Soaking wet and smiling as they stood poolside at the Walter Graham Aquatic Center in Vacaville, mother and daughter Maria Alvarez and Sue Ortiz shared more than just their participation in the Adult Learn to Swim program.

They each had clear memories of fear they felt as children when they entered the water for the first time — and not by choice.

Alvarez, 52, of Fairfield, recalled being 14, forced into the water, thinking she would drown. Saturday was the first time since that scary moment that she decided to do a swimsuit and goggles and lower herself into a pool.

Ortiz, 34, also of Fairfield, remembered as a 7-year-old being pushed by her cousins into Lake Berryessa. Likewise, she had avoided anything like a pool or lake since.

That is, until Charmaine Lee, a retired Vacaville Unified kindergarten teacher, assured them they would be comfortable and do well during the first of two free weekend 30-minute sessions, with the other scheduled for Sunday. The lessons are a collaboration between the city of Vacaville and the Vacaville Swim Club.

Speaking calmly to the women once in the water, Lee, a Masters swimmer, started with the fundamental lesson: breath control, essentially the “baby step” of overcoming fear of water.

Outfitted with goggles, Alvarez and Ortiz followed Lee’s instructions about breathing and bobbing, including the step-by-step immersion of the chin, nose, face, and head. Next came the blowing of bubbles on the water’s surface and also blowing more bubbles with their faces submerged.

Then came the bobbing, five times, with their hands on the pool’s side, then five times freestanding in about 3 feet of water, all done at the shallow end of the pool. The result? Success, smiles and encouragement all around.

Lee did a quick review and then moved the pair on to Step 2: frontal floating, “recovery” from a horizontal to a vertical stance. After reviewing Steps 1 and 2, Lee began Step 3, the back float, as the noontime air under clear skies reached the mid-70s.

“I’m a floater,” said Lee, as she demonstrated a back float, her face skyward, her arms outstretched from her sides.

By turns Alvarez and Ortiz turned onto their backs, with Lee supporting each woman with her own hands, their faces skyward and arms outstretched. “How’s that feel?” she asked.

And the first day’s lessons came to an end, to be followed Sunday with the “water arm cycle,” front glide, kick, arm cycle and recovery and rolling over in the water. And there would be more during the second 30-minute session: “air exchange,” a single arm stroke, freestyle with one breath and recovery, rollover, freestyle with additional breaths, and swimming into deeper water, and jumping into the water.

Once out of the pool, the two women clearly had overcome their fears of water and appeared ready for more lessons.

“I’m very confident,” said Alvarez. “Charmaine is a good instructor.”

“I liked it,” said Ortiz. “I’m more confident in the water.”

To any adult who wants to learn how to swim, she added, “I would say, ‘Face your fears.’ ”

And for Alvarez, learning how to swim will mean she can share the skill with her grandchildren, who already know how to swim, she said.

Mark Frazier, a retired Vacaville Unified administrator, started an Adult Learn to Swim program (ALTS) two years ago because, he said, some 30 to 35 percent of adults do not know how to swim.

During the lessons, one Masters swimmer, like Lee or Frazier and his wife, Lisa, is assigned to one or three adults. The free outreach program’s aim, said Frazier, is to encourage some of novice adult swimmers to sign up for additional lessons, for a fee, during the summer, starting June 16.

During the summer, Frazier organizes two types of classes that meet three times per week for two weeks. Level 1 is for adults “who are anxious around water and feel like they do not have any swimming skills,” he said “We start with the basics of breath control, floating, kicking, and basic beginning stroke development.”

Level 2 is for adults “who can get in the water but would like to learn more and become more proficient with swimming,” he said. Sign-ups are available at www.cityofvacaville.gov/rec.

Frazier, who swam competitively at Merced College and later at San Diego State University, said most of the adults seek the ALTS lessons “because they want to become water-safe and learn how to swim.”

“Most of the adults also share that their children know how to swim, but they do not,” he added. “Many of the adults did not have the opportunity to swim because there was not a lot of available pool space to learn or they did not have access to lessons when younger or when they were older. Most of the adults we have had in lessons have to start from the very beginning: becoming acclimated to the water, becoming comfortable with their face in the water and blowing bubbles.”

In the past two years, the novice adult swimmers in his classes have ranged in age from their 20s to “up into their 70s,” said Frazier, 66, a certified lifeguard and coach through the Masters and the U.S. Swimming programs.

During the summer, the lessons for adults last six sessions over a two-week period, enough time, he added, to witness “good improvement in all of our swimmers, and we start where they feel comfortable and move on from that point.”

While the ALTS lesson do not cover lifesaving techniques, the instructors teach adults how to be more water safe and how they can be safe in the water.

“We teach them how they can stay afloat and move in the water if they happen to find themselves in the water without a flotation device,” Frazier said. “But we do discuss being water safe and how to be proactive in thinking about water safety.”

His hope after the two-day weekend lessons is for the adults to “see personal improvement having overcome any anxiousness or fear about being in the water. From there, I hope they are motivated to take additional lessons in order to learn more.”

During the last two years of the summer lessons, Frazier said all the adults “have felt a sense of accomplishment in overcoming their fear of the water and improving in their water and swimming skills. We have had a few of our swimmers even move on the the Masters swim program. In two weeks you can see a lot of progress.”

Frazier said he grew up swimming and played water polo in college. And during his undergraduate and postgraduate days, he worked as a lifeguard, taught swim lessons, and coached swimmers.

When he started working in Vacaville Unified, he served as the swim and water polo coach at Will C. Wood High for many years while also working as the school psychologist. Just before retiring, he started coaching swimming again at Wood and continues to do so.

