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Dolphins Swim Team Does Well in Philadelphia

Jan. 23, 2009 – Swimming for the St. Croix Dolphins is about much more than simply swimming fast. The team’s mission is two-fold: to keep children safe and to teach values that will help a child succeed throughout life. Hard work, dedication, honesty, caring, respect and responsibility are just a few of the values that can be learned through the sport of swimming. Swimmers use these values to become better human beings, citizens, sons or daughters and students. In an effort to help these values take hold, the Dolphins travel 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.
Photo Credit: Rebeca Pelayo
Dolphins visit the Constitution Museum one day before President-Elect Barak Obama
The trip began with a visit to the United States Independence Mall, which includes the Constitution Museum, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and other historic sites. The Dolphins were able to see the house where the first Continental Congress met, view the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed and stand next to the Liberty Bell.
Fifteen USA 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 seventy-eight 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 weightlifting 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.
Photo Credit: Nadene Landry
Dolphin Swimmers Brigitte Rasmussen, Melissa Acevedo and Bryson Mays with the Liberty Bell
On all trips, the Dolphins visit colleges in order to prepare their swimmers for a higher education. In Philadelphia, tours of St. Joseph’s College and the University of Pennsylvania took place. 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. However, the Dolphins certainly were happy to be back on St. Croix with its warm weather and friendly faces.
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 1second
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 seconds
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.
Please stop by to see how we 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.

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