May 12, 2008 — The St. Croix Dolphins and St. Thomas Stingrays had a successful day of competition Saturday at the V.I. Long Course Swimming Championships, held at the Dolphin's Pool at Country Day School on St. Croix.
The meet included more than 80 swimmers and 50 parent volunteers. Every swimmer competed in four events, and points were scored and ribbons were given out for those who finished in the top eight in each event. The swimmers with the most points were awarded trophies for the top three in each age group and sex, and this provided extra motivation for the kids to swim fast.
"The Dolphins and Stingrays did a great job of pushing each other to best times today," said Dolphin Coach Kevin Tyrrell. "More importantly, our kids cheered for each other and worked together to help everyone become a faster swimmer and have fun. Coming together to compete helps build great friendships that will last long after the competition ends. I'd like to mention that St. Thomas Stingrays Sasha Klein, Portia Norkaitis and Juliana DeHaas were all very focused on their races, and gave it everything they had today in their races. They have tremendous potential. Sasha in particular did wonderfully as she won the 8 years and younger female High Point Award."
For the Dolphins, one of the best swims of the weekend was by Melissa Acevedo in the 13 to 14-year-old girl 50 freestyle. Her time of 33.0 was a full three seconds faster than her previous best time and earned her a gold medal.
"Melissa has the highest attendance rate of any swimmer on our team," Tyrrell said. "I was psyched with the amount of time she dropped in the 50, because she has earned it. Dedication, determination and discipline are paying off for her and it is nice to see."
Coach Nadene Landry of the Dolphins was impressed by Lex Devlin, who wound up fourth overall in the 9 to 10-year-old boy high point standings.
"Lex was amazing today," Landry said. "He took off enormous amounts of time off his previous best times and looked smooth and strong in the water. Our coaching staff is quite proud of him."
Dolphin Coach Kie Ransom agreed: "Lex Devlin's outstanding swim in the 50m backstroke, coming in at 50.25 to finish second, was awesome."
Ransom was also very impressed by Jan Steinburg's 50m butterfly in 59.26 and J.J. Washshah's 200 IM, which was a best time for her (3:10.29).
The Dolphin swim team moms were treated to an extra special morning with flowers and a happy Mothers Day wish by their swimmers before the meet started. All of the Dolphins lined up along the pool and called there mothers up for hugs and a flower. The older swimmers decided to present their moms with carnations, and the younger swimmers created their flowers as a craft project led by Dolphin coaches Liz Hering and Moriah Tyrrell.
"The kids did a great job and put a lot of thought into the colors for their moms, and they were proud to give something to them at this morning's meet," Moriah said.
Hering, a former college standout at Louisiana State University and now principal of the St. Mary's school on St. Croix, was impressed with the number of best times — and, more importantly, by how many were significantly better than the swimmer's previous best time.
"I'd like to mention Luke Watson, who went a best time in the 50 breaststroke and who did a great job kicking in the 50 freestyle," Hering said. "Additionally, Olyssa Gore and Jaeda Magrino swam in their first meet and were awesome overall, including great starts in the backstroke and freestyle events."
The following swimmers placed the highest in their races in their age group, earning High Point Awards:
— Jemille Vialet, 15 and older champion, male, Dolphins
— Bryson Mays, 13-14 year old champion, male, Dolphins
— Caylee Watson, 13-14 year old champion, female, Dolphins
— Evan Warehime, 11-12 year old champion, male, Dolphins
— Reena Tarver, 11-12 year old champion, female, Dolphins,
— Tony Hendricks, 9-10 year old champion, male, Dolphins,
— J.J. Washshah, 9-10 year old champion, female, Dolphins,
— Jonathan Thomas, 8 years and younger , male, Dolphins
— Sasha Klein, 8 years and younger , female, Stingrays
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