Waynewood Dolphins Weekly Newsletter 

(7/14/24) 

We’ve arrived at the final week of an exciting season. Yesterday, we sent our class of seniors off in true Dolphins style. Coach Dylan and the staff has our Dolphins swimming their best of the summer. Coaches and our parent volunteers have worked hard. The team is ready for the final meets and a party-like-no-practice finale on Saturday.

This week’s calendar at a glance: 

• Monday—IM Invitational @Waynewood (first event at 5 p.m.; no afternoon practices) 
• Monday—11 p.m. Deadline to indicate availability for NVSL Division 7 Individual Championships 
• Tuesday—Regular practice day for Dolphins; Little Dolphins last practice day 
• Wednesday—Little Dolphin Mini-Meet @9 a.m. (special morning schedule for Dolphins) 
• Thursday—Dolphin Duel @6 p.m. (no afternoon practice) 
• Friday—Practice for Divisional Championship swimmers only 
• Saturday—NVSL Division 7 Championships @Sleepy Hollow B&R (8:30 a.m.)
• Saturday—Dolphins banquet and award ceremony (5:00 p.m.) 

In This Message: 

1. A Meet vs. Parklawn highlights 
2. Senior Day @Waynewood 
3. Practice schedule this (last) week 
4. IM Invitational Monday @5 p.m. 
5. Little Dolphins Mini-Meet (Wednesday @9 a.m.) 
6. Dolphin Duel (Thursday @6 p.m.) 
7. Banquet tickets and information 
8. Consider a year-round swim club 
9. Look Ahead

1) A Meet vs. Parklawn highlights 

The Parklawn Piranhas came to Waynewood Saturday with the momentum of an undefeated 4-0 season on the way to claiming sole possession of the NVSL Division 7 Championship. But swimming in Dolphin territory has its risks, even for agile tropical fish with sharp teeth. 

The Dolphins came out ripping in the freestyle and backstroke first half of meet events. The Piranhas charged back to make the meet nearly even during the breaststroke and butterfly phases. It all came down to relays with the Dolphins owning the smallest edge going in. In relays, the Dolphins and Piranhas evenly split the 12 races and 60 points up for grabs, giving the Dolphins a close 212-208 win at home over a strong and skilled Parklawn team. 

The Piranhas will now share the Division 7 Championship title with the Rolling Hills Seahawks as the Dolphins finish the season 2-3, but undefeated when swimming at home this summer.

• Outstanding meet contribution: Waynewood’s 9-10 girls won 24 of 36 possible points in individual events, the most among all Dolphin girls age groups Saturday. Vera Hill, Heidi Evans, Fiona Mead, Isla Exner, Ava Reese Minear, and Laurel Blackledge all scored points for the Dolphins. The 9-10 girls 100m medley relay team of Evans, Hill, Mead, and Exner also won their relay race (1:25.47 vs. 1:28.07).

• Race of the meet: Don’t let the two-second difference in the 2:00.25 to 2:02.28 result of the boys 200m mixed-age freestyle race fool you. Those keeping score knew this race result would likely determine the outcome of the meet. The relay included two lead changes and an uncertain outcome until the last swimmer leg as the team of James Gallagher, Alexander Mamienski, Luke Morris, and Joshua Wolf left no doubt who had prevailed at the end of the meet’s decisive race.
  

