Issue 2, Season 2017

Dolphin Times

Issue 2, Season 2017

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 Stay Undefeated; Beat Former Coach Kevin’s Team

By Doll Finn

Senior Dolphin Correspondent

Bannockburn Dolphins not only topped former head coach Kevin in last week’s battle against North Chevy Chase, but it also kept alive its undefeated status.

The meet was close throughout and was still in doubt when the 175 relays began. Strong performances by the boys and the girls kept North Chevy Chase from eating into the lead and the Dolphins won by a score of TK to Tk.

We know the meet would be tough at the start when Meyer Skin score an All-Star time in the 100 IM and beat his seed time by nearly two seconds but still finished second.

Then NCC swimmers took first and second in the girls 100 IM with Darby LeFaivre taking third despite swimming an All-Star time and dropping more than two seconds off her seed time.

The Dolphins were now down but far from out.

The team of Jack MacIsaac, Owen Wassiliew, Jeffrey Su and Jake Winter won the 200 Medley with the team of Jonathan Rufino, Alex Butman, Lucca Scott and Ray Crist taking third. That gave the Dolphins 10 points compared to four points for NCC in the event.

The girls further made up ground when the team of Jessy Kline, Maya Fawaz, Shifra Skin and Danielle Lair Ferrari taking 8 points for first compared to the six points that NCC got for second and third.

The under 8 boys in 25 free boosted the lead by six points with Emil Bartolomeo winning, Alexander Watkins in third and Daniel Merriam in fourth.

Then the under 8 girls really helped in 25 free  by adding 15 points to the lead. This meant Nadia Lall won, Madilynn Ulrich was second, Eleanor Snyder was third and Caroline Conroy was fourth.

The meet got harder.

The top 9/10 boy in 50 free was James LeFaivre in fourth. Lauren Faulkender got second in 50 free for 9/10 girls. Still, NCC was getting more points per event.

Gideon Helf and Hisham Shami took first and third in 13/14 50 free. That helped limit the damage so the 13/14 girls could then kick some butt with first to third in 50 free. Valerie Mello, Sophie Duncan and Maya Fawaz all swam All Star times in taking first to third.

More points came in the Boys 11/12 50 free with Meyer Eskin in first, Zane Shami in third and Max Kroloff in fourth.

Darby LeFaivre swam an All Star time in 11/12 50 free, but it only got her third. Maya Lall was fifth and Ella Scott took sixth.

In a real shock to this aquatic reporter, NCC took first and second in 15/18 boys 100 free. Jake Winter was third, Jeffrey Su was fourth and Ray Crist took fifth. It is rare that this group does not finish one-two-three. For the 15/18 girls, it was a similar story. Danielle Lair Ferrari took second with Kaili Gregory in fourth and Jessy Kline in fifth.

This is pretty much how the rest of the meet went.

Gideon Helf won the 13/14 100 IM while Sophie Duncan, Valerie Mello and Maya Fawaz took first to third for the girls 13/14 100 IM. If it wasn’t for that sweep, the Dolphins would have been in trouble.

Hamilton Baker and Charlie McCarthy went one-two in under 8 25 back. Nadia Lall took first for the girls.

NCC won the 9/10 25 back but Julia Ulrich won 9/10 25 back for the girls. Then Meyer Eskin won 11/12 50 back before Sophie, Maya and Valerie took first to third for 13/14 girls in 50 back.

It look until under 8 25 breast for the Dolphins to win again. Catherine Faulkender took first. Julia Ulrich won in girls 9/10 25 breast while Meyer Skin won in boys 11/12 50 breast.

Gideon Helf took first in 13/14 50 breast followed by Maya Fawaz and Shifra Eskin taking first and second in the girls 13/14 50 breast. The next win came with under 8 in the boys 25 fly with Emil Bartolomeo taking first, Daniel Webster second and Alexander Watkins third.

Nadia Lall won for the girls in under 8 25 fly while Julia Ulrich took first for 9/10 girls 25 fly. Then Max Kroloff won in boys 11/12 50 fly and Gideon took first in 13/14 boys 50 fly.

