Dolphins Win Division 7 Sportsmanship Award, Celebrate Successful Season

(7/29/26) 

What a finish at Waynewood to end the season! From Little Dolphin Mini Meet to Dolphin Duel to Division 7 Championships to our end-of-season pool party the Dolphins sure kept the competition pool busy. Congratulations to our swimmers and thank you to Coach Dylan, the coaching staff, and all our parent volunteers. This won’t be the last message you receive from us this summer but we are wrapping up and preparing for the offseason. 

This week’s calendar at a glance: 

• Coach Dylan is working with All-Star meet qualifiers in preparation for Saturday. 

In This Message: 

1. Little Dolphins Mini Meet and Dolphin Duel 
2. Division 7 Championship achievement 
3. Award banquet summary 
4. Thank you James! 
5. Ribbon, awards, and Smugmug reminder 
6. Winter Swim: information and coach applications 
7. Team sponsors recognition 
8. Call for 2026 volunteers 
9. Just keep swimming 

1) Little Dolphins Mini Meet and Dolphin Duel 

Before the Dolphins welcomed all Division 7 teams to the Individual Championship on Saturday, we hosted two other important meets this week. Our littlest swimmers got a chance to shine on Wednesday morning at the annual Mini Meet. 

For some, it was their first time swimming in a timed competition and there were lots of smiles all around. Our big Dolphins served as timers, table workers, marshals, and even as starter — making this a full-team highlight event. Thursday night brought fun relays and also the final chance to swim for best times, meet individual season goals, and try new strokes in competition at the Dolphin Duel. We are grateful to all our parent volunteers during this very busy week! 

2) Division 7 Championship achievement 

During the awards ceremony at Saturday’s Division 7 individual championship events here at Waynewood, the Waynewood Dolphins were – for the second year in a row – awarded the Division 7 Sportsmanship Award as voted on by the team reps, coaches, and 13 & older swimmers from all six teams in the division. Congratulations to all the Dolphins on recognition for carrying yourselves with class! 

Dolphin swimmers also showed off their speed Saturday winning first, second, or third place finishes 21 times in the 48 events held at Saturday’s Divisionals meet: 

1st place finishes 

• Eddie Vogel, boys 8 & under 25m backstroke 
• Violet Dunstan, girls 9-10 50m backstroke 
• Moses Wolf, boys 15-18 50m breaststroke 
• James Gallagher, boys 13-14 50m butterfly 
• Moses Wolf, boys 15-18 100m individual medley 
• Alexander Mamienski, boys 11-12 50m freestyle 
• Luke Morris, boys 15-18 50m freestyle 

2nd place finishes 

• Ryan Charipar, boys 11-12 50m backstroke 
• Luke Bluey, boys 13-14 50m backstroke 
• Abby Minear, girls 13-14 50m backstroke 
• Darien Hill, boys 8 & under 25m breaststroke 
• Bear Bowman, boys 8 & under 25m butterfly 
• Luke Morris, boys 15-18 50m butterfly 
• Alexander Mamienski, boys 11-12 100m individual medley 
• Abby Minear, girls 13-14 100m individual medley 
• James Gallagher, boys 13-14 50m freestyle 

3rd place finishes 

• Riley Morthole, girls 8 & under 25m backstroke 
• Vera Hill, girls 11-12 50m breaststroke 
• Gavin Cooper, boys 8 & under 25m butterfly 
• Heidi Evans, girls 11-12 100m individual medley 
• Luca Leckrone, boys 9-10 50m freestyle 

Based on Division 7 Championship swims, eight Dolphin swimmers earned invitations to the 2026 NVSL All-Star Meet on Saturday, August 1 by achieving top times across all NVSL divisions. Congratulations to our Dolphins All Stars! 

• Eddie Vogel, boys 8 & under 25m backstroke 
• Luke Bluey, boys 13-14 50m backstroke 
• Darien Hill, boys 8 & under 25m breaststroke 
• Vera Hill, girls 11-12 50m breaststroke 
• Moses Wolf, boys 15-18 50m breaststroke and 100m individual medley 
• James Gallagher, boys 13-14 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle 
• Abby Minear, girls 13-14 100m individual medley 
• Alexander Mamienski, boys 11-12 50m freestyle 

Making Divisionals itself is an accomplishment. Congratulations to all the Waynewood swimmers who participated! Results for the full Divisionals meet are available here. 

