Mon to Fri, 5:00 to 6:00 PM
Baby Dolphins: the guided Novice group for Atlanta swimmers age 5 and older
DSL / Baby Dolphins is where a new swimmer starts on the City of Atlanta Dolphins Swim Team: a coached group that teaches lane habits, dry land discipline and what a meet day looks like.
Chapter 01
A swimmer lands here after a stroke evaluation
Baby Dolphins is the guided Novice group of the Dolphins, built for children age 5 and older who are learning to train in a lane with a coach on the deck. Nobody is placed by guesswork. Membership is accepted all year, and it begins with an evaluation of the swimmer's strokes.
The coaching staff runs those evaluations Monday through Thursday from 4:00 to 4:45 PM. The results place the swimmer into the team structure, so a child who is still finding a steady kick and a child who already owns a freestyle each start in the right group. To book a time, call Alicia Mckissick at Adamsville Natatorium on (404) 505-3189, or email Head Coach Tommy Jackson at coachjackson@swimcad.com.
Empty pool with the tiled deck and a 5 FT depth marking, Atlanta
How a guided session runs
Practice for this group is Monday to Friday, 5:00 to 6:00 PM. A session opens with a warm-up and closes with a cool down, and the team keeps a written guide on each. A warm-up is not a formality: it loosens the shoulders and gets a young swimmer ready to swim well rather than just swim.
The team also publishes its Traffic Patterns, the rules of the road for lane circle swimming. In a shared lane, swimmers keep to one side and circle, so six children can train in the same space without collisions. Learning that early is a large part of what the guided group is for.
The team's Standards and Procedures for Dry Land set the behaviour expected out of the water, and they spell out the consequences ladder: a verbal warning first, then a 5 minute time-out, then a 10 minute time-out, and then a call to the parent. It is plain, it is the same for everyone, and it keeps a pool deck safe.
Chapter 03
Moving up to age group and the first meet
The Dolphins run a competitive age-group youth program for children age 7 and up, and Baby Dolphins feeds it. Where a swimmer sits is the coaches' call, made from what they see in the water. The team's own wording for the whole ladder is "from the beginning swimmer to the most competitive and skilled swimmer."
The team publishes a First Meet Prep guide for parents, and it is specific. A heat sheet lists every event and heat, the swimmer's events are written on the arm in Sharpie as an event grid, and swimmers age 10 and under report to the bullpen before they swim. The team hosts four meets a year, two short course (25 yards) and two long course (50 meter), so a first race is rarely far off.
Registration for City of Atlanta residents is $225.00 a year per swimmer and $425.00 for non-residents, as listed on the team's procedures page. Meet entry fees are owed once a swimmer is entered, whether or not the swimmer swims.
From the team's own introduction: a guided Novice group for 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 swimmer."