St. Croix Dolphins Add to the Strength of their National Team

This past weekend, the St. Croix Dolphins added to their National Team, both in numbers and in events. The Dolphins, and friends from the Makos Swim Club in Tortola, participated in the Virgin Islands Swimming Federation Long Course Invitational Swim Meet from March 10-11. More than 75 Dolphins swimmers competed alongside two from Tortola, who were accompanied by their coaches, Elsworth and Tracy Bradshaw.

The main goal of most of the junior and senior swimmers was making the cut for the CARIFTA Swimming Championships, which will be held April 12-16 in Nassau, Bahamas. Sixteen year old Victor Torres joined the V.I. National Team over the weekend by making the qualifying mark in the 200-meter and 100-meter backstroke events. Several other swimmers who had already qualified in one or more events added to their list of events by achieving additional qualifying marks: EvaLuna Wittman (200m breaststroke), Tony Hendricks (200m breaststroke, 50m backstroke), Webster Bozzo (200m individual medley (IM)), and Jonathan Thomas (200m IM) . Still others bettered their previously attained marks: Tony Hendricks (100m breaststroke), Chloe Hayden (200m backstroke and 200m breaststroke), Nicholas Dascher (200m IM), EvaLuna Wittman (100m breaststroke), and Jonathan Thomas (100m breaststroke). In total, the Virgin Islands will be sending 17 swimmers (16 from the St. Croix Dolphins and one from the St. Thomas Stingrays) to CARIFTA.

Swimmers were also eligible to qualify for the Caribbean Islands Swimming Championships (CISC), another high level regional swim meet, which will be held June 23-27 in Oranjestad, Aruba. Twelve year old swimmers Chloe Hayden and EvaLuna Wittman qualified in the 200-meter breaststroke, and Victor Torres qualified in the 100-meter backstroke. They join Caylee Watson, Brigitte Rasmussen, Jonathan Thomas, and Bryson Mays as part of the V.I. delegation.

Overall, the meet was very successful for all swimmers involved. The swimmers logged an amazing total of 223 personal best times over the two-day meet, with several swimmers improving on times they had earned just three weeks earlier in Puerto Rico. The younger Dolphin swimmers, ages 10 and under, had an incredible meet, earning 91 best times, showing improvements in their stroke technique and displaying great sportsmanship.

Full meet results are available online at www.dolphinsvi.org. For additional information about the swim meet, contact Head Coach John Vasbinder at 719-7946 or stcroixdolphins@gmail.com.

The next event on the Dolphins calendar is a developmental meet for swimmers ages 10 and under at the Dolphins pool on April 28.

If you would like to be a part of this rewarding sport, please contact the Dolphins Swim Team on St. Croix at 719-7946 or e-mail at stcroixdolphins@gmail.com. On St. Thomas, contact the Stingrays at 779-7872 or e-mail at info@sttswimming.org. Classes include infant, toddler, children and adult learn to swim courses in addition to the competitive youth and masters swim teams.