3) Award banquet summary 

The Dolphins celebrated in style Saturday night at our annual banquet. 

• As a team, the Dolphins dropped over 30 minutes from their collective stroke times. 
• Across five NVSL A-meets this summer, 69 different Dolphin swimmers scored points by finishing first, second, or third in an event and helping the Dolphins to a third place finish in Division 7. 

Team Reps and coaches also presented several individual awards to our volunteers and swimmers. Highlights:

2026 Service Awards 

• Bobbi Erb Award (tireless, dedicated volunteer): Kristin Charipar 
• Alan Schaffter Award (committed official): Julia Hill 
• Tammy Mannarino Award (legacy of service to the team): Kelly Lohmann 

2026 Team Awards 

• Coach Madsen Award (most improved swimmers): Winnie Altman and Lucas Zaborski 
• Coaches Award (hard working, dedicated swimmers): Grace Nurnberger and Ryan Whitlow 
• Waynewood Dolphin Award (swimmers demonstrating the best attributes of an amazing teammate): Paige Simonelli and Barrett Cooper 
• Lois Sanderhoff Award (spirited, selfless swimmer): Cully Rufe 
• Tommy Smithwick Award (elected by swimmers): Gabi Leth 
• Gosnell High Point Scorer Award: Moses Wolf and Abby Minear 

2026 New Swim Records 

• Boys 8 & under 100m medley relay: Eddy Vogel, Darien Hill, Bear Bowman, and Gavin Cooper; 1:30.30 (July 15, 2026) 
• Boys 13-14 200m freestyle relay: Luke Bluey, Wyatt Thom, Alex Leth, and James Gallagher; 1:49.37 (July 15, 2026) 
• Boys 15-18 50m breaststroke: Moses Wolf; 30:32 (July 3, 2026) 

4) Thank you James! 

After completing three years of service as Dolphins Team Rep, James Connally is stepping back. Melissa Bluey will continue as Team Rep in 2027, joined by Luisa Gallagher who served as a shadow Team Rep in 2026. 

The team is deeply grateful to James who departs after leading the Dolphins to winning the NVSL Division 7 Sportsmanship Award for two consecutive years and bringing both the multi-team Fort Hunt IM Invitational (in '24 and '25) and Division 7 Championships to Waynewood. Our thanks to James and Rebecca Connally for their tireless efforts helping the Dolphins!!! 

5) Ribbon, award, and SmugMug reminder 

Please remember your meet ribbons in the file folders on the shelves near the pool sign-in area. We’ve also added uncollected awards and medals (with names on back) to that area as well. Finally, our awesome photographers have and will continue to add photos to the 2026 SmugMug team photo library. Even if you’ve previously looked through a past meet, we’d encourage you to scour it again (and maybe one last time a few weeks from now) as our photographers often update them with new photo batches. These are professional quality photos of your swimmers in action made available to you gratis for being part of our team. 

6) Winter Swim: information and coach applications 

The Dolphins are still awaiting confirmation on our location, number of lanes, and Sunday evening timeslots for Waynewood Winter Swim. This may also impact the allowed age range for our program this season. We'll have more information soon. 

• The first winter swim practice will be Sunday, September 13, 2026, and the last will be Sunday, May 23, 2027. 
• Registration dates are still TBD but the team plans to stagger enrollment this year to give families who completed their summer volunteer shift obligation first opportunity to enroll swimmers. 

The team is now accepting winter swim coaching applications through Aug. 22 at 6:00 pm. For those interested, the time commitment is roughly an hour every Sunday. You must be 16 years old as of September 13, 2026 to apply OR 15 years old with a lifeguard certification. 

Aspiring coaches should submit an application here. 

7) Team sponsors recognition 

The Waynewood Dolphins would like to again thank the following local businesses and organizations who sponsored the