Dolphin Times Issue 1, Season 2019

Dolphin Times

Issue 1, Season 2019

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For Dolphin Seniors, 2019 is About Div. E to Div. E

By Doll Finn

Senior Dolphin Correspondent

It is back to the beginning for many of the Bannockburn Dolphins who are in the final season of swim team eligibility.

Those Dolphins were under 8’s in 2009 when Bannockburn last competed in Division E.  That team included current swimmers Ray Crist, Alexa Crist, Tyler Crist, Urban Seiberg, Gabby Helf, Jack MacIssac and Owen Wassiliew.

Those swimmers were part of one of the most successful seasons in the team’s history.

The 2009 Bannockburn Dolphins won Division E in 2009 by defeating Darnestown, Lake Marion, Franklin Knolls, Connecticut Belair and Olney Mill. In the Divisional meet, the Dolphins took first with 907.5 points. That was 112 points better than second place Darnestown. In fact, the margin between Bannockburn and Darnestown was greater than the margin between Darnestown and Olney Mill, which finished last in the meet.

In that historic season, the Dolphins won all of the one-on-one meets except for the final competition of the season against Darnestown.  The team also finished third in the relay carnival, missing an outright win by just four points.

So who was on that team?

Besides so many of our graduating seniors, the team was also filled with some of the all-time, all-star Bannockburn swimmers. Former Bannockburn Head Coach Malena Lair Ferrari led the way in backstroke. The Fosburgh family was swimming strong with Caroline in 15/18,  Elizabeth in 13/14 and Pieter in 11/12,   Also on that team was Danielle Schulkin, another star swimmer and two other Lair Ferrari’s in Andy and Cookie.

That Division E win in 2009 vaulted the team up to Division C in 2010. To say the least, that was a more difficult year. Still, the team got to celebrate a huge accomplishment as it was the little pool in the woods defeating many of the much bigger pools in the county.

All Star Performances To Start 2019 Season

By Walter Tu Kold

Dolphin Correspondent

To be fair, the Time Trials is always the most chaotic meet.

New volunteers are doing new jobs while old volunteers are trying to remember how everything operates. Coaches are still getting their flipflops wet and trying to recall what it is like to herd cats. And timers are trying to get the rust off the fingers so they can quickly start and stop the watches so the differences between times can be measured in 1/100th of a second rather than 1.6 seconds.

One group, however, had no rust.

The swimmers remembered exactly what they were doing. Our time trials featured eight swimmers getting a combined 16 All Star Times. To call this impressive would be an understatement.

Leading the way was Sophie Duncan with All Star Times in Girls 15/18 in 100 free, 100 back, 100 IM, 100 Breast and 100 Fly. We are sure if side stroke or doggie paddle were events then she also would have an All Star times in those.

On the other end of the age spectrum, Caroline Conroy took down three All Star Times in under 8 for 25 Free, 25 Back and 25 Fly. We highlight 25 Back where she beat the time by almost two seconds.’

Meyer Eskin and Gideon Helf both had two All Star Times. In 13/14, Meyer got the time in 100 IM and 50 Breast. Gideon in 15/18 took the time in 100 IM and 100 Breast. Also with All Star Times where Lauren Faulkender in 11/12 50 Breast, Valerie Mello in 15/18 100 Back, Andrew O’Brien in 15/18 100 Back and Lucca Scott in 15/18 50 Fly.

Unfortunately these times are unlikely to count for the All Star meet as they were not swum at an A Meet. Still, they bode well for the season ahead.

Under 8 Invasion Dominates Time Trials

By Flip Turn

Dolphin Correspondent

There are a lot of fast under 8 swimmers.

That might be the biggest takeaway from time trials where under 8 swimmers dominated the meet and posted some fast times. 

Twenty-five free tells the story. Eli Nigri posted a 23:45 followed by Max Genereux in 24.33 and Wessel van der Werf in 24.67. Also breaking 30 seconds were Noah Haas, Charlie Garvin, Oliver Spooner, Teddy Komosa, Parker Wilson and Jad Shami. Breaking 40 seconds were Max White, Roman Van Leeuwen, Jimmy Crino, Max Thompson, Noah Governski, Elias Del Solar and Colby Epanchin. And Evan Pender and Nate Satlof came in under 43 seconds.