Sophie Duncan cruised to fist for the girls in 13/14 fly. Valerie Mello and Shifra Eskin took third and fourth in All Star times.

At this point, the Dolphins had a small lead but it could all disappear in the 175 relay. Some of the tension eased when James LeFaivre, Meyer Eskin, Gideon Helf and Emil Bartolomeo won by more than three seconds.

Yet the deal was sealed when Lauren Faulkender, Darby LeFaivre, Valerie Mello and Nadia Lall won for the girls by nearly six seconds.

That didn’t mean there wasn’t tension until the final score was announced. 

Yet with the announcement of the win all was right in the universe and a big splash was seen in the pool.

Fajitas Mix with Strong Swims at Annual Carderock B Meet

By Tucker the Dog

Dolphin Editor in Chief

The Dolphins annual transit of the one lane bridge this year sent us to Carderock for the second B meet of the season. The meet went long, but that meant many swimmers got a chance to boost their times.

Plus this hound enjoyed the steak fajitas with black beans and lots of toppings as well as the shaved ice options.

All that food did not slow down the Dolphin swimmers as we continued to see team members boost their prior times by at least 5%.

Hamilton Baker topped his 25 back by 7.24% and his 25 free by 11.66% while Emil Bartolomeo topped his 25 breast by 5.18% and his 25 free by 7.38%. 

Then here was Caroline Conroy who bested her 25 back by a whopping 39.55% and her 25 free by 10.47%. Charles Conroy topped his 50 free by 5.62% while Emmet Conroy boosted his 25 breast by 11.19% and 50 free by 7.52%.

Catherine Faulkender beat her 25 breast time by 10.80%. Max Kroloff scored a 5.19% improvement in 50 free and Nadia Lall topped her 25 fly by 10.38%.  Blair LeFaivre topped her 25 free by 10.89%.

Speaking of LeFaivre, James topped his 25 breast by 7.39% and his 50 free by 7.38%. 

Kudos to Daniel Merriam for a 14.64% improvement in 25 breast, a 13.94% improvement in 25 fly and a 9.02% improvement in 25 free.

Alisha Mink swam strong with a 5.76% beat in 25 back and a 7.18% beat in 25 fly. Sarah Selfridge topped her 50 breast by 5.12% and Samuel Smith beat his 50 fly by 8.39%.

Dolphin Times, Issue 1, Season 2017

Dolphin Times

Issue 1, Season 2017

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Dolphin Times Returns for Exhaustive 2017 Coverage

By Tucker the Dog

Editor in Chief

The Dolphin Times is back.

The Washington Post may tout that Democracy Dies in Darkness and the New York Times my proclaim that it publishes all the news that is fit to print. We at the Dolphin Times promise you fake news, but real results.

As always, our mission is to list the times and accomplishments of as many swimmers as possible. That means we cover the A meets with stroke by stroke coverage while emphasizing the swimmers at B meets who posted improved times.

Most of our staff is back. Doll Finn spent the winter at the Dolphin Encounter in Cozumel and enjoyed catching up in April with under 12 Jacob Seiberg and Clerk of the Course Urban Seiberg. 

Walter Tu Kold also is back after spending the winter covering the fishing fleet in Alaska. He has vowed to never complain about the temperature of the Bannockburn pool again.

Flip Turn has decided he needed a less stressful job so he has become a White House correspondent. Replacing him will be Rico, who is Alex Butman’s dog. Rico just agreed to join the staff at Friday’s pasta party. Yes, this newspaper really is going to the dogs.

Dolphin Times will occasionally make mistakes. We might spell a name wrong or transpose a number. This is especially true for Rico, who basically got the job because everyone else in the life guard office refused to sign on. Please let us know and we will update the online version.

Dolphins Undefeated as Top Inverness in First Meet

By Doll Finn

Senior Dolphin Correspondent

School had barely ended when the Bannockburn Dolphins squared off Saturday at home against Inverness, a frequent foe that worships a fictional monster from a lake in Scotland.

In the battle between a real life dolphin and an imaginary monster, real life prevails every time. 

