Jan. 23, 2009 – Swimming for the St. Croix Dolphins, young swimmers learn the value of hard work, dedication, honesty, caring, respect and responsibility among other things. In an effort to help these values take hold, the team travels to off-island meets on a regular basis, which helps to further each swimmer’s education. From Jan. 16-20, the Dolphins visited Philadelphia to explore the National Constitution Museum, see the Liberty Bell, attend a swim meet and visit colleges. Ice skating and snowball fights were also highlights of the trip.
Fifteen U.S.A. swimming teams and the Dolphins competed against each other at the Central Bucks County South Pool on the second and third days of the trip. Newly constructed, the eight-lane pool helped all the entrants swim fast.
Younger swimmers Nick Dascher, Matthew Mays, Marshall McCormick, Andrea Steinberg, Jan Steinberg, Jonathan Thomas and Erik Williams bettered their previous best times by a total of 78 seconds over the course of the meet. Coach Nadene Landry was impressed with the young swimmers’ ability to adjust despite the record-breaking, frigid temperatures outside.
“The first day of the meet, we experienced the lowest temperatures these kids have ever seen! At the meet, we had several best times, a feat normally difficult to accomplish in a strange pool and in a strange place. Our swimmers were able to stay focused on swimming their events well and then were able to explore some of the historical and educational aspects of Philadelphia after.”
Coach Kevin Tyrrell thought that the older swimmers performed well considering how hard they worked the week before the meet, “We did weight lifting and swam four and a half miles the day before we left for the meet. Our focus is to swim our fastest in April at the CARIFTA Championships. We need to swim fast even as we train hard and for the most part we did so. Brigitte Rasmussen was a standout as she swam much more efficiently and with much more passion than in the past in her butterfly and freestyle events. Bryson Mays, age 14, won all but one of his events, and in the 400 individual medley, he beat all of the older swimmers (15-17 year olds) as well."
On all trips, the Dolphins visit colleges in order to prepare their swimmers for a higher education. In Philadelphia, they took tours of St. Joseph’s College and the University of Pennsylvania. St. Joseph’s is a smaller school with a non-varsity swimming program and U of Penn. is a mid-size school and is part of the Ivy League.
Brent Mays, a Dolphin parent, was happy to meet the U of Penn. coach. “Coach Michael Schnur was gracious in spending time with the Dolphins. He was very insightful, offering suggestions that will help our swimmers get into the school they choose to attend, explaining the benefits of being part of a swim team and how it will help them in college as well as life.”
Snow fell throughout the day on Sunday and Monday and was a big hit with Dolphins Melissa Acevedo and Brigitte Rasmussen, who had never seen snow before.
The most impressive results of the meet for the Dolphins were:
Swimmer–Event–Time–Result
Melissa Acevedo/500 freestyle/6:26.59 (best time by 1 second)
200 Individual Medley/2:46.16 (first time)
200 Butterfly/3:06.67 (best by 9 seconds)
400 Individual Medley/5:56.80 (best by 1 second)
100 Butterfly/1:23.47 (best by 2 seconds)
Aliyah Allick/50 Breaststroke/1:04.58 (first time)
50 Backstroke/58.10 (first time)
50 Butterfly/1:13.14 (first time)
Nicholas Dascher/50 Backstroke/47.16 (best by 3 seconds)
100 Freestyle/1:32.38 (best by 8 seconds)
Thalia Hendricks/50 Breaststroke/1:07.22 (best time)
Caroline Mallory/200 Individual Medley/3:06.89 (best by 1 second)
100 Freestyle/1:13.25 (best by 1 second)
Matthew Mays/ 100 Freestyle/ 1:13.49 (best by 5 seconds)
Bryson Mays/ 200 Freestyle/ 1:52.69 (best by 1 second)
100 Freestytle/ 51.19/ (best by 1 second)
Marshall McCormick/ 100 Backstroke/ 134.19 (best by 4 second)
100 Butterfly/ 1:47.34 (best time)
50 Backstroke/ 42.52 (best by 1 second)
50 Butterfly/ 42.85 (best by 2 seconds)
Brigette Rasmussen 500 freestyle/ 6:15.49 (best by 35 seconds)
200 Individual Medley/ 2:36.09 (best by 1 second)
400 Individual Medley/ 5:30.53 (best by 18 seconds) 100 Freestyle/ 1:03.36 (best by 5 seconds)
Andrea Steinberg/ 100 Individual Medley/ 1:45.89 (best by 8 seconds)
50 Breaststroke/ 58.73 (best by 4 seconds)
50 Backstroke/ 47.04 (best by 1 second)
100 Freestyle/ 1:39.57 (best by 6 seconds)
50 Butterfly/ 57.41 (best by 5 seconds)
Jan Steinberg/ 100 Individual Medley/ 1:39.58 (best by 1 seconds)
50 Backstroke/ 46.62 (best by 3 seconds)
100 Freestyle/ 1:25.85 (best by 5 seconds)
Devontai Stevens/ 400 Individual Medley/ 4:58.70 (best by 10 seconds)
100 Butterfly/ 1:00.33 (best by 1 second)
Jonathan Thomas/ 100 Individual Medley/ 1:25.58 (best by 3 seconds)
50 Freestyle/ 33.99 (best by 1 second)
50 Breaststroke/ 45.10 (best by 2 seconds)
50 Backstroke/ 41.36/ (best by 1 second)
100 Freestyle/ 1:16.23 (best by 3 seconds)
50 Butterfly/ 41.62 (best by 1 second)
Jemille Vialet/ 500 Freestyle/ 5:22.45 (best by 8 seconds)
200 Individual Medley/ 2:05.41 (best by 1 second)
Erik Williams/ 100 Butterfly/ 1:24.57 (best by 2 seconds)
50 Backstroke/ 35.84 (best by 2 seconds)
100 Freestyle/ 1:07.08 (best by 3 seconds)
100 Breaststroke/ 1:27.15 (best by 4 seconds)
400 Individual Medley/ 6:10.32 (first time)
Caylee Watson/ 500 Freestyle/ 6:02.01 (best by 2 seconds)
200 Individual Medley/ 2:31.30 (best by 5 seconds)
400 Individual Medley/ 5:24.65 (best by 11 seconds)
200 Freestyle/ 2:14.16 (best by 3 seconds)
100 Freestyle/ 1:01.04
The Dolphins will soon host two meets at the Dolphins pool at Country Day School. The first, a Virgin Islands long course swimming meet, will be held on Saturday, Feb. 7. The St. Croix Dolphins and the St. Thomas Stingrays will compete against each other from 11 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.
The second meet will be the 29th Annual Dolphins Invitational Meet, May 22-24. The team is looking for sponsors for this event.
The public is invited to stop by to see how the Dolphins are positively affecting the youth of St. Croix through the sport of swimming. Contact us at 719-7946 or dolphinscoach@islands.vi for any aquatic needs including lessons, adult fitness classes and an adult swim team.
