2026 Waynewood Dolphins summer swim begins 5/26

(5/24/25) 

Thank you to the many Dolphin families who pitched in for WRA clean up last weekend. While FCPS is off, we’ll still have the first afternoon practices this Tuesday 5/26 (but not just yet for Little Dolphins). The team has over 290 swimmers registered. 

This weekly communication is the primary vehicle for information about upcoming events. Once we get to meets, we’ll also send out sign-up reminders and updates throughout the week. Important information is in this newsletter so please read. 

This week’s calendar at a glance: 

• Tuesday—First day of afternoon practice 

In This Message: 

1. First practice instructions and equipment list 
2. Last communication and farewell to 2025 families 
3. Call for National Anthem singers 
4. 2026 team sponsors 
5. 2026 Dolphins coach staff 
6. 2026 Parent Handbook 
7. Early season look ahead 
8. Winter swim concludes 
9. Download the SwimTopia app for your phone 
10. Interested in a dive team? 

1) First practice instructions and equipment list 

Coach Dylan and our excellent 2026 staff are preparing to welcome swimmers to practice this Tuesday. 

After-school practice schedule: 

Tuesday, May 26 thru Wednesday, June 17 

• 3:45 pm-4:30 pm (13 & up) 
• 4:30 pm-5:15 pm (11-12) 
• 5:15 pm-6:00 pm (9-10) 
• 6:00 pm-6:45 pm (8 & under – NOT Little Dolphins) 

Practice Instructions: 

Like last year, swimmers should gather outside the gate by the lap/practice pool a few minutes before practice begins. Coaches will admit the group at the appointed time. 

Practice reminders: 

• Weather: We practice in the rain but not thunder and lightning. 
• Cancellation: When we cancel a practice, we try to send out an alert as soon as possible via a message that goes to your phone if you’ve downloaded the free SwimTopia App (more below). We tend to avoid canceling practice unless we know for sure it won’t happen so alerts are often last minute. If you don’t hear from us, assume practice is still on. Even when one group’s practice is canceled, our coaches often hang out to see if the thunder clears in time for the next group. 
• Equipment: Swimmers should have goggles and a towel. For first practices, swimmers will be able to get by fine with just a swimsuit (a one-piece suit is best). 
• Absence: When your swimmer won’t be at practice, you DO NOT need to let us or coaches know. And if you’re concerned about weather or temperature please keep your swimmer home. 
• First practice: Our first couple practices are like the first days of a new school year. Please be patient as it can take us a couple days to get swimmers in the right lane and establish routines. 
• Our request: Please give our coaching staff space to work with your swimmer and others at practice. This means not communicating with or distracting (even cheering) your swimmer during practice. New swimmers are especially prone to shifting attention away from coaches due to the presence of parents so please be ready to keep a distance from the lap pool if that may be an issue for your swimmer. 
• Fun: Kids should be having fun and enjoying the swim team with friends. If your swimmer is repeatedly not having fun at practice after the first few, please let Team Reps or the coaches know. 

2) Last communication and farewell to 2025 families 

This is the last communication the Dolphins will be sending to our 2025 family list. Going forward, unless or until your family has a swimmer registered for summer 2026 you won’t be receiving further communications from the team. 

If you are still looking to register, here is the link for registration – https://waynewood.swimtopia.com/ (look for the red “Register Now” icon). Please remember that only swimmers registered with WRA as being from dues paying households of current WRA members and WRA Approved Users are eligible to participate. 

Returning families are asked to log on using the same email as last year. Please do not create a new account. If you have forgotten your password or are encountering a problem, please use the forgot password function or email Team Reps. Duplicate accounts cause problems with team data keeping and must be canceled/corrected. When registering swimmers for the first time, please put the name your swimmer wants to be called in the "first name" section, even if that name is really their middle name or nickname (even though the directions in Swimtopia indicate otherwise). 

To our 2025 families who aren’t swimming with us this season: thank you for being part of our team! We have awesome memories from watching the team improve and have fun together. We wish you an amazing summer. 

3) Call for national anthem singers 

Dolphins have talents besides swimming! We would like to have a national anthem performer for all home meets. Please reach out if you’d be willing to share your talent singing or playing the Star-Spangled Banner with a musical instrument. We’re interested in solo or group performances – please email the Team Reps if your swimmer would consider helping us. 