This Saturday was no exception as the Bannockburn Dolphins cruised to an easy win over Inverness.

Similar to the team’s undefeated season two years ago, the Dolphins were strong across almost all age groups. That said, the real secret to this season is likely to be the older kids.

The collection of 13/14 and 15/18 swimmers is really impressive. Not only do we have swimmers, but they are strong swimmers. And they score lots of points, including in relays.

For instance, the 200 Medley relay team of Alex Butman, Morgan White, Lucca Scott and Jonathan Rufino edged out the A relay team for Inverness by half a second. And they were the B relay. The A relay of Jack MacIsaac, Owen Wassiliew, Jeffrey Su and Jake Winter cruised to 17 second victory for a one-two Bannockburn finish.

For the girls, it was a first-third finish with the team of Maya Fawaz, Shifra Eskin, Katja Damskey and Cookie Lair Ferrari winning and Katie MacIsaac, Jessie Kline, Gabby Helf and Naomi Seiberg in third.

The meet started with Eskin Meyer winning the 100 IM with Oliver Bartolomeo in third and Max Kroloff in fourth. The winning continued with Darby LeFaivre taking first in 100 IM and Ella Scott in third and Sarah Selfridge in sixth.

In under 8 25 free, Bannockburn got five of the top six finishes with Emil Bartolomeo finishing first, Kiichi Funatsu third, Tate Flowers fourth, Daniel Merriam fifth and Alexander Watkins in sixth.

Inverness has some strong under 8 girls, but Madilynn Ulrich, Caroline Conroy and Catherine Faulkender took fourth, fifth and sixth to preserve the points and the Bannockburn lead.

Bannockburn didn’t win the 9/10 50 free, but Oliver Bartolomeo, James LeFaivre and Charlie Conroy took second, third and fourth. Rowan Conroy was sixth with Aaron Kraus and Zachary Kraus in eighth and ninth.

Inverness also has strong 9/10 girls, but Lauren Faulkender took second with Zoe Verhoeven and Alisha Mink in fifth and sixth.

In 13/14 50 free, Gideon Helf cruised to an easy win with Hisham Shami in fourth and Cole Wassiliew in seventh. For the girls, Valerie Mello picked up where she left off last season with another win. Maya Fawaz was third with Shifra Eskin in fifth and Katie MacIsaac in eighth.

Speaking of Eskin, Meyer Eskin took first in 9/10 50 free with Max Kroloff in third, Jacob Seiberg in fourth and Zane Shami in fifth. Sam Smith was seventh and Marin Peterson was ninth.

Darby won for the girls 9/10 in 50 free with Ella Scott in third, Sarah Selfridge in fifth, Elizabeth Sills and sixth, Maya Clancy in seventh and Madeline Mello in 11th.

No shock that the Dolphins rocked the 15/18 100 free. Jake Winter won with Jeffrey Su close behind in second. Owen Wassiliew took fourth with Jonathan Rufino in fifth, Jack MacIsaac in sixth and Lucca Scott in seventh. Inverness won for the girls, but Cookie Lair-Ferrari took second, Katya Damskey was third, Gabby Helf was fourth and Naomi Seiberg with sixth.

So as free style ended, it was pretty clear that the 2017 Dolphins were formidable. The rest of the events just confirmed that point.

Gideon Helf won the 13/14 100 IM as did Sophie Duncan. Charlie Conroy won in the 9/10 25 back as did Julia Ulrich. Dolphins went one-two-three in 100 back with Jake Winter, Jack MacIsaac and Jonathan Rufino sweeping.

Meyer Eskin won in 11/12 back with Darby LeFaivre winning as well. Sophie Duncan and Valerie Mello went one-two in 13/14 50 back. Another sweep in 15/18 for Jeffrey Su, Jake Winter and Jack MacIsaac.

In 9/10 breast stroke, James LeFaivre and Oliver Bartolomeo took first and second with Meyer Eskin, Max Kroloff and Zane Shami sweeping first to third in 11/12 50 breast. Ella Scott took first for the girls.

