Bannockburn Swim Team
Dolphin Times
Issue 8 (July 21, 2013)
FINAL EDITION OF 2013
This represents the final Dolphin Times of the season. We hope you enjoyed seeing everyone’s name in print. For those who want to relive the swim season all winter long, we will keep the blog site up and running.
As always, please share the Dolphin Times with your swimmers. We email only to the parents, but the fun of the newsletter is for the kids to see their names and their races written up.
Our goal for next year is to include more pictures and more stories about the swimmers. So stay tuned for an even better Dolphin Times in 2014. Until next May, Doll Finn and the other reporters will be enjoying an extended vacation.
Go Dolphins!
Division F Prepares for Dolphin Invasion
By Doll Finn,
Senior Swim Correspondent
The Bannockburn Dolphins are headed to Division F in 2014 as the sixth seed, MCSL disclosed on Sunday.
The division consists of:
1. Wildwood.
2. Little Falls
3. Regency Estates
4. Lakelands
5. Flower Valley
6. Bannockburn
For those wondering who decides this, Reach of the Wall in 2012 had an insightful article. MCSL has created a proprietary program that creates the average times of the three fastest swimmers on each team in each event. They then run virtual meets so that all 90 teams compete head-to-head against each other.
The stat that matters is how many of these virtual meets do you win? The maximum is 90, which is the number of wins that Upper County has as the leader of Division A. A few teams in Division 0 have zero or one win. Bannockburn clocks in with 55.5 wins. That puts us 1.5 wins ahead of Garrett Park, which is the top team in Division G in 2014.
The league told Reach for the Wall that the system in 2011 produced an average margin of victory of 67 points. The only way the division assignment would change is if a new team with an established record enters the league.
The program does not age up swimmers or account for those leaving the pool. So there is always margin of error. As a result, we may be ranked sixth but our fate is far from sealed.
Divisionals: Dolphins Storm to Third Place
By Doll Finn,
Senior Swim Correspondent
Wow that was close.
The Bannockburn Dolphins used some record setting performances to hold on to third place in a hotly contested divisional competition on Saturday at the Daleview Pool.
The third place finish meant that the Dolphins cemented their third place finish overall in the division.
At the meet, Bannockburn beat those other Dolphins -- Northwest Branch -- by only 10 points. That margin reinforces how important each swim in in a meet where first place nets 12 points.
Bannockburn finished only 30 points behind Inverness Forest and 52.5 points behind Stonebridge. In fact, the spread between first place and last place was only 168.5 points. For a divisionals competition, that is pretty close. This reporter seems to recall spreads twice as big as that in prior years.
The Dolphin’s strong finish can be attributed to four record-breaking races. Meyer Eskin took 0.14 seconds off the team records in 25 breast with an All Star Time of 23.21.
Then there is Jeffrey Su who set the team record for 13/14 50 fly with a 30.18. That represents a 0.29 second improvement.
Two relay teams also set records.
Andy Lair-Ferrari, Ryan Chitwood, Nick Hopkins and Evan Steingass took down the 200 Medley record by 0.20 seconds with a 2:00.62.
Then there is the boys 175 graduate relay. The teams of Gideon Helf, Ray Crist, Jeffrey Su and Jacob Seiberg have been pressing for this record every week of the season. Going into relay carnival, they were just 0.15 seconds away. At divisionals, they crushed the record with a 1:53.15. That is 1.26 second improvement over the prior team record.
Divisionals is always an impressive and intimidating meet. These are the best two swimmers in each stroke in the division. That means a really good swimmer in each even will finish 12th even though that competitor often will be in the top two or three at a dual meet.
It is also a meet where some strong performances can mean the difference between second, third and fourth.
We saw those strong performances all meet long.
Ray Crist and Jack MacIsaac each took about two seconds off their IM times to secure third and fourth for the under 12 IM.
