Waynewood Dolphins Weekly Newsletter 

(6/16/24) 

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dolphin dads! This week we’re getting our Little Dolphin developmental swimmers in the pool as well as taking our team photo, first teen night, and first pep rally of the 2024 season. It’s a packed week with the Dolphins machine now running on all cylinders. Let’s dive in!

This week’s calendar at a glance: 

• Monday—Indicate availability for Saturday A Meet (deadline Monday at 11 p.m.) 
• Monday—B Meet @Hollin Meadows (warm-up 5:25 p.m.; no afternoon practice) 
• Tuesday—Little Dolphins season begins 
• Tuesday—New volunteer signups open 
• Tuesday-Thursday—Normal practice schedule 
• Thursday—First teen night activity 
• Thursday—A meet swimmers notified
• Friday—Team photo, abbreviated morning practice schedule Friday—First pep rally @6 p.m. following afternoon practices
• Saturday—A Meet @DH, Dolphins meet in WRA parking lot @7:15 a.m.

In This Message: 

1. A Meet @Canterbury Woods recap + NVSL 101 
2. B Meet @Hollin Meadows pool, Monday (6/17) 
3. Little Dolphins kick off (6/18)
4. Volunteering 101: Marshal, Clerk, Table roles 
5. Upcoming A Meet @Dominion Hill, Saturday (6/22) 
6. More signups open Tuesday (6/18) 
7. Teen Night #1, Thursday (6/20) 
8. Team photo and special practice schedule, Friday (6/21) 
9. Motivational T-shirts pep rally, Friday (6/21) 
10. More T-Shirt opportunities (one deadline is today!) 
11. Look ahead

1) A Meet @Canterbury Woods recap + NVSL 101

Canterbury Woods came out on top 218-193 at Saturday’s A Meet with the Dolphins. But our swimmers showed something to all the fans who came out. Highlights: 

• Outstanding contribution: The Dolphins’ 8 & under boys squad took 17.5 of 27 points awarded for individual events at the meet (it’s still early in the season and neither team’s group won points in butterfly). Matthew Angle, Davis Rukenbrod, Ryan Whitlow, Tag Mustin, and Max Rufe all scored points for the Dolphins. The 8 & under 100m freestyle relay team of Angle, Whitlow, Rufe, and Luka Leckrone also handily won their race with a time of 1:36.25 versus 1:44.58 for the C-Serpents. 
• Race of the meet: The heat that got everyone from both teams out of their seats Saturday was the 9-10 girls 100m medley relay. The race included three lead changes and ultimately ended in a Dolphins win by the slimmest margin, 1:24.07 to 1:24.85. Heidi Evans, Isla Exner, Fiona Mead, and Vera Hill swam for the Dolphins. 
• Other winning Dolphins’ relay squads: 
  • Boys’ 13-14 100m medley relay (1:00.27 vs. 1:14.59) 
  • Girls’ 13-14 100m medley relay (1:05.59—the CW squad DQ’d) 
  • Boys’ 15-18 200m medley relay (1:55.31 vs. 2:01.28) 

NVSL 101: Interested in learning more about the 2024 season or how individual Dolphin A Meet swimmers’ time compares to others present or past? The Northern Virginia Swimming League maintains comprehensive records with helpful sorting tools of results. Some things you might check out on their website: 

• Schedule/Results: See every NVSL (A Meet) result going back decades. 
• Leaders: Search any swimmer in an A Meet by name to pull up his/her NVSL career results. See how swimmer results in particular events rank across the league or division. 
• Virtual meet: Ever wonder how the opening week results of this year’s team would have stood up in a hypothetical matchup with the 2005 Waynewood Dolphins squad in their opening week two decades ago? (This year’s team would have prevailed 202-200—just in case you’ve been pondering this one.) NVSL offers a tool that let’s you see how the Dolphins might have fared in different divisions or eras – check it out! 

Dolphins photo gallery: We now have extensive photo collections up from Time Trials and the MVP B Meet. Check them out here.

2) B Meet @Hollin Meadows, Monday (6/17) 

The Dolphins swim Monday (6/17) with the Hollin Meadows Barracudas. 

• Arrive by 5:15 p.m. for a 5:25 p.m. warm-up. The first meet event (boys 8 & under freestyle) starts at 6 p.m. 
• HM’s address: 2500 Woodlawn Trail, Alexandria, VA 22306 
• No afternoon practice on Monday due to the meet. 
• Notes from HM: Park in their pool parking lot, swimmers may want to bring chairs. 
• Volunteers: please remember that timers, clerks, and table workers are requested to wear a white top and navy (or dark) shorts/pants/skirt while on duty (with no team logos). 
• Swim schedule: The meet will follow the standard order of freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. The meet will need to wrap around 9:00 p.m. – we’ll see if we can get to IMs. 
• Food forecast from HM: “We will have concessions available for purchase, including plenty of water, sodas, and Gatorades. We will serve Chick Fil A, and a variety of snack items so bring your appetites. Please let families know they can pay by cash or Venmo.” 

