Dolphins Break Two Relay Records, Honor Contributions of Seniors

(7/12/26) 

It’s been a great week to be a Dolphin: tying for second place at Division Relays, two new team relay records, picking up the first NVSL win of the season against Dunn Loring, and celebrating our seniors’ swim careers with the Dolphins. And we have a lot going on this week including the season’s final B Meet, a teen night doubleheader, and the ever-popular pie in the face pep rally Friday. 

This week’s calendar at a glance: 

• Monday—Indicate availability for Saturday A Meet (deadline is 11 pm) 
• Monday—B Meet @Mansion House (warm-up 5:25 pm; no 4 pm or later practices) 
• Tuesday—make-up Book Hunt teen night (meet ~6:30 pm at WRA) 
• Tuesday—Indicate availability for IM Invitational (deadline is 11 pm) 
• Wednesday—No 11 am 8 & under practice and no 12 pm Little Dolphin practice (All-Star Relay Meet) 
• Thursday—Teen Night: Dolphin Prom 
• Friday—Pep rally: Pie in the face @6 pm 
• Saturday—A Meet @Springboard (9 am) 

In This Message: 

1. A Meet vs. Dunn Loring highlights 
2. Division 7 Relay Carnival highlights (& New Team Records) 
3. B Meet @Mansion House (Monday, 7/13) 
4. Practice schedule reminders 
5. Upcoming A-Meet @Springboard (7/18) 
6. Fort Hunt IM Invitational @Little Hunting Park (7/20) 
7. Teen night: Dolphin Prom, Thursday (7/16) 
8. Pep rally: Pie in the face, Friday (7/17) @6 pm 
9. Buy your Dolphins banquet tickets! 
10. Opportunity to check out year-round swim club NCAP 
11. Look Ahead 

1) A Meet vs. Dunn Loring highlights 

Waynewood continued momentum from a strong Relay Carnival showing, downing the Dolphins of Dunn Loring 218-202. Waynewood followed an evolving roadmap to victory besting Dunn Loring in the freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly portions of the meet while keeping breaststroke competition from getting out of hand and drawing even on relays. The results and new team ladder are up here. Dolphins highlights from the meet: 

• Outstanding meet contribution: Waynewood’s 9-10 boys won 27 of 36 possible points in individual events including three first place finishes. Davis Rukenbrod, Luca Leckrone, Matthew Angle, Ryan Whitlow, and Will Gallagher all scored points for Waynewood. The 9-10 100m medley relay team of Leckrone, Gallagher, Rukenbrod, and Angle also won their relay with a time of 1:23.46 – their fastest time in a dual-team meet this season – against a Dunn Loring squad that DQ’d. 
• Race of the meet: In a race reminiscent of their week one relay win, the 11-12 boys 100m medley relay squad of Ryan Charipar, Isaac Exner, Alexander Mamienski, and Owen Pugh sure seem to love tight, comeback relay races. This race saw Dunn Loring take a small early lead in a contest that remained tight throughout. Waynewood started to close the distance in the second half of the race winning 1:11.60 to 1:12.02. 
• Other winning Dolphin relay squads: 
  • Boys 8 & under 100m freestyle relay (1:22.63 vs. 1:40.20) 
  • Boys 13-14 100m medley relay (1:00.72–1:05.57) 
  • Boys 15-18 200m medley relay (2:08.75 vs. 2:14.39) 
  • Boys mixed age 200m freestyle relay (2:04.78 vs. 2:22.84) 
• Senior Day honors: In between the individual and relay events, Waynewood honored the contributions of its five departing seniors: 
  • Logan Allgeyer 
  • James Gustafson 
  • Lucy Lytle 
  • Ali McElwain 
  • Colten Wright 

We’ll miss this crew’s contributions to the team and seeing them swim. Good luck Seniors! Waynewood is proud to be your home. 

2) Division 7 Relay Carnival highlights (& New Team Records) 

The Waynewood Dolphins tied for second place at Wednesday's Division 7 Relay Carnival scoring 168 points. Lakeview took first with 176 points and Dowden Terrace tied Waynewood’s total. The full race by race results are available here. The highlights of Division 7 Relay Carnival for Waynewood were two record-breaking swims. 