In under 8 free style, Jacob Seiberg dropped 0.10 to finish seventh while Ella Scott dropped 0.08 to finish fifth. Gideon Helf in 9/10 dropped 0.25 in 50 free to finish fourth while Andrew O’Brien took 1.11 seconds off for eighth. Katie MacIsaac dropped 0.22 seconds for 11th while Shifra Eskin took eighth.
And with spots 1 to 12 scoring points, Bannockburn was very much in this meet.
Jeffrey Su was second in 13/14 boys free in an All Star Time while Jessie Kline secured third and Kaili Gregory fifth in a finish that was so close that you almost needed instant replay.
Ray Crist crushed the 50 free, winning by taking 0.50 seconds off his time. Jack MacIsaac was fifth and dropped 0.41 seconds off his seed time. Evan Steingass and Andy Lair-Ferrari took fourth and fifth in 15/18 free with Maddie Alagia in third and Bryna Steel dropping 0.40 seconds for seventh.
13/14 IM is a strong suit for the team. Jeffrey Su won with Jack Blazes taking 1.37 seconds off for seventh.
Jessie Kline was second, shaving 0.44 seconds off her seed time. Katya Damskey was fifth.
Backstroke points were a bit harder to come by, but some Dolphins really pulled out personal bests and strong performances. Gideon Helf in 9/10 took third and Andy Lair-Ferrari in 15/18 was second. Ray Crist in 11/12 took 0.82 seconds off for 5th place while Naomi Seiberg dropped 1.43 seconds to take fifth place.
Jeffrey Su nearly matched his seed time with a fourth place finish in an All Star Time while Jessie Kline pushed to first place in 13/14 back.
In 15/18 IM, Andy Lair-Ferrari dropped 0.43 seconds for second while Evan Steingass dropped 0.11 seconds for fifth. Both were All Star Times. Maddie Alagia finished sixth with Bryna Steele dropping 2.27 seconds on the 100 IM for seventh.
Breast stroke helped the team. Meyer Eskin finished first and dropped 1.29 seconds in the under 8 25 beast. Maya Lall was fourth. In 9/10, Andrew O’Brien dropped 0.09 seconds for fourth while Cole Wassiliew dropped 0.28 seconds for seventh.
Shifra Eskin really turned on the speed with a first place and a drop of 0.36 seconds. Katie MacIsaac took off 0.20 seconds to finish seventh.
In 11/12, Jack MacIsaac and Owen Wassiliew swam All Star Times for third and fourth with Owen taking 0.23 seconds off. Jack Blazes dropped 1.42 seconds in 13/14 50 breast for second place while Kaili Gregory took off 0.30 seconds for fifth place.
Ryan Chitwood tied for second and dropped 2.51 seconds in 15/18 100 breast with Evan Steingass in fourth. Hannah Melrod dropped 1.10 seconds for fourth place.
This brought us to butterfly, which could well decide whether the team finished second, third or fourth.
Both under 8 boys beat their seed times. Jacob Seiberg was seventh and 0.48 seconds faster while Meyer Eskin dropped 1.56 seconds for eighth place. Maya Lall dropped 0.39 seconds for seventh.
Gideon Helf was third in 9/10 boys with Andrew O’Brien crushing his seed time by 1.29 seconds. Shifra Eskin dropped 0.99 seconds for sixth, providing more needed boost to the team.
Ray Crist’s strong meet continued with the 11/12 fly. He dropped 1.55 seconds to finish second. Ethan Wendel took eighth. For the girls, Naomi Seiberg was 10th and Gabriela Helf was 12th.
That third place finish seemed more secure after 13/14 fly. Jeffrey Su took 0.47 seconds off his time for a team record while Jack Blazes dropped 2.02 seconds for 11th. Katya Damskey and Jessie Kline were first-second for the 13/14 girls.
Andy Lair-Ferrari took third in an All Star Time for 15/18 boys with Evan Steingass in fifth. Maddie Alagia was sixth and Samantha Kline dropped 0.09 seconds for 8th.