It was a similar story for the under 8 girls though there were fewer of them. Caroline Conroy scored an All Star Time in 25 Free while Ambre Verhoeven took second in 23.35. Breaking 30 seconds were Molly Wilson, Lila Levine and Anna Goecke while Tess Brennan nearly broke 45 seconds and Beatrice Hyman nearly broke 60 seconds.

With all of these under 8s, the future looks good for the Dolphins.

Welcome Back to the Dolphin Times

By Tucker the Dog

Dolphin Times Editor in Chief

Welcome to the first edition of the 2019 Dolphin Times. As always, the intrepid staff of the Dolphin Times will do it best to chronicle the upcoming summer swim team season. Our goal is to publish lots of names and give lots of shout outs. 

Our coverage includes both the A Meets and the B Meets as well as our more informal events.

Editing this fine publication is a dog. Yes, I am a dog. So everyone needs to be forgiving when it comes to typos, especially for names. A quick email will get the online version fixed.

There also needs to be a replacement news squad for the Dolphin Times as half of this dog’s home team will be graduating this year from team and the other half isn’t around quite as much as before. Please reach out if you have an interest in taking over this fine journalistic endeavor.

Finally, Dolphin Times welcomes freelance contributions. We pay on dog biscuits. Really good stories might even get you a small rawhide bone.

Dolphin Times -- Season 2018, Edition 2

Dolphin Times

Issue 2, Season 2018

Please share the newsletter with your swimmers as the point is to get their names in print. Back issues are available at http://bannockburnswimteam.blogspot.com. Our editor is a dog, but we will mess up names and times occasionally. Let us know and we will fix the online version.

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Dolphins Headed to Division E for 2019 Season

By Tucker the Dog

Dolphin Editor in Chief

It will be back the future for next season’s retiring seniors.

That is right. For the first time since next year’s graduating seniors were Under 8s, the Bannockburn Dolphins will be in Division E. That is a jump of one division from the 2018 season.

Montgomery County Swim League released the results on the reseeding today. It is based off of the three fastest times from a dual meet for each event. Those times are then used for virtual meets against all of the other teams. 

Teams are then ranked by the amount of meets they would win and the amount of points they would win. There are six teams per division. 

The results do not age up swimmers or take into account whether a swimmer will return next season.

Also in the division are our good friends at Daleview and their yummy iced coffee and breakfast sandwiches. Also with us are a few teams we have not seen in several years including Regency Estates and Old Farm. New to this reporter — though perhaps better swim team minds will recall them — are Clarksburg Village (which we really hope is a home meet) and Robin Hood, which is in northern Silver Spring near the intersection of Rt. 29 and the ICC. 

Bannockburn Wins Divisional Meet; Finishes Second in Div. F

By Doll Finn

Senior Swim Correspondent

Dolphin swimmers know how to outperform.

Thanks to a powerful win in the Division F meet today, Bannockburn walks away with second place in the division.

Daleview took first in the Division and second in the meet. 

The Dolphins did enter the meet with a very slight chance to win the Division. Beyond winning the meet, it would have required Daleview to finish in last place with either Little Falls or Hallowell finishing in second. 

While Bannockburn did its part, the team did not get the help needed as Hallowell finished fifth and Little Falls was sixth. Merrimack was third and Palisades was fourth.

Before the division meet, the Dolphins were in fourth place. The big move up the standings would not have been possible without today’s strong swims. 

The Dolphins took the Division meet with 829.5 points compared to Daleview, which finished second with 786.5 points. Next were Merrimack with 770.5 points, Palisades with 767.5 points, Hallowell with 746.5 points and Little Falls with 720.5 points.

Only 109 points separate first from last place in the meet, which is an unusually narrow spread.

Darby LeFaivre and Tess Buckley powered to a one-two finish in girls 12 and under 100 IM in an event that produced six All Star times. Then the team of Lucca Scott, Owen Wassiliew, Jeffrey Su and Gideon Helf took first in the 200 Medley relay. 