3) Little Dolphins kickoff (6/18)

We love our Little Dolphins and our coaches can’t wait to start working with them this Tuesday, June 18! 

Tuesday swim test: 

• All Little Dolphins will be tested on their first day, Tuesday, June 18 (choose 12 p.m. or 5:30 p.m.) to see if they can swim the length of the pool without touching the side or a lane line. Swimmers must pass the test before joining a subsequent Little Dolphins practice.
• No kickboards or flotation devices will be permitted. 
• The stroke or how they accomplish it does not matter. Safety is our No. 1 concern. 
• We will be cheering for everyone to pass this test, but if they don't, we will cheerfully retest them when ready – this can be done many times until successful. 
• Private lessons or sessions with parents is sometimes all it takes to get there. 
• Test day isn't a normal practice. The entire session will be tests so once swimmers have taken it, they're free to go home on this first day. 
• For swimmers who can't come Tuesday, let us know when you plan to join the team (if you haven’t already). This notice will help our coaches plan for when they need to administer later tests. 
• If you haven’t already, be sure to collect your team T-shirt before practice if you signed up by 5/24. 

About Little Dolphins practice: 

• During the Little Dolphins practice season, you don't need to let us know when swimmers will miss practice. 
• Our awesome coaches will be in the pool during practice and great lifeguards on the side. 
• Little Dolphins should only attend one session per day. 
• On Mondays, the afternoon Little Dolphins practice session usually does not happen due to the team’s B Meet. 
• Let our coaches or Team Reps know if your young swimmer is feeling especially anxious or just isn't enjoying practice. This helps our coaches know where a little extra attention may be needed. 
• We encourage swimmers to bring goggles to practice and a one-piece swimsuit works best.

4) Volunteering 101: Marshal, Clerk, Table roles 

Earlier this week, we asked parents to please make a conscious effort to help the team out by volunteering for these roles. You delivered for us, quickly meeting our need for this Saturday’s A Meet and the Monday’s B Meet. To help demystify the roles, here’s a little information on each (it isn’t necessary to read NVSL full descriptions but we wanted to make them available to you): 

• Marshal: NVSL has a one-page job description on the role of the Marshal. This is a safety focused role putting extra eyes on the pool or pool deck. You’re looking out for things like a swimmer hitting their head and falling unconscious during warm-ups. If you something unsafe, or a gross rule violation like smoking on deck, you’re supposed to first ask the individual to stop and if he/she persists elevate the issue by telling a Team Rep or Meet referee. You do this while wearing an orange vest and getting a great view of the pool. 
• Clerk of Course: NVSL offers a slightly longer three-page job description on the role of the clerk – but this is way more than you need to know. Here’s the reality – we have a volunteer lead serving as our principal clerk for each meet (who has read this job description) and sign-up roles are for volunteers assisting this lead clerk. Typically, signing up for clerk means you might be asked to walk swimmers from the clerk of course area to the start or getting six swimmers in the same heat to sit together on a bench in a particular order. Clerk of Course volunteers are traditionally asked to wear a white top and navy/blue bottom.
• Tables: NVSL’s description on table worker positions is four pages. Again, we have a lead volunteer who knows and manages all table operations. Our sign up volunteers are typically asked to help in one of the following roles: entering race results into the computer, attaching a label to ribbons and organizing them, checking that data has been entered correctly. 

For all jobs, it's considered totally acceptable to take a quick break from duties when your swimmer is up to race. Let us know if you have any questions. We have some volunteers who absolutely love these roles, but we need a few more and don’t feel that anyone should be intimidated by them.

5) A Meet @Dominion Hills, Saturday (6/22) 

The Dolphins’ second Northern Virginia Swimming League (NVSL) meet of the 2024 Division 7 season takes place this Saturday, June 22. The Dolphins will compete with Dominion Hills. 

• Waynewood swimmers available for this meet will need to indicate status by 11 p.m. on Monday, June 17. 
• But we can’t yet open the meet for swimmers to indicate availability as we are still waiting for a data component from NVSL, but we expect that by tomorrow. 
• Dominion Hills’ address: 6000 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington 22205. 
• The Dolphins will meet in the WRA parking lot to caravan at 7:15 a.m. The first event is at 9:00 a.m. 
• Volunteer sign ups for this meet open Tuesday at 7 p.m. 
• There will be an optional team lunch immediately after the meet – details to come. 
• Swimmers indicating availability will be notified of team selections no later than Thursday evening via email. 
• We’ll share more meet details later in the week.

6) More signups open Tuesday (6/18) 

Sign up for several new events will open Tuesday at 7 p.m. 

Sign up for strokes: 

• B Meet: Highland Park @Waynewood, Monday (6/24) 
  • We’re planning out strokes now, and the forecast looks favorable for IMs. Stay tuned. 
  • This is our first home meet so we’ll need more volunteers than away meets. 
  • Deadline to register is Saturday (6/22) at 6 p.m. 
  • Meet is at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 24 – Waynewood warms up at 5 p.m. 
  • The 10 & under breast/fly permission list will remain in place all season even as coaches look to add swimmers each week. 

For volunteering: 

• A Meet @Dominion Hill, Saturday (6/22) 
• Friday (6/21) picture helpers 
• B Meet @Highland Park, Monday (6/24)

7) Teen night #1, Thursday (6/20) 

We don’t have details but we hear this involves golfing – likely at Top Golf. Please be advised, this is not an official team activity – it’s organized by coaches and sometimes parent volunteers as something of an extracurricular but all teenage team swimmers are welcome to join. Please note it is only for registered Waynewood team members who have already turned 13 – no requests for exceptions please. If we get more details we’ll share them, but ask your teen: they’ll likely know more than we do. 

8) Team photo and special practice schedule, Friday (6/21) 

Dolphins team and individual picture day is this Friday: 

• If you want individual pictures, please arrive by 7:30 a.m. There may not be time for all individual pictures after the team photo due to the photographer’s schedule and the team’s need for the pool practice space -- so come early. 
• Dolphin swimmers are asked to arrive for the team photo by 8:15 a.m. We suggest swimmers wear their team swimsuits. If you don’t have one a blue or black swimsuit will look best. 
• You’ll receive an email from the photographer after the picture about purchase options. 
• We need a couple volunteers (shift credit offered) to help us manage the photo session. Please sign up here to help. 
• 9-10 swimmers whose practice is disrupted may join either the 11-12 or 8 & under morning practice on Friday. More details from the photographer in the attached flier.

9) Motivational T-shirts Pep Rally, Friday at 6 p.m. (6/21) 

Coach Dylan asks that everyone bring a plain BLUE or WHITE T-shirt to the pep rally on Friday to decorate with Dolphin Spirit. The results are always really cool. 

• Paint and masking tape will be provided. 
• If our more artistic Dolphins want to get a head start, they are welcome to make stencils ahead of time and bring them to the Pep Rally. 
• Helpful hint: Contact paper makes for an excellent stencil. 

It will be great to see our Dolphins sporting these T-shirts at practices and events! In addition, there will be cheers and the announcement of the week’s practice monsters. 

10) More T-shirt opportunities (one deadline is today) 

Two additional T-shirt announcements: 

• Dolphins Team T-Shirts and Spirit Wear distribution Tuesday morning: 
  • If your swimmer missed the first distribution, we’re having another on Tuesday through the start of the Little Dolphins morning swim test. 
  • We could use a couple more volunteers to help us. Please sign up to help. 

• Division 7 Relay Carnival T-shirts:
  • Canterbury Woods is hosting Division 7 Relay Carnival on Wednesday, June 26. Their team is offering a chance to order a Relay Carnival T-shirt online for $20 and orders are due TODAY (Sunday, June 16). Shirts will be delivered to Waynewood at the Relay Carnival. Canterbury Woods has informed Division 7 teams that shirts will NOT be on sale at Relay Carnival and has not committed to a second, post-meet order -- so this could be the only chance. 
  • Very optional: You don't need a shirt to be on Waynewood's team and ordering one has no bearing on team selections, which won't happen until June 24. But we're sharing the information for families who want to order one. 
  • Waynewood exchange: If you order one and your swimmer ends up not being on the team, contact us and we can mention your shirt order in a communication to families participating in the meet. If someone wants your shirt, we’ll help facilitate them paying to take over your order. 

11) Look ahead 

In next week’s Sunday newsletter we’ll have information about: 

• Division 7 Relay Carnival @Canterbury Woods 
• A future teen night, pep rally, and meets including the 6/24 home B Meet 

The full Dolphins season schedule is available on the website. 

Questions? 

Don’t hesitate to contact our Team Reps, James & Genna, at [email protected] 

Go Dolphins! 

Waynewood Dolphins Communications