COACHING PHILOSOPHY:   A Long-Term Developmental Approach Our swim program emphasizes a long-term developmental focus for every child on the club. Stoke technique for us should and will be a constant focus at every level inside the program in order to give each swimmer the opportunity to develop stroke habits and skills that will allow them to be successful throughout their swimming careers. The younger kids on the team will be focused on developing their stroke techniques inside of an endurance training approach that places less emphasis on racing and more emphasis on perfecting skills and enjoying the sport and the overall experience. Our goals for the program are to teach, train and motivate young athletes to achieve their potential in competitive swimming in hopes that they will become better people outside the pool as well. Everyone who goes through the club should, when they leave, have the experiences to help them serve a better adult life. At each level of the program, swimmers will be instructed to strive for excellence. Excellence in this sense represents the achievement of a level at which the individual knows he or she has done the utmost to become the best he or she is capable of becoming. The program will provide many different groups in order to meet the individual needs or our swimmers. We will emphasize fundamental skills, physical conditioning, productive work habits, character growth, healthy competition, and most of all, fun. Our goals are to develop within each swimmer: The desire to succeed A willingness to work hard Self-discipline and self-reliance A sense of sportsmanship Loyalty to other team members, the coaches, and the YMCA COACHING STAFF The coaching staff is comprised of teaching professionals from the YMCA organization. These professionals have extensive backgrounds in swimming combined with strong abilities in working with young athletes.

Mike Dudek - Association Head Swim Coach Mike is 23 years old. He swam all four years in high school, becoming Captain of the team during his senior year. He graduated in 2001, and went on to attend Umass-Amherst. He later transferred and is currently attending Bridgewater State College studying Exercise Science in the field of Physical Education. He has been lifeguard for the past 9 years at the Middleboro YMCA and at the Middleboro town pool. His favorite stroke is the breaststroke, favoite color is blue, favorite food is lasagne, and favorite drink is milk. And he LOVES the Red Sox! Teresa Farley - Aquatic Coordinator Teresa Farley is the Aquatics Coordinator at the Middleboro YMCA. Teresa is a longtime user of the Y, having grown up in the swim and gymnastics programs there. She came on last year as a lifeguard/swim instructor and most recently as the Aquatics Coordinator. Teresa comes to the YMCA with a background in Sociology, having graduated from Salem State College in 1997, where she played soccer and swam. She has years of experience in residential schools, including the Home for Little Wanderers, and also spent a year in the Middleboro Public School system as an education support staff in the behavior resource room. Teresa is married, with two young sons, 15 months and 4 1/2 years of age. she lives in Middleboro with her family.