That lead to the relay. The sun was now shining full blast and all sides of the pool were lined with spectators and swimmers looking to cheer on their relay teams. This was an extremely strong event with the record setting Bannockburn boys team taking fourth in 1:53.13. Competition on the girls side was even crazier with the team of Shifra Eskin, Caitlin Ryan, Jessie Kline and Darby LeFaivre taking sixth in 2:04.91.
That this correspondent’s fingers got tired typing up all the time improvements in divisionals is a true testament to the qualify of our coaches. Head Coach Malena Lair-Ferrari, Assistant Head Coach Spenser Steele, Junior Coach Nicholas Hopkins, Junior Assistant Coach Kellan Steele, Junior Assistant Coach Andy Lair-Ferrari and Junior Assistant Coach Maddie Alagia clearly whipped these Dolphins into peak performance at just the right time.
Parent volunteers were out there in force. Maria Kozloski was at automation, A Rep Andy Kline was prowling the pool deck, Cheryl Rothenberg after cooking up a few hundred pancakes on Friday was out there with ribbons, and B Meet announcer Tom Helf was timing.
There were literally a dozen plus other parent volunteers working the meeting and helping the team. And if they were not working today then they had made all the other meets possible. While this newsletter is aimed at the swimmers, the last edition needs to praise the parents. Parents Rule!
So much of swim team is about the spirit from the cheers, to the fantastic pancake breakfast and to the caravans to the banquet. There was a fun surprise en route to Daleview. Hanging over the beltway was a banner proclaiming Bannockburn #1. Kudos to whomever managed to pull that off.
And a special shout out from this reporter to Tyler Crist and Cookie Lair-Ferrari who remained dressed in blue throughout the entire meet as they sweated on the edge of the pool to cheer on their teammates. Way to make it that much more fun for everyone.
Pre-Team Meet: Young Dolphins Kick Butt
By Flip Turn,
Junior Swim Correspondent
Pre-team members dominated the pool on Wednesday during the final B Meet of the season.
The annual B meet features three events -- 25 kick board, 25 free and 25 back -- and the older swimmers typically volunteer as timers, ribbon writers, runners and cheer leaders.
As a result, this is one of the best meets for parents as they don’t have to do anything other than scream and yell for the swimmers.
For the Dolphin Times, this is a tough meet as we have to try to read the writing on the time cards. And have you ever tried to read how a 10 year old writes another kid’s name? It is a challenge. So if we have any errors, please email the Dolphin Times and we will fix the online version ASAP.
Richard Caddell was first to the wall in the first event -- 25 kick board -- in 42.20. Others with strong performances in 25 kicks included Maddox Feldbaum in 47.26, Theo Zobrist in 50.43, Zachary Kraus in 50.09, Alex Spoonel in 55.48, Nora Feldbaum in 45.89 and Brooke Ortman in 48.68.
This reporter was impressed at how fast those kids can kick. Yet that was nothing compared of their 25 free times. Fastest to the wall was Aaron Kraus in 34.61. Others with impressive times include Sawyer Makl in 56.39, Margaret Southworth in 50.54, Finn Fischer in 53.17, Mathias Jensen in 1:08.77, Oliver Abrams in 1:02.36, and Nolan Koonce in 46.47.
The final event was the 25 back. Head Coach Malena better watch out as these kids were so fast that they might put her Bannockburn back stroke legacy at risk. Some notable performances included Tim Burke in 58.70, Caroline Liddy in 1:03.50, Alisha Mink in 56.73, and Nadja Lall in 55.87.
Scouting the meet was ESPN’s Mel Kingfish, who predicted many of these swimmers would dominate under 8 next year. “The Dolphins have schools of young talent swimming around their pond,” Kingfish said. “Their rivals will be in worse shape than a worn on a hook.”
Prior Editions on Dolphin Times Online!
For those who missed an issue, get all of your Dolphin news at our blog site, which is at http://bannockburnswimteam.blogspot.com.
And please let us know of any breaking Dolphin news at haydnthedogseiberg@gmail.com.
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