• Early in the evening, the 8 & under boys 100m medley relay team of Eddy Vogel, Darien Hill, Bear Bowman, and Gavin Cooper broke a Waynewood record set just last year by a fast group of Dolphin swimmers (including Bowman). The new 2026 record of 1:31.81 shaves off more than five seconds from the 1:37.56 previous record (which had broken a previous mark from 2016). 
• Toward the end of the meet, the 13-14 boys 200m freestyle relay team of Luke Bluey, Wyatt Thom, Alex Leth, and James Gallagher provided an encore breaking a Waynewood record set three years ago. The new freestyle record of 1:50.47 edges the previous mark of 1:50.49, whose current owners continue to occupy Waynewood’s 13-14 boys 100m and 200m medley relay records. 

The following Waynewood Dolphins squads placed first, second, or third at Division 7 Relay Carnival: 

1st place finishes 

• Boys 8 & under 100m medley relay (1:31.81): Eddy Vogel, Darien Hill, Bear Bowman, Gavin Cooper 
• Boys 13-14 200m medley relay (2:06.96): Luke Bluey, James Gallagher, Alex Leth, Wyatt Thom 
• Boys 8 & under 100m freestyle relay (1:19.67): Eddy Vogel, Bear Bowman, John Beaton, Gavin Cooper 
• Boys 13-14 200m freestyle relay (1:50.47): Luke Bluey, Alex Leth, Wyatt Thom, James Gallagher 

2nd place finishes 

• Boys 11-12 100m medley relay (1:11.97): Ryan Charipar, Isaac Exner, Alexander Mamienski, Owen Pugh 
• Boys 15-18 200m medley relay (1:58.38): Luke Morris, Moses Wolf, Charlie Schourek, Michael Salter 

3rd place finishes 

• Boys 200m freestyle mixed age relay (1:58.84): Alexander Mamienski, Luca Leckrone, James Gallagher, Moses Wolf 
• Girls 9-10 100m medley relay (1:23.68): Helena Paige, Susannah Kadish, Violet Dunstan, Catherine Beaton 
• Girls 11-12 100m medley relay (1:12.81): Isla Exner, Vera Hill, Ava Reese Minear, Heidi Evans 
• Girls 9-10 100m freestyle relay (1:11.57): Violet Dunstan, Charlotte Luher, Helena Paige, Catherine Beaton 
• Boys 11-12 100m freestyle relay (1:03.43): Owen Pugh, Isaac Exner, Ryan Charipar, Alexander Mamienski 
• Boys 15-18 200m freestyle relay (1:46.09): Luke Morris, Ben Bluey, Michael Salter, Moses Wolf 

Relay race swim times of four Dolphins teams also earned entries into the 2026 NVSL All-Star Relay Meet on July 15: 

• Boys 8 & under 100m medley relay (seed #6): Eddy Vogel, Darien Hill, Bear Bowman, Gavin Cooper 
• Boys 13-14 200m medley relay (seed #12): Luke Bluey, James Gallagher, Alex Leth, Wyatt Thom 
• Boys 8 & under 100m freestyle relay (seed #7): Eddy Vogel, Bear Bowman, John Beaton, Gavin Cooper 
• Boys 13-14 200m freestyle relay (seed #3): Luke Bluey, Alex Leth, Wyatt Thom, James Gallagher 

Good luck to 8 & unders Bear, Darien, John, Eddy, and Gavin as well as our four 13-14 boys representing Waynewood at the NVSL All Star Relays Meet on July 15. 

2026 relay fun facts: 

• No Dolphin squads at Relay Carnival this year were disqualified. This means every Dolphins relay swimmer contributed points to Waynewood’s finish and without every single earned point, Waynewood wouldn’t have been able to win a share of second place. 
• The 8 & under 100m medley relay, which this year’s boys squad broke again, is a relatively new event for NVSL as prior to 2012 participants swam a “modified medley” that did not include butterfly. 

3) Monday (7/13) B Meet @Mansion House 

The Dolphins swim @Mansion House at 6 pm. Waynewood’s warmup is at 5:25 pm – please arrive 10 minutes before this at 5:15 pm. If you are not volunteering in the meet’s first half and you don’t have a swimmer in IM (the first stroke), Coach Dylan suggests you consider arriving at 6:15 pm and (if necessary) warm up at Waynewood. 

• Mansion House address: 9321 Old Mount Vernon Road Alexandria 22309 (park in the lot) 
• Stroke order: IM, free, back, breast, fly. 
• Note for WW families: Mansion House has informed us that they will complete the last stroke that begins before 9:00 pm. 
• Special note from our host: 
  • “LOCK your cars. In 2019 we had a car broken into at a B Meet as a purse was left in it. We think it was a crime of opportunity (not a swimmer or swim family) but we ask everyone stay vigilant, lock cars, and not leave valuables in the open in a car.” 

