fifteen, and you are staring at a phone number wondering what you are signing up for, this is what to expect.

When and how to book

According to the team's How to Join page, the coaching staff evaluates strokes Monday through Thursday from 4:00 to 4:45 PM. You make an appointment by calling Alicia Mckissick at Adamsville Natatorium at (404) 505-3189, or by emailing Head Coach Tommy Jackson at coachjackson@swimcad.com. The team accepts new members year-round, so there is no season you have missed. If it is October and your child decided last week that they want to swim, October works.

Pick a day your swimmer is not worn out from school. The window is short, 45 minutes in the late afternoon, so plan to arrive a little early and let your child settle before the coach is ready for them.

What the coaches are looking at

The Dolphins do not publish a scoresheet, so this section is general coaching craft rather than a description of a set test. When a coach watches a new swimmer, the questions are practical. Can they swim a length without stopping? Do they breathe to the side or lift their head? Does the kick come from the hips or the knees? Can they float on their back and keep their face clear of the water? Are they comfortable at the wall, which means turning, pushing off and starting again?

The four competitive strokes, freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, each show a coach a lot in a short time. Freestyle shows rhythm and breathing. Backstroke shows body position and whether the swimmer trusts the water behind them. Breaststroke shows the timing between pull and kick, and it is the stroke most beginners find strange. Butterfly shows whether the swimmer has learned to move the whole body like a wave. A swimmer does not need to be good at all four. They need to show what they can do today, honestly.

Why the result matters: placement

Per the same page, the results of the evaluation are used to place the swimmer into the team structure. That is the point of the visit. A swimmer is placed where they can succeed, which is not always where their birthday suggests. Every practice group trains Monday through Friday, and the times listed on the team's practice schedule are:

• Baby Dolphins (DSL): 5:00 to 6:00 PM
• Age Group 2: 5:00 to 6:00 PM
• Age Group 1: 6:00 to 7:30 PM
• Senior: 6:00 to 8:30 PM

The team describes two entry points: a guided Novice program for swimmers age 5 and older, and a competitive age-group youth program for children age 7 and up, from the beginning swimmer to the most competitive and skilled one. Which group a particular swimmer lands in is the coaches' call after they see the strokes, so ask about it at the evaluation rather than planning around a guess.

How to prepare your swimmer

Tell your child what is going to happen in plain words: a coach will watch them swim, and then help find the right group. It is not something they can fail. Bring a swimsuit that fits, goggles you know do not leak, and a towel. A light snack an hour earlier beats a big meal or an empty stomach. If you wonder whether anything else should come along, ask when you book, since the team's page does not list one.

Parents often want to coach from the side of the pool. Resist it. The coach wants to see how your child swims when they are thinking about swimming, not when they are thinking about you. If your swimmer is nervous, the most useful thing you can say is that you will be in the same spot when they finish.

After the evaluation: fees and paperwork

Once your swimmer has a place, the team's procedures page covers the next steps. Program registration is listed at $225.00 a year per swimmer for City of Atlanta residents and $425.00 a year for non-residents, paid by debit or credit card, and each athlete submits a Personal Data Form. USA Swimming membership is a separate step. The team's page lists a premium athlete registration of $68 to USA Swimming plus $18 to Georgia Swimming, framed there as the 2023 registration process, and current amounts are confirmed when you register.

None of that should stop you from booking the evaluation first. The visit is how you find out which group your child belongs in, and that is information worth having before you open a payment page.

What the staff bring to it

The team was founded in 1984 by Aquatic Program Manager Askia Bashir with nine swimmers, and Head Coach Tommy Jackson brings more than 36 years of coaching to it. Coach Marianne Countryman has worked with the Dolphins in the Aquatics Department since 2012 and is a USA certified swim coach. When a coach watches your child at an evaluation, they are doing what this staff has done for years: looking for where a swimmer is strong today and where the team can take them.

To book, start with the Stroke Evaluation page on this site, which has the hours and the number to call. Then look over the Practice Schedule so you know what Monday through Friday will look like once your swimmer has a group.