4) 2026 team sponsors 

The Waynewood Dolphins would like to thank the team sponsors for the 2026 season: 

• Absolute Tree 
• Candelori & Candelori Real Estate Team
• Fort Hunt Pilates 
• Fort Hunt Plumbing 
• Frida Hopper -- TTR Sotheby's International Realty 
• Grit and Grace Counseling Group 
• Hughes Orthodontics 
• Master Roofing 
• Paul Krizek, Delegate 
• Potomac Marlins swim team
• Scott Surovell, Senator 
• Seward Group -- TTR Sotheby's International Realty
• Southside 815 
• Springfield Lorton Dental Group 
• Sunstone Counseling 
• The Cut Butchery 
• The Virginia Florist 

Links to the websites of these team sponsors are on the team website. Please remember these sponsors support our kids. Businesses interested in sponsoring the Waynewood Dolphins should contact Sponsorship Coordinator Melanie DeMaria. 

5) 2026 Dolphins coach staff 

Pictured: Head Coach Dylan Keightley and the 2025 Waynewood Dolphins 

Head Coach: Dylan Keightley 

Assistant Head Coach: Ben Henderson 

Little Dolphins Head Coach: Ben Bluey 

Assistant Coaches: Teagan Adams, Logan Allgeyer, Ben Bluey, Bella Connally, Gavin Coyne, Maya Dahlberg, Jack Holvenstot, Gabi Leth, Molly Mead, Charlie Schourek, Moses Wolf, Colten Wright, Owen Zacot 

Little Dolphins swimmers will meet the full Little Dolphins staff when their practice season begins June 18. 

6) 2026 Parent Handbook 

For those wanting to learn more about our team and how it operates, we’ve updated our parent handbook for the 2026 season. It’s a link on the front page of the team website and you can read it here. For information about the Northern Virginia Swim League (NVSL) that sets rules used by the Dolphins for swim meets click here for the league handbook (rulebook). 

7) Early season look ahead 

The team’s full swim schedule is available here. Below is an overview of upcoming team events through the end of the school year: 

• Pasta Potluck Dinner – Fri., June 12 at 6:45 pm. A Dolphins’ tradition, this event is the night before Time Trials. It is open to all swimmers and families including Little Dolphins. Before the dinner, we’ll send around assignments asking all families to bring a large pasta dish, garlic bread, salad, or dessert. This is our social kickoff and a chance for new families to hear about our program and meet neighbors. 
• Time Trials – Sat., June 13 at 8 am (warm-up begins at 7 am). All big Dolphins team members should try to attend – getting a measurement of where swimmers are for each stroke they can legally swim at the beginning of the season is immensely important to our goals of improving as a team. The early start helps swimmers get out to other Saturday activities. We’ll send out more detailed information as we get closer to the event. 
• B-Meet: Waynewood @ Mount Vernon Park – Mon., June 15 at 6 pm (warm-up at ~5:30 pm). All big Dolphins swimmers will be invited to sign up for swimming two strokes at this meet. It’s a school night so we’ll try not to go too late. Again, we’ll send information about signups and volunteers next weekend. 
• First morning practice and Little Dolphins first practice/swim test – Thurs., June 18. We’ll send reminders on summer break practice times beginning after FCPS finishes. 

8) Winter swim concludes 

Congratulations to our participating Dolphin swimmers, coaches, and parents who just completed our Winter Swim program at Mount Vernon Rec Center. You’ll see that work pay off this summer! The Dolphins’ Winter Swim practices every Sunday for an hour and is an especially great program for newer swimmers who enjoy the competitive team this summer and want to improve before the next season. Signups for ‘26-’27 will happen in August. 

9) Download the SwimTopia app for your phone 

We recommend downloading the Swimtopia App from your app store to get up to the minute information on meets, practices, weather delays and cancellations on your phone. It has some other functions, but the alerts are the primary benefit. Running in the background, you’ll get an alert when the team has breaking info to disseminate. 

10) Interested in a dive team? 

Waynewood swims in NVSL, but did you know NVSL also has a summer diving team league? Waynewood doesn’t have a dive team, but our friends at Stratford and Mansion House do and they have extended a welcome to Waynewood swimmers who’d like to try diving with their programs – NVSL rules allow this. 

• Read more about registering for the Mansion House Club dive team here. They offer an opportunity to try out the diving team for a week before paying any fees. 
• Stratford Recreation Association also has a dive team and asked us to share their interest in welcoming interested Waynewood swimmers. 

Questions? 

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

Go Dolphins! 

Waynewood Dolphins Communications