4) Practice schedule reminders 

This week: 

• On Monday, there is no practice for Big or Little Dolphins 4 pm or later due to the B Meet at Mansion House. Little Dolphins are welcome to join the 12:00 pm practice. 
• On Wednesday, there is no 11 am 8 & under practice or noon Little Dolphins practice due to All Star Relays. There are 4:00 pm and 4:45 pm practice as well as 5:30 Little Dolphins practice, which 12:00 pm Little Dolphins may join if they wish. 

5) Upcoming A Meet vs. Springboard Saturday (7/18) 

The Dolphins’ final NVSL dual-team meet of the 2026 Division 7 season takes place this Saturday, July 18. The Dolphins will compete with the Springboard Barracudas. 

• Waynewood swimmers available for this meet may indicate status NOW – the meet closes to entries at 11:00 pm on Monday, July 13. 
• Springboard’s address: 6500 Deepford St, Springfield, VA 22150 
• The Dolphins will meet in the WRA parking lot to caravan at 7:25 am. The first event is at 9:00 am. 
• 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) Fort IM Invitational @Little Hunting Park (7/20) 

Fort Hunt IM Invitational this year is on Monday, July 20 at Little Hunting Park. Warm-ups begin at 3:45 pm and the first heat will be at 5 pm. Warmups for IM are done by age group. 

• OPEN NOW – click here to indicate swimmer availability. 
• To be considered for selection, swimmers need to indicate availability no later than 11 pm on Tuesday, July 14. 
• This is a competitive meet, interested swimmers need to have an IM time from this year for submission as an entry or alternate. 
• Waynewood gets to send three swimmers from each age/gender group. In the days immediately before the meet, there’s a good chance Waynewood will get one or two additional bid-in/alternate entries. 
• The IM Invitational is all IM swims, features roughly a dozen teams from the Fort Hunt area, and there is a trophy for the team winning its respective division at the meet through a scoring system (loosely based on NVSL Division seeding). 
• Please note that while 8 & under swimmers may compete in the 10 & under age group, there is no 8 & under IM age group at this meet. 

7) Dolphin Prom Teen Night—Thursday at 6:30 pm 

It’s the Dolphin Prom for our teens! Dress is “As Classy As You Wanna Be.” You might want to wear your “sensible shoes” though. It’s a walking progressive dinner. 

• Teens should sign up at practice starting Tuesday morning – there will be a TBD dinner cover charge. 
• The path of the progressive dinner is still being finalized. 
• Participants are asked to wear swimsuits under their outfits rather than changing this year. 

IMPORTANT: Participants must be registered Waynewood Dolphin swimmers and have finished 7th grade. Please respect that no exceptions will be made. 

8) Pie in the Face Pep Rally—Friday at 6 pm 

Our favorite pep rally is just days away—Pie in the Coaches’ Face! A timeless classic involving trivia questions and lots of whipped cream. We’ll also announce practice monsters and fill the grounds with Dolphin spirit! 

9) Buy your Dolphins Banquet Tickets! 

Click here to buy tickets by July 20! The banquet is July 25 from 6-11 pm. It’s a can’t miss event. 

10) Opportunity to check out year-round swim club NCAP 

If your swimmer is loving summer swim and interested in taking swim skills to the next level, the Alexandria chapter of Nation’s Capital Swim Club (NCAP), a Waynewood Dolphins sponsor, is hosting open house events including at nearby Mount Vernon Park. 

The open house is an opportunity for a swimview where swimmers can be evaluated for programs, meet coaches, and parents can ask questions. Swimmers should wear a suit and bring goggles. Here are the details on the upcoming open houses: 

• Tuesday July 21, 5-6 pm Poplar Heights Recreation Association: 2463 Buckelew Drive, Falls Church. 
• Wednesday July 22, 3-5 pm Mount Vernon Park Association: 8042 Fairfax Road, Alexandria. 

NCAP has, at times, offered a scholarship credit for the Waynewood Dolphins to award to a new club swimmer enrolling in an eligible team program. E-mail team reps if you are interested. 

11) Look ahead 

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

• Swimming at IM Invitational 
• Little Dolphin Mini Meet 
• Dolphin Duel Division 7 
• Individual Championships 

Questions? 

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

Go Dolphins! 

Waynewood Dolphins Communications