Dec. 16, 2008 – The Virgin Islands Swimming Federation hosted its annual Short Course Swimming Championship on Saturday, Dec. 13, at the Caribbean Health and Racquet Club at Beeston Hill. Swimmers from the St. Croix Dolphins and St. Thomas Stingrays raced against each other and also made great friendships and set new V.I. swimming records.
Hannah Clements of St. Thomas established a new V.I. record in the 8-and-under Girls 25-meter Breaststroke with a time of 23.22. The old record was held by Hannah Newburger with a time of 23.77, set in 2002. Additionally, Sasha Klein, also of St. Thomas, set a new record in the 8-and-under Girls 25-meter Freestyle with a time of 16.39. The previous mark was established in 1997 by Nicole Hutchins with a time of 17.41.
In other news, Erik Williams qualified for the first time for the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) Championships in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:27.17. His teammate, Evan Warehime, qualified in two additional events for CARIFTA after making his first event last weekend in Puerto Rico.
"The boys have been training for CARIFTA for the past year. It's great to see their sacrifices and hard work in practice translate into fast races in meets," said Dolphins coach Nadene Landry.
High Point trophies were awarded to the top swimmers in each age group based on total points scored:
Place–Swimmer–Team—Points
Girls/8 and under
1. Sasha Klein– STSA– 37
2. Lemiah Bates– SCSA– 33
2. Hannah Clements– STSA– 33
Boys/8 and under
1. Jonathan Thomas– SCSA– 34
2. Nicholas Dascher– SCSA– 31
3. Matthew Low– STSA– 25
Girls/9 and 10
1. J.J. Washshah– SCSA– 40
2. Tiy Gonzales– SCSA– 31
3. Emma Logan– SCSA– 26
Boys/9 and 10
1. Tony Hendricks– SCSA– 37
2. Matthew Mays– SCSA– 34
3. Adriel Sanes– SCSA– 23
Girls/11 and 12
1. Reena Tarver– SCSA– 40
2. Maggie Wessinger– STSA– 33
3. Stephanie Acevedo– SCSA– 24
Boys/11 and 12
1. Evan Warehime– SCSA– 40
2. Erik Williams– SCSA– 31
2. Alex Lewit– SCSA– 31
Girls/13 and 14
1. Gloria Morales– SCSA– 40
2. Brigitte Rasmussen– SCSA– 37
3. Caylee Watson– SCSA– 30
Boys/13 and 14
1. Bryson Mays– SCSA– 37
2. Devontai Stevens– SCSA– 30
3. Fidel Gomes– SCSA– 27
Girls/15 and over
1. Annie Myrvang– SCSA– 30
2. Sarah Surdyke– SCSA– 23
3. Cara Mallory– SCSA– 14
Boys/15 and over
1. Stuart Henderly– STSA– 40
Stingrays coach Brian Cameron said, "The Stingrays had an outstanding swim meet. We had 16 swimmers attend and they all had great performances. We were much stronger than in any of the previous three meets. We have a very young group of talented swimmers. The future of swimming in St. Thomas and the Virgin Islands is looking promising. I'd like to thank the Department of Housing, Parks and Recreation for their support in helping us make this trip."