Gideon Helf took another first, winning 13/14 50 breast. Maya Fawaz, Sophie Duncan and Shifra Eskin swept first to third in 13/14 breast stroke. Speaking of sweeps, the Dolphin dominance extended to event 37 with Owen Wassiliew, Jeffrey Su and Jonathan Rufino taking first to third in 100 breast stroke for 15/18. 

And guess what happened with event 38? That’s right. Another Dolphin sweep with Cookie Lair Ferrari, Jessy Kline and Gabby Helf taking first to third. It then took until event 44 to get another Dolphin winner with Darby LeFaivre taking first in the 50 fly for 11/12. Gideon Helf followed in event 45 with a win in 50 fly for 13/14. 

That winning streak extended to event 46 with Sophie Duncan taking first in 13/14 50 fly. Then event 47 featured Jake Winter in first and Jeffrey Su in second in 15/18 50 fly. 

In short, there were many high finishes. That was great, but it did remove some of the excitement from the relays as the Dolphins were firmly in control of the meet. Still the team of Oliver Bartolomeo, Meyer Eskin, Gideon Helf and Emil Bartolomeo won the boy’s 175 relay by just over three seconds.

The girls did not win, but took second and third with Team A consisting of Lauren Faulkender, Darby LeFaivre, Valerie Mello and Madilynn Ulrich and Team B with Zoe Verhoeven, Ella Scott, Sophie Duncan and Caroline Conroy.

At this point, all that was left was for automation to finalize the score and for Rick the Crow to steal the bagel off the chair. And then there was the collective team celebratory plunge into the pool.

The Dolphins are undefeated.

Mars v. Venus Swimmers Improve from Time Trials

By Walter Tu Kold

Dolphin Correspondent

Dolphin swimmers posted some impressive improvements in the few days between Time Trials and Mars v. Venus meets.

As always, these meets are just Dolphins swimming against Dolphins. But they are some of the most fun meets of the season.

So which swimmers saw big improvements?

Cade Afas improved his 9/10 50 free by 6.4% while Faris Afas improved 25 free by an impressive 13.88%. Keira Clancy bested 25 breast time by 10.06%, 25 fly time by 6.04% and 25 free time by 14.33%.

Charles Conroy boosted his 25 fly by 5.58% while Emmet Conroy improved his 25 back by 6.04%. John Edlavitch improved his 25 back time by 13.87% and his 25 breast by 5.58%. Kiichi Funatsu bested his 25 back by 7.01% and his 25 breast by 10.32%.

In one of the biggest boosts this reporter can recall, Caroline Koonce improved her 25 back b y 41.52%. Aaron Kraus bested his 25 breast by 11.8% while Daniel Merriam boosted his 25 back by 11.86% and his 25 fly by 6.49%.

Ian Norris scored an 8.47% improvement in the 25 free while Leela Patel bested her 25 free by 15.02%. Charlotte Tama swam her 50 breast 7.79% faster while Madilynn Ulrich boosted her 25 back by 7.4%.

A special shoutout to Jacob Seiberg who managed to swim 50 fly exactly the same time down the 1/100 of a second in Time Trials and Mars v. Venus. He was the only swimmer to record identical times at both meets.

How Find Results, the Meet Program and Other Stuff

By Rico the Dog

Dolphin Intern

Want to print a program before the meet?

Do you crave a copy of the results?

Is it your wildest dream to view the All Start times that were met and the pool records that were set?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions then you are in luck as the Bannockburn Dolphins give your fingers the ability to do the walking. Or in this Internet age, the better expression is that your fingers can do the typing.

On the Bannockburn Swim Team home page there is a tab on the top that says group calendar. If you click on that, it brings up a calendar. Yes, we at the Dolphin Times realize that is shocking.

If you put the cursor on the event you want, a small preview widow will pop up. Inside that window, click on the link for that event’s home page. That home page will provide links to all the information you could need as it becomes available. This includes the program and the results.

Just don’t leave your program under a bagel or donut as Rick the Crow is quite aggressive at taking food at the pool. He might just fly aways with your meet program as well.