The Dolphins won again in Event 12 when Darby took first in the 11/12 50 free. Just four events later Sophie Duncan won in 13/14 100 IM by dropping more than a second from her seed time. There were 9 All Star times in that event.

Darby came through again in Event 24 by dropping time to win the 11/12 50 back. there were three All Star times in that event.

Dropping about half a second in Event 29 was Alexander Watkins, who finished first in 8 and under 25 breast. There were three All Star times in the event. On the girl’s side on the same event was Vivian Yurcisin, who dropped time in her win.

Event 44 was huge for the Dolphins. This is girls 11/12 50 fly. Tess Buckley took first and Darby LeFaivre took second in an event with four All Star Times. That was a big point total for the team.

The wins build points, but it is never enough. It look other strong swims to get the Dolphins to the victory circle. For instance, Brody Ulrich in event 17 finished second by dropping time in the 25 back. That event had four All Star times.

Or Andrew O’Brien who dropped time but finished second by 1/100th of a second in Event 25, which is boys 13/14 50 back. That second place finish gave Andrew a team record.

And Max Kroloff dropped time in his push to second in Event 33, which is 11/12 50 breast. He was one of three All Star times in the event. Tess Buckley in 11/12 50 breast took third, but only missed out on second by 2/100th of a second. 

In Event 40, it was Blair LeFaivre who took second by dropping time. And Sophie Duncan comes roaring into second in Event 46, the girls 13/14 50 fly. She dropped more than half a second in an event with an astonishing eight All Star times.

Jeffrey Su and Lucca Scott also grabbed some key points by finishing third and fourth in Event 47, the boy’s 15/18 50 fly.

The meet was not over as we headed into the 175 graduated relay. The boy’s team of Rowan Conroy, Max Kroloff, Andrew O’Brien and Brody Ulrich picked took fifth, which did earn a point. 

Yet it was the girls relay of Nadia Lall, Darby Lefaivre, Valerie Mello and Blair Lefaivre that really ensured the win with a second place finish.

Dolphins Win Battle of One Lane Bridge Sub-League

By Flip Turn

Junior Swim Correspondent

The Bannockburn Dolphins will be taking home the virtual trophy for supremacy of the One Lane Bridge subdivision within Div. F.

With three teams in Division F located off of MacArthur Blvd near the infamous One Lane Bridge, a natural rivalry was of course in store. As a result, Bannockburn Dolphin investment banker Rick the Crow sponsored a sub-league within the division for Bannockburn, Merrimack and Palisades.

“I wanted to name this sub-tournament the ‘I want to fly away with your donut’ league but it just doesn’t translate into a good acronym,” Mr. Crow said. “So it is officially the Battle of the One Lane Bridge.”

Based on the final division standing, the Dolphins took first place in the Battle of the One Lane Bridge followed by Merrimack and Palisades.

As a result of this win, Bannockburn Dolphins get priority rights to cross the One Lane Bridge as long as the light is green and no other cars are present. This benefit will extend until the next time all three teams are in the same division.

Dolphin Times -- Season 2018, Edition 1

Dolphin Times

Issue 1, Season 2018

Please share the newsletter with your swimmers as the point is to get their names in print. Back issues are available at http://bannockburnswimteam.blogspot.com. Our editor is a dog, but we will mess up names and times occasionally. Let us know and we will fix the online version.

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This has been the only issue that Dolphin Times has published this year. Look for the second issue tomorrow with the announcement of the team’s new division assignment and results from the Divisional meet.

Dolphins Outperform with Winning Season

By Doll Finn

Senior Swim Correspondent

Coming off an undefeated season, the Dolphins 3 and 2 record in dual meets this year might appear disappointing.

We believe that misses the point.

The Dolphins moved up two divisions and competed in an even year, which tends to be when the team does worse. Bannockburn won its last two division titles in odds years, which appears to be when more of our swimmers are at the top of their age groups.

That 3 and 2 record could just as easily been 4 and 1 as the team was forced to move the Daleview meet to Daleview because of the flooring troubles at Bannockburn. Not only did the team lose the home water advantage, it also ended up losing the meet by just seven points.

The team was powered by a core of strong swimmers during our five dual meets.