Great performances were turned in by:
St. Thomas Stingrays
Swimmer——-Event————-Place—–Time
Shaw Clements–25 Breaststroke–1st–:24.36
Sam Hardenbrook–100 Ind. Med.–6th–1:57.43
(Dropped 7 seconds)
Stuart Henderly–100 Freestyle–1st–:59.11
Marina Parlato–50 Breaststroke–2nd–:55.22
Jeanie Patrie–50 Freestyle–2nd–:37.23
Cameron Riley–50 Breaststroke–1st–:53.38
Simone Riley–100 Freestyl–4th–1:45.16
(Dropped 4 seconds)
Zola Roper–100 Ind. Med.–1st–1:33.56
Libby Ryan–50 Backstroke–2nd–:49.13
Luke "Rush" Ryan–100 Freestyle–2nd–1:40.45
Maggie Wessinger–50 Backstroke–1st–:42.95
Emma Williams–25 Backstrok–2nd–:23.52
Marie Williams–200 Freestyle–1st–3:37.50
Jesse Wyatt–50 Breaststroke–3rd–:57.54
Coach Kie Ransom was very impressed with the outstanding swimming turned in by all of the Dolphin swimmers, especially Jalena Vialet and Antonio Lewit in their very first meet. Other great swims were:
St. Croix Dolphins
Swimmer—Event—Time—-/Decrease in Seconds
Melissa Acevedo–200m Backstroke–3:07.08/-7.23
Stephanie Acevedo–100m Freestyle–1:33.68/-7.79
Alliyah Allick–25m Backstroke–30.73/-3.12
Nicholas Dascher–25m Freestyle–19.00/-2.84
Shawna Dean–25m Butterfly–28.06/-4.60
Thea D'Eramo–25m Backstroke–28.46/-1.96
Anthony D'Ippolito–25m Breaststroke–28.08/-8.73
Fidel Gomes–100m Freestyle–1:08.98/-1.84
Tiy Gonzalez–50m Breaststroke–46.88/-4.39
Thalia Hendicks–25m Backstroke–31.07/-3.75
Tony Hendricks–100m Individual Medley–1:29.20/-7.11
Caroline Kupfer–100m Freestyle–1:13.88/-3.28
Sophie Leklou–25m Butterfly–34.76/-2.47
Alex Lewit–100m Freestyle–1:25.22/-11.25
Antonio Lewit–25m Freestyle–30.85/
(First meet ever)
Emma Logan–100m Individual Medley–1:59.08/
(First time swimming)
Matthew Low–100m Individual Medley–2:07.44/-5.32
Caroline Mallory–100 Individual Medley–1:35.28/-5.21
Bryson Mays–200m Breast–2:46.47/
(6 secs under Carifta qualifying)
Matthew Mays–50m Freestyle–36.30/-6.28
Gloria Morales–50m Backstroke–37.59/-1.66
Annie Myrvang–first meet back after being sick for 15 months
Gianluca Parratta–100m Individual Medley–1:53.61/(First time swimming)
Andrew Peacock–50m Backstroke–53.21/-3.11
Juliette Peacock–25m Breaststroke–33.49/-6.15
Nathan Peacock–50m Freestyle–42.62/
(First meet ever).
Chad Peters–25m Butterfly–28.45/-2.62
Brigitte Rasmussen–200m Individual Medley–2:54.93/-5.47
Amanda Rupareli–25m Backstroke–29.24/-3.60
Henrik Ruparelia–50m Breaststroke–59.15/-24.73
Adriel Sanes–50m Breaststroke–46.56/-0.72
Andrea Steinberg–25m Butterfly–24.28/-6.81
Jan Steinberg–50m Butterfly–49.12/-15.85
Devontai Stevens–100m Backstroke–1:06.67/-.63
Reena Tarver–50m Breaststroke–45.27/-0.44
Jonathan Thomas–25m Freestyle–18.35/-0.96
Victor Torres–50m Freestyle–38.32/-6.43
Jelena Vialet–25m Freestyle–24.95/
(First meet ever)
Cora Warehime–25m Butterfly–35.83/-10.42
Layalie Washsha–25m Butterfly–33.85/-2.17
Caylee Watson–200m Butterfly–2:53.28/-21.93
Luke Watson–25m Butterfly–35.53/-2.91
Erik Williams–50m Breaststroke–42.03/-10.43
Future events for the Dolphins include the 5th annual 1-mile Sea Swim off the Frederiksted Pier on Jan. 6, 2009. Everyone in the community is invited to join in the fun. Forms are available at dolphinsvi.org. Register by sending it to: Dolphins Office, P.O. Box 972, Kingshill, V.I. 00851 or stop by the pool office.
The Virgin Islands Swimming Federation invites all new swimmers and parents who might be interested in joining a team to contact them at:
· St. Croix Dolphins at 719-7946 or dolphinscoach@islands.vi.
· St. Thomas Stingrays at 779-7872 or e-mail at brian_cameron444@yahoo.com
Swimmers may try out for the swim team or sign-up for the swim lessons program at any time.
