When Jennifer Lopez first started coaching water polo and swim at Fresno High School, she knew there would be an adjustment with the changes she planned to make. Jennifer knew it would be hard but she cares immensely about the pool deck, kids, and coaches who enter it. Fast forward three years and Echo Aquatics has successfully launched, in large part due to the community of school administrators, parents, athletes, and coaches that have supported us.
Echo Aquatics was originally started to keep the Fresno High School athletes training year round. Keeping them active makes them more competitive, keeps them busy, and gives them more opportunities to play after high school. The plan has been to build a variety of programs over the first three years and hire Fresno High athletes to help teach them. Other benefits include losing fewer athletes to less impactful jobs when they turn working age, give them the opportunity to earn extra money, and helping them learn financial skills that translate well to their adult lives.
One of Echo’s goals is to serve a wide range of ages and abilities, so we decided on swim lessons for kids, splashball, club swim, water polo, and water aerobics. What we didn’t expect to happen was:
Our high school athletes now support each other in new ways. Both our boys and girls attend the water aerobics classes to support each other, especially if a class is light on attendance. They even wake up early on Saturdays to attend class!
We have a great community of parents that sponsor children that couldn’t afford to attend otherwise, which is a big deal.
Adults have been very enthusiastic about the programs and enjoy participating as much as the kids. We’re proud to help the community engage in low stress fitness and learn how to swim more effectively.
The integration of different ages, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds coming together has made it even more diverse and fun on the deck.
Echo continues to evolve and add programs to bring the community together. Soon we are launching:
Adult swim lessons during the months of August, September, and October. These sessions will be only open to people ages 15 and over. Adults do not need to have any swim experience and will be taught by an adult, not a student athlete.
Full day camps for kids during Thanksgiving and Winter school breaks. Kids will have the opportunity to learn about how animals swim, improve their own swimming skills, learn more about water polo, and bond with their peers.
We’ve expanded our sponsorship program for the Thanksgiving and Winter camps, offer payment plans, and will have fundraising opportunities so any kid that wants to participate, can.
Adding more water aerobics sessions. On July 28th we will add a Wednesday evening session from 6:30 p.m. - 7:15 p.m. for water aerobics.
Be on the lookout for info on a January water polo tournament for our Winter session water polo athletes to participate in.
Community means fully integrated programs that serve multiple ages, ethnicities, and socio economic backgrounds. We’re excited to expand our programs and thank all of the adults and kids that have made this summer so meaningful for us.
If you would like to stay up-to-date with Echo’s offerings, subscribe to our newsletter, email info@echoaquatics.net.
About Echo Aquatics, LLC
Echo Aquatics LLC, was established in 2019 to support the current and incoming athletes of Fresno High School. Through the club we are able to provide training for athletes all year. Programs include: water polo, club swimming, splashball, water aerobics, and swim lessons for both children and adults.
In addition to consistent training throughout the year, our mission is to make aquatic sports and safety accessible to the area surrounding Fresno High School.