May 1, 2008 — The Rocky Mountains provided a beautiful backdrop to an intense swim meet for ten St. Croix Dolphin swimmers at the 2008 TOPS Invitational in Denver, Colorado, April, 24-28. The Dolphin 12-year-and-younger swimmers were the stars at this meet, and showed they can all be contributors to the Virgin Islands national team very soon. Coach Kevin Tyrrell selected the meet in Denver, so the swimmers could see new competitors that they had not raced against in the past as well as swim in an excellent indoor Olympic-size pool. Playing in the snow was also a decisive factor as fun at meets is very important to the Dolphins swim team.
Younger swimmers, Matthew Mays, Marshall McCormick, Andrea Steinberg, Jan Steinberg, Reena Tarver, Jonathan Thomas, Erik Williams and Tyler Zuyus, bettered their previous best times by a total of 144 seconds over the course of the meet. Impressively, they did this in Denver, the "mile-high" city, where the high altitude decreases athletes' ability to perform their best if they are not used to training at the over 5,000-foot altitude.
In the 400-meter freestyle, Erik Williams, Matthew Mays and Marshall McCormick all had times faster than seven minutes, which impressed Coach Nadene Landry. Also of note were swims by Jan Steinberg, who bettered by 14 seconds his 50-meter fly time and Marshall McCormick, who swam 10 seconds faster than his previous best time in the 50-meter backstroke.
The format of the meet provided the opportunity for Dolphin swimmers to try events they had never swum in the past. Reena Tarver swam her first 100-meter fly and Andrea Steinberg, Marshall McCormick, Jonathan Thomas and Tyler Zuyus swam their first 100-meter backstroke. All swimmers swam faster than expected.
Results for Swimmers:
Swimmer/ Event/ Time/ Result
Jake Barnwell 200 Individual Medley 2:56.58
100 Freestyle 1:09.29
100 Breaststroke 1:25.13
400 Freestyle 5:17.59
50 Freestyle 31.06 (best time)
200 Breaststroke 3:06.23
200 Freestyle 3:16.64
Matthew Mays 400 Freestyle 6:44.04 (best time)
50 Freestyle 39.51
50 Breaststroke 57.04
Marshall McCormick 400 Freestyle 6:51.83 (best time)
100 Butterfly 2:00.84
50 Freestyle 41.15 (best time)
100 Backstroke 1:50.19 (best time)
50 Butterfly 54.10
100 Freestyle 1:31.25 (best time)
50 Backstroke 49.74 (best time)
Andrea Steinberg 50 Freestyle 51.92
100 Backstroke 2:09.52 (best time)
50 Breaststroke 1:14.17 (best time)
50 Butterfly 1:12.17 (best time)
100 Freestyle 2:09.27
50 Backstroke 1:00.90
Jan Steinberg 50 Freestyle 43.60 (best time)
100 Backstroke 2:05.03 (best time)
50 Breaststroke 1:11.59 (best time)
50 Butterfly 56.82 (best time)
100 Freestyle 1:45.46 (best time)
50 Backstroke 56.57 (best time)
Reena Tarver 100 Butterfly 1:46.50 (best time)
50 Freestyle 40.16 (best time)
50 Breaststroke 46.29 (best time)
200 Individual Medley
200 Breaststroke 3:36.38
200 Freestyle
Jonathan Thomas 50 Freestyle 40.77 (best time)
100 Backstroke 1:59.90 (best time)
50 Breaststroke 54.02 (best time)
50 Butterfly 53.74 (best time)
100 Freestyle 1:37.49 (best time)
50 Backstroke 50.84 (best time)
Jemille Vialet 200 Individual Medley 2:32.98
100 Freestyle 59.18
200 Backstroke 2:33.71
400 Freestyle 4:59.13
50 Freestyle 26.41
100 Backstroke 1:06.50
400 Individual Medley 5:39.91 (best time)
Erik Williams 400 Freestyle 6:18.49 (best time)
50 Freestyle 34.02 (best time)
50 Breaststroke 48.81 (best time)
200 Individual Medley 3:23.04 (best time)
100 Freestyle 1:20.09 best time
50 Backstroke 41.85 (best time)
200 Freestyle 3:01.17 (best time)
Tyler Zuyus 50 Freestyle 42.95 (best time)
100 Backstroke 2:04.05 (best time)
50 Breaststroke 1:09.16 (best time)
50 Butterfly 1:04.70
100 Freestyle 1:46.07 (best time)
50 Backstroke 52.02 (best time)
The Dolphins will be hosting soon at the Dolphins Pool at Country Day School. The first, the Virgin Islands Long Course Swimming Championships, will be held on Saturday, May 10, with the St. Croix Dolphins and the St. Thomas Stingrays competing against each other.
The second meet will be the Annual Dolphins Invitational Meet on Wednesday, May 28. The public is welcome to stop by to see how the Dolphins are positively affecting the youth of St. Croix through the sport of swimming.
For any of your aquatic needs, contact the Dolphins at 719-7946 or dolphinscoach@islands.vi