When Frazier moved into district administration, he worked as a district administrator in the roles of assessment coordinator, director of special assignments, and as director of academic advancement.

When not teaching swimming, Frazier helps to care for two granddaughters a couple days a week. He also serves as a commissioner on the Vacaville Parks and Recreation Commission and has been working with some city staffers on other events, such as the Vaca Triathlon for kids (as a volunteer).

Of teaching adults to learn to swim, Frazier said that, more than anything, the emotional rewards are considerable when “working with adults and watching them overcome their fear, realize they can improve, and seeing how much they can learn over the course of their lessons.”

RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is proud to announce that 37 student-athletes graduated on Friday and Saturday at the spring semester commencement ceremonies at Bert Ogden Arena.
 
“We are proud of these student-athletes for their hard work and commitment,” UTRGV Vice President and Director of Athletics Chasse Conque said. “Today’s graduates have been, and will no doubt continue to be, great ambassadors for the university in the community. Our young people have bright futures ahead of them. We congratulate them and are excited to now call them alumni!”
 
2025 Spring Graduates
Baseball
Robert Bonilla, Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies (minors in criminal justice, sociology, and kinesiology)
Angelo Cabral, Online Instructional Designer Graduate Certificate
Rudy Gonzalez, Bachelor of Business Administration
Francisco Hernandez, Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies (minors in kinesiology, criminal justice, and psychology)
Steven Lancia, Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with a concentration in recreational sports management
Jacob Limas, Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies (minors in communication, kinesiology, and psychology)
Evan Maldonado, Bachelor of Human Dimensions of Organizations
EJ Miramontes, Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies (minors in psychology, sociology, and communication)
Aaron Sanchez, Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice
Jacob Sanchez, Master of Business of Administration with a specialization in Entrepreneurship and an Advanced Business Administration Certificate
 
Men’s Basketball
Hasan Abdul Hakim, Bachelor of Sociology
Howard Fleming, Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies (minors in kinesiology, criminal justice, and sociology)
KT Raimey, Bachelor of Human Dimensions of Organizations
Women’s Basketball
Mariam Traore, Bachelor of Communication Studies
 
Men’s Golf
Juan Luis de Bethencourt Duque, Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering
Carlos Roldos, Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance
 
Women’s Golf
Catherine Flores, Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science with a concentration in physical therapy
Madi Ozuna, Bachelor of Business Administration in Management
Maria Jose Ramirez Nunez De Caceres, Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies (minors in marketing, management, and graphic design)
 
Men’s Soccer
Oneeko Allen, Bachelor of Business Administration in Management
Cesar Baltazar, Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies (minors in marketing, business administration, and kinesiology
Josue Camacho, Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies (minor in business administration, entrepreneurship, and management)
Diego Gomez, Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance
Finn O’Connor, Bachelor of Science in Psychology
Mohammed Shahabodien, Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with a concentration in coaching
 
Women’s Soccer
Savannah Frisby, Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science
Anna Frida Groedem, Bachelor of Mass Communication with a concentration in advertising and public relations
 
Men’s Tennis
Sam Whitehead, Bachelor of Business Administration in Management
 
Women’s Tennis
Kristal Dule, Bachelor of Economics
 
Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country
Zoë Adams, Bachelor of Science in Biology
Faith Cruz, Bachelor of Science in Integrated Health Sciences
Kailah Gilmore, Master of Science in Bioethics
Ana Hernandez, Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering
Emily Martinez, Bachelor of Science in Integrated Health Sciences
 
Volleyball
Ilana De Assis, Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology
Ingridy Foltran, Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering
Claudia Lupescu, Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing

Support UTRGV Athletics | Become a Fan on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Follow us on Instagram | Follow us on YouTube

Seven first-inning runs for Utah proved to be too much for the Frogs in an 8-6 defeat in the second game of the series.

Caedmon Parker got the start for TCU and gave up six hits and seven runs in 0.1 innings pitched.

Despite the early deficit, the Frogs still tried to battle back, putting up two-run innings in the third and fourth.

Noah Franco batted with three of six runs for TCU and hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to cut Utah’s lead down to one batted in three of six runs for TCU.

Utah got one more insurance run in the eighth inning off of a stellar TCU bullpen that collectively shut out Utah for six innings and pitched 7.2 innings, allowing one run.

With one more Big 12 game left, TCU has many different seeding possibilities for the Big 12 tournament. With a win, TCU will be a two seed if Kansas loses and a three seed if Kansas wins. With a loss, TCU could be a three seed if Arizona State and Arizona both lose. If they both win, TCU will be the fifth seed. TCU does not hold the tiebreaker over Arizona State or Arizona.

TCU will face Utah in a series-deciding match, which will be the last regular-season game, on Saturday on ESPN+ at 3 p.m. CT.

• King’s Academy boys volleyball won the Class 1A state championship, the first in school history.
• The Lions defeated Sports Leadership and Management (Tampa Bay) 3-0 in the final.
• Key players included seniors Jake Manning, John Casey, Dylan Wahl, Ryan Huff, David Brainard, and Graysen Amestoy.
• The team finished the season with a 22-5 record.

King’s Academy’s boys volleyball program is leaving Polk State College, home of the Class 1A state championship match, with the first title in school history.

An LBC native, Mike Guardabascio has been covering Long Beach sports professionally for 13 years, with his work published in dozens of Southern California magazines and newspapers. He’s won numerous awards for his writing as well as the CIF Southern Section’s Champion For Character Award, and is the author of three books about Long Beach history.

http://The562.org