May 11, 2011
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Over the course of the 2010-2011 season the ladies of the UNM swim team logged more than 800 hours of community service. A feat that is made all the more impressive when you talk to Lobo head coach Tracy Ljone and realize that partaking in community service projects never feels like work to her team.
“The team enjoys community service,” Ljone said. “This isn’t an obligation to them they love doing it.”
While the team does projects year round that benefit everyone from members of the UNM Navy ROTC to the less fortunate, perhaps the biggest joy Ljone’s swimmers get is from working with kids. This past Wednesday May 4, the team held a swim clinic for the children of the Thomas Bell Community Center and the experience was unforgettable Ljone said.
“One of our swimmers, Maureen Abeita, works with the center all year round and this was the second year that the kids have come to the university to have a day with the swimmers,” she said.
“Everyone had so much fun; we did swim lessons with the kids and then they got the opportunity to jump off of the diving boards and make whirlpools in the water. We hope to have them out here more often as it was a fantastic day,” Ljone said.
Swimming season has been over for quite some time and the school year is nearing the end, but for Ljone’s team and the children that were present at the clinic the laugher and memories they created won’t fade anytime soon.