Hispanic Heritage Month Recognitions

As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close, the DDEI Committee would like to spotlight the following individuals in our LSC.

Metro Committee would like to recognize Federico Ricketts, Head Coach of Downey Dolphins.

Downey Dolphins Head Coach Federico Ricketts was born in Panama City, Panama and learned to swim in the rivers and beaches of Panama after a near drowning incident at the age of 6. He made it a point to learn how to swim and be the best swimmer he could be. Just before moving to the United States, he and his brothers moved to one of the military bases close to Panama City Civic Center and had to go back and forth getting all the immigration papers in order.

When Federico and his family arrived in Los Angeles, California in June of 1970, he began swimming competitively at the age of 14. His favorite events to swim was the 200 free, 100 fly, and occasionally the 50 free.

“One night, while working out at the local park pool (Jesse Owens Park Pool in Los Angeles County), the same pool our high school used during high school swim season, one of the lifeguards saw me working on butterfly. He came down out of the guard chair and offered to help me with improving my stroke and racing technique, and after high school, I became a LA County lifeguard.”

Federico’s introduction to coaching began shortly after. “My first summer, the pool manager asked for volunteers to coach the group. Remembering the lifeguard that one evening who stepped down from his lifeguard station to help me with my stroke, here was my opportunity to repay the good deed. Many of the members had never competed before or trained in an organized program and I felt the need to help organize the group. Returning each year, after 3 summers the small group of inexperienced swimmers had grown from 25 swimmers to 150. Soon, we were looking for places to compete and a pool to train in year-round. My pool area supervisor offered to move the team from an outdoor six lane pool to an 8-lane indoor pool, Roosevelt Park Pool.”

“With the large Hispanic community, my ability to speak both English and Spanish languages was of great help, communicating with the swimmers and their parents. This led to a very productive coaching experience. Some years later, we organized the South-Central Swim League, made up of inner-city pools and minority coaches, many of them ex-swimmers and county guards/coaches. In the summer of 2005, I was recruited to coach the Downey Dolphins, the team I currently coach, and most of our members are non-white, mostly Hispanic. We are a very diverse group; Asians, Latinos, Hispanics, Middle Eastern, Koreans, and many more.”

Federico’s Coaching Experience: LA County Parks and Rec., Sun Swim School Manhattan Beach, Huntington Park High School, Southeast Rio Vista YMCA, Warren High School in Downey, Downey Dolphins Swim Club and Downey Dolphins Masters.

Orange Committee would like to recognize Daniel Roa and Adrian Juarez.

Daniel Roa, Senior Coach - Mission Viejo Nadadores
Coach Daniel Roa is originally from Bogota, Colombia. Daniel started his swimming career at the age of five. As a swimmer, he was able to achieve multiple qualifying times for regionals and national championships, getting to represent Colombia on multiple occasions.
Daniel moved to Southern California in August 2012 to attend Golden West College and swim under the guidance of Mark Schubert, where he earned multiple conference records and was awarded the MVP on his first season with the Rustlers.
Daniel started coaching in 2013 with the age group program at Golden West Swim Club, but his coaching and teaching experience goes back to his days in Colombia helping his dad on his swimming/triathlon team. Coach Daniel emphasizes stroke technique as a fundamental piece for a successful athlete at any given level, as well as establishing goals in order to have a successful and fun journey in the sport.  Daniel has been selected to be part of the coaching staff for the SCS All-Star Festival and North American Cup Challenge.“I will be at the pool every day building successful swimmers, and outstanding citizens”

Adrian Juarez, USA Swimming Official
"My name is Adrian Juarez. I'm a Swim Dad and Official, but not a swimmer (Yes, I can swim). I started officiating to be able to connect to the sport my son enjoys and have an opportunity to learn about swimming. In the process, I'm not only enjoying the sport, but I'm enjoying seeing my kid mature in it (even when I have disqualified him). Officiating has given me the opportunity to participate in Championship and NCAA meets. But I think the best part is the camaraderie between officials and coaches on deck."