Blair LeFaivre had the fastest A meet times in both under 8 25 free and under 8 25 fly while Caroline Conroy was tops under 8 in 25 back and Vivian Yuricisin in 25 breast. All but the 25 free were from the Merrimack A meet.

In 9/10 girls, Nadia Lall at the Merrimack meet got the fastest 50 free time. Eleanor Snyder at Little Falls got the fastest 25 back time and the fastest 25 fly time. Zoe Verhoeven at the Hallowell meet got the fastest 25 breast time of the season.

For 11/12 girls, it was Darby LeFaivre who at the Little Falls meet got the fastest 50 free time, the fastest 50 back time, the fastest 50 fly time and the fastest 100 IM. Tess Buckley was tops in the 50 breast, which she also set at Little Falls.

The 13/14 girls were the Sophia Duncan story. At the Palisades meet she set the top time of the season for 50 back and 50 breast. And at the Merrimack meet she set the fastest 50 fly time while she set the fastest 100 IM time at Little Falls. Valerie Mello had the fastest 50 free time at the Little Falls meet.

With the 15/18 girls, Maya Fawaz got the fastest time of the season for the 100 free, 100 back and 100 IM at the Palisades meet. Shifra Eskin had the fastest time in the 100 breast at the Little Falls meet and Katya Damskey had the fastest 50 fly time, which she got at the Little Falls meet.

Switching to the boys, the under 8s were led by Brody Ulrich who at the Hallowell meet got the fastest 25 free time while at the Merrimack meet he got the fastest 25 back and 25 fly time. Alexander Watkins at the Merrimack meet got the fastest 25 breast time.

For 9/10 boys, it was Emmet Conroy leading the way. At Merrimack, he got the fastest 50 free time while at Palisades he got the fastest 25 back and at Hallowell he got the fastest 25 fly. At the Little Falls meet, Martin Alvarez got the fastest 25 breast time of the season.

In 11/12 boys, Merrimack was the key meet. Charles Conroy got the fastest 50 back time while Max Kroloff dominated with top times in the 50 free, 50 breast, 50 fly and 100 IM.

With 13/14, Andrew O’Brien had all five fastest times. He set the 50 free, 50 fly and 100 IM at Hallowell and the 50 breast and 50 back at Palisades.

That leaves 15/18 boys. Owen Wassiliew had the top time at 100 back at Little Falls, 100 breast at Hallowell and 100 IM at Merrimack. Jeffrey Su used the Merrimack meet for the top time in 50 fly and Gideon Helf used the Little Falls meet for the top time in 100 free.

Major Time Improvements Bode Well for Next Season

By Walter Tu Kold

Dolphin Correspondent

Wow that season went by fast.

By that, we mean those swimmers in their lanes. They scores some seriously fast times over the course of the season.

Below we highlight swimmers that secured at least a 10% time improvement over the course of the season. This was compiled from Team Unify using the first recorded time as the baseline. It includes A meets and B meets. Ages are based on their age as of June 1.

The swimmer with the biggest improvement on a percentage basis was Louise Tucker, who in 8 and Under 25 back took 36.99% off her time at the July 11 B meet at Mohican compared to her Mars v. Venus time on June 13. 

Congratulations to all the swimmers who secured double digit percentage time improvements during the season.

They are:

• William Allen (7), 10.19% in 25 back and 17.7% in 25 fly.
• Durke Anderson (8), 11.77% in 25 free.
• Hamilton Baker (8), 16.63% in 25 free, 11.26% in 25 back, and 16.6% in 25 fly.
• Madeleine Blaisdell (16), 17.28% in 50 fly and 10.46% in 100 back.
• Keira Clancy (8), 14.63% in 25 free, 13.25% in 25 back, 11.93% in 25 breast and 18.69% in 25 fly.
• Amelia Claud (10), 11.45% in 25 breast.
• Charlie Conroy (11), 10.05% in 50 back.
• Emmet Conroy (10), 10.94% in 50 free, 10.03% in 25 back, and 13.37% in 25 fly.
• James Crino (7), 26.23% in 25 free and 18.46% in 25 back.
• Charlie Edlavitch (8) 17.84% in 25 back.
• Niniane Evans (6), 15.39% in 25 free.
• Catherine Faulkender (8), 17.76% in 25 fly
• Tate Flowers (8), 11.58% in 25 fly.
• Charles Garvin (6), 14.1% in 25 free.
• Alex Genereux (9), 14.97% in 50 free and 11.66% in 25 fly.
• Max Genereux (6), 18.12% in 25 free, 21.63% in 25 back and 17.7% in 25 breast.
• William Hanlon (8), 12.18% in 25 free.
• Isabelle Hyman (11), 11.52% in 50 free and 11.56% in 50 back.
• Sophie Kennedy (8), 10.56% in 25 free and 10.62% in 25 back.
• Nina Kroloff (7), 12.96% in 25 free.
• Mark Leary (9), 22.04% in 50 free.
• Blair LeFaivre (8), 16.21% in 25 free.
• James LeFaivre (11), 10.3% in 50 back.
• Henry Leotta (8), 11.02% in 25 free and 20.9% in 25 back.
• Joseph Lewis (8), 19.25% in 25 free, 13.66% in 25 back, 20.95% in 25 breast and 21.72% in 25 fly.
• Daniel Merriam (9), 10.88% in 50 free and 13.22% in 25 breast.
• Valerie Merriam (6), 19.71% in 25 back.
• Alisha Mink (10), 10.95% in 25 breast.
• Noah Nigri (9), 11.04% in 25 fly.
• Gabriela Noya (8), 12.29% in 25 free and 11.96% in 25 back.
• Keller O’Neil (10), 13.83% in 25 breast.
• Kenneth Pender (10), 21.92% in 50 free and 10.02% in 25 breast.
• Jonathan Rufino (18), 10.13% in 100 breast.
• Jacob Seiberg (13), 12.02% in 50 fly.
• Sarah Selfridge (12), 11.57% in 50 fly.
• Olivia Seuschek (8), 17.36% in 25 breast.
• Zane Shami (13), 10.99% in 50 breast.
• Kyla Smith (10), 28.56% in 50 free.
• Samuel Smith (12), 14.22% in 50 back and 12.29% in 50 fly.
• Eleanor Snyder (9), 11.89% in 25 breast
• Melissa Soloman (9), 17.81% in 50 free.
• Dale Stenberg (10), 11.91% in 25 breast.
• Charles Thompson (8), 11.15% in 25 free.
• Louise Tucker (8), 36.99% in 25 back.
• Ambre Verhoeven (7), 14.94% in 25 free and 13.75% in 25 fly.
• Alexander Watkins (8), 24.31% in 25 breast and 16.65% in 25 fly.
• Christopher White (7), 12.38% in 25 free.
• Parker Wilson (7), 16.93% in 25 free and 12% in 25 back.
• Vivian Yurcisin (8), 13.98% in 25 breast.
• David Zand (6), 13.05% in 25 free
• Ryan Zand (10), 11.1% in 25 fly.
• Adriana Zobrist (7) 14.61% in 25 free.
• Theo Zobrist (10), 11.12% in 25 back.

Dolphin Times Hires Investment Banker to Sell the Paper

By Doll Finn

Senior Swim Correspondent

Dolphin Times Editor in Chief Tucker the Dog has put the paper up for sale after six years of faithful publication.

Mr. Dog said it is time for a new crew that better knows the under 8 and 9/10 swimmers to take over the paper.

“Dolphin Times is all about the swimmers,” Tucker said in a statement to the staff. “We just don’t know enough young swimmers anymore to make this publication as fun and informative as it has been in years past.”

Handling the transaction will Rick the Crow, who has agreed to take time off at the pool from stealing food, especially donuts, muffins and bagels.

“We thought hiring Rick the Crow would be a win-win for the younger swimmers as they no longer will have to fear losing their breakfast or lunch if they put down their plate near the pool deck and it would help get the paper in the hands of people who know them,” Tucker the Dog told the staff.

It is unclear if the existing editorial team including Doll Fin, Walter Tu Kold and Flip Turn will be back or if new management will hire fresh faces.

“It has been a true privilege to serve the Bannockburn Swim Team over a six year stretch that included two division titles,” Tucker said. “We wish all of the swimmers continued success and look forward to monitoring their progress in the new and improved Dolphin Times.”