• Twin Record Day: Saturday’s meet was also the scene of outstanding individual achievements by Waynewood Dolphin brothers Joshua and Caleb Wolf. Joshua, who has received a bit more digital ink in this summer’s newsletter for breaking his own records over and over and over this season, again set a new 15-18 boys freestyle standard for Waynewood at 24.18 seconds. Not to be left out, Caleb followed suit by taking over the 2022 Waynewood record for backstroke with a time of 26.92 seconds, eclipsing the previous mark of 27.37 seconds. 
  Having previously praised record holder Joshua, Caleb’s Dolphin achievements no less impressive. Caleb now holds Waynewood pool records for both 15-18 backstroke and butterfly. Caleb also has the 7th fastest times among 15-18 boys in all of NVSL in both strokes. Like his brother, Caleb is a dedicated Waynewood Dolphins coach passing on his knowledge of swimming to up-and-coming Dolphin swimmers.
  We’ll enjoy the few more meets we get to see both of them compete as Dolphins this summer before both head off as NCAA Division I swimmers at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) this fall.
• Other winning Dolphins relay squads: 
  • Girls 8 & under 100m freestyle relay (1:28.59 vs. 1:30.73) 
  • Boys 11-12 100m medley relay (1:11.76 vs. 1:14.08) 
  • Boys 13-14 100m medley relay (1:01.22 vs. 1:07.47) 
  • Boys 15-18 200m medley relay (1:52.14 vs. 2:07.82) 
• SmugMug: Photos from the A Meet and the B Meet at Mansion House are up on SmugMug. Check’em out! 
• The full meet results are available here.

2) Senior Day @Waynewood

Between individual events and relays at Saturday’s thrilling meet, the Dolphins honored our twelve senior swimmers with a recognition ceremony and the senior swim. Emmie Butler, Lizzie Cooke, Jackson Coyne, Ava Dushaw, Ben Henderson, Hana Keenan, Emilie Lytle, Ava Mamienski, Avery Olsen, Xepher Winkler, Caleb Wolf, and Joshua Wolf: thank you for your contributions to the Dolphins, your friendship, and all the memories!

3) Practice schedule this (last) week 

Due to this week’s events, there are significant changes to the practice schedule.

• Monday – (except for Little Dolphins at noon) there are no afternoon practices due to IM Invitational meet. 
• Tuesday – is the only fully normal practice day for big and Little Dolphins. 
• Wednesday – Due to the Little Dolphin Mini-Meet starting at 9 a.m., 9-10 swimmers are invited to join the 11-12 practice at 10 a.m. or the 8 & under practice at 11 a.m. There are no more Little Dolphins practices after the Mini-Meet. 
• Thursday – Big Dolphins practice as normal Thursday morning, but there in no afternoon practice due to the Dolphin Duel meet (Little Dolphins are invited to swim freestyle at this meet). 
• Friday – a.m. and p.m. practices are for Divisional Championship swimmers only.

4) IM Invitational Monday @5 p.m. 

The 2024 IM Invitational will take place at Waynewood. 

• Warmups begin at 3:30 p.m. and the first heat will be at 5 p.m. 
• Swimmers who signed up for this meet should know now if they have made it in. If you are uncertain, please email Team Reps or have your swimmer talk to Coach Dylan at Monday morning practice. 
• We should have additional information out to meet swimmers later today. 

Warm ups: 

Both the competition pool and the main pool will be open for warm ups during the open warm up time. At 4:20pm, the competition pool will close to open warm ups and open for specific age groups to work on starts and turns (we will assign dive lanes). The (main) warm up/warm down pool will be open throughout the entire meet until 7:30pm for continuous warm up (for meet swimmers only). Warm-up times at WW Pool are as follows: 

3:30 - 4:20 PM -- Open Warmups in both pools 

4:20 – 4:35 PM -- 9 – 10 Swimmers only competition pool (starts/turns) 

4:35 – 4:50 PM -- 11 – 12 Swimmers only competition pool (starts/turns) 

Break -- 13 & Over Swimmers competition pool (starts/turns) 

The warm up/cool down pool is for swimming only and it is not for playing. Swimmers will be asked to leave and not allowed back in the pool if they are playing and not swimming. A coach must be present for swimmers to be in the pool. 

Event schedule (times listed are "no earlier than") 

• Event 1: Boys 10 & under -- 5:00 PM 
• Event 2: Girls 10 & under -- 5:15 PM 
• Event 3: Boys 11-12 -- 5:30 PM 
• Event 4: Girls 11-12 -- 5:45 PM 
• Event 5: Boys 13-14 -- 6:15 PM 
• Event 6: Girls 13-14 -- 6:30 PM 
• Event 7: Boys 15-18 -- 6:45 PM 
• Event 8: Girls 15-18 -- 7:00 PM

5) Little Dolphins Mini-Meet (Wednesday @9 a.m.) 

