From young children just learning to swim to swimmers training to compete on a national, international and collegiate level, Texas Ford Aquatics provides support for swimmers of all ages and skill levels.
COO Stuart Smith (left) and CEO Dan McDonough own Texas Ford Aquatics.[/caption]
Texas Ford Aquatics is a USA Swimming year-round competitive swim team, and the facility also offers developmental and other swimming classes.
“We want to and think we do run the finest swim instruction and lessons in the area,” Chief Operating Officer Stuart Smith said. “It’s not only learning a life skill but the discipline and the hard work to keep reaching to improve your [swimming] times.”
Smith and CEO Dan McDonough have been working together for the past four years. Both were championship swimmers in college and both have extensive coaching experience. The facility has 16 qualified instructors/coaches.
“What makes us unique is that we’re coach-owned and operated,” Smith said. “We own our water time, so that makes scheduling easier. We’re not so crowded that we have to run practices at 10 p.m. We try to get everybody out of here by 7:30 p.m.”
Texas Ford Aquatics started as Frisco Aquatics in 2000. McDonough came on as the coach of the team in 2009 and was offered the chance to buy the team. Throughout the next three years, the membership of the team grew from 150 to 600 swimmers.
The growth of the team and the city caused pool time to become precious. In 2012, Smith and McDonough joined forces with the plan to build an independent swimming facility.
“We shopped some banks and came up with a loan, but it wasn’t enough based on what we wanted to do,” Smith said. “We started to look at corporate sponsorship. North Texas Ford dealers, along with some corporate help, stepped in and wanted everything—the building, the team name.”
A student swims laps in the facility’s Olympic-size swimming pool.[/caption]
Frisco Aquatics became Texas Ford Aquatics when the new facility opened in October 2014.
Texas Ford Aquatics teaches swimming through SwimAmerica—a national learn-to-swim program. The program starts with 4-year-olds.
“It’s a lesson program, but it also teaches competitive swimming,” Smith said. “We’re not just teaching kids how to be water safe or dog paddle. We’re teaching a foundation for competitive swimming but also a life skill.”
The swim team has 550 children and 800 children participate in the training program.
“It’s a hard sport, and we try to approach it from a goal-setting
A coach teaches students the proper technique for a stroke while swimming laps.[/caption]
aspect,” Smith said. “The message to the parents is that if kids come through the program and work hard, they can swim in college and probably on scholarship, especially if they’re a girl. The more you commit to it, the more it pays off.”
Texas Ford Aquatics also offers programs for adults ranging from learn-to-swim to competitive level and also offers AquaFIT workouts.