Finally, the Little Dolphins get to swim in a meet. The annual Mini-Meet is the culmination of the Little Dolphins’ hard work this summer. Please arrive at 8:45 a.m. The meet will begin at 9 a.m. There is no need to sign up or register – just show up. 

• There are no stroke-and-turn judges for this meet and, therefore, no disqualifications. It’s a very positive atmosphere for our youngest swimmers. 

Our older swimmers will be running the meet, serving as timers, ribbon writers, clerks of course, etc. The 11-12s and 13 & ups will be signing up to volunteer with the Little Dolphins head coaches. 

• Parents can relax and be spectators and take lots of pictures. Grab the camera and your coffee and cheer your kids on! 

Little Dolphins who enjoy this meet (or can’t make it but are advanced) may join Dolphin Duel Thursday evening (see below). 

6) Dolphin Duel (Thursday @6 p.m.) 

It’s an annual Waynewood tradition—the Dolphin Duel! The meet starts at 6 p.m. (warm-ups at 5 p.m.). 

• Swimmers may sign up for 2 strokes; all participants will swim in the final relay. 
• We’ll open stroke sign up and volunteer roles soon – stay tuned. 

Little Dolphins: We’re inviting Little Dolphins to swim freestyle at the Dolphin Duel – after they swim they may stay or go home. 

• Please arrive by 5:40 p.m. 
• Little Dolphins don't need to register. They can just show up and find the designated coach. 
• If your Little Dolphin is skittish about swimming or didn’t enjoy Mini-Meet, we’d suggest waiting a year for swimming this event. 

PLEASE NOTE: This meet is only for swimmers who are not swimming in the Divisional Championship. If you are not sure whether you are swimming Divisionals, sign up for Dolphin Duel. We can scratch you if you make Divisionals. 

• Budding comedy writers can submit their kid-appropriate riddles and jokes to our Dolphin Duel announcer Brian Stolarz at [email protected]. As many of you remember, if he reads your joke “on air,” sees amazing dance moves or good sportsmanship he may have a treat for you!

7) Banquet tickets and information 

Banquet tickets are now on sale for the Saturday, July 20 team banquet dinner, awards presentation, and pool party starting at 5 p.m. Please read the instructions on the page! We’ve also opened up volunteer roles for this event – this will be the last team event to volunteer this season. Sign up to volunteer here. 

8) Consider a year-round swim club 

Is your Dolphin loving swim and wishing summer swim could continue? If yes, you might want to explore year-round swimming with a club. The Waynewood Dolphins Winter Swim program is awesome for beginners, but if your swimmer really wants to take a step to the next level take a look at club teams. 

Summer is the primary season for starting with a club for the first time. Many clubs hold open houses or can arrange swimmer evaluations this summer. Waynewood Dolphins swim with the following five swim clubs (let us know if we missed one): 

• Potomac Marlins (*Dolphins Team sponsor*) 
• NCAP (Alexandria) 
• Arlington Aquatic Club
• Shark Tank Racing Squad
• The St. James Swim Club

Let Team Reps know if you’re interested in any of these clubs and they can connect you with a Dolphins family already in the club.

9) Look ahead 

Swimmers who sign up for Divisionals will get much more information about the Saturday event this week, including how the alternate (“bid-in”) process works. Last year, the Dolphins were even calling swimmers during the Divisional meet to see if they wanted to come swim. 

Coach Dylan will talk to swimmers with the fastest times who have indicated availability on Tuesday at practice about what they might have the opportunity to swim. The stroke order for Divisionals this year is: IM, freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. 

Expect more emails from us this week than usual – with so many meets and events happening this last week can get chaotic. You might also have an individual volunteer trying to reach out so please look carefully at your inbox and please respond, even if it is just to acknowledge the inquiry. 

Next weekend (or maybe Monday), we’ll send a final newsletter that wraps up the season and begins to transition the team into the offseason and Winter Swim program. You’ll still get a few more emails from us after that before the school year starts. 

Questions? 

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

Go Dolphins! 

Waynewood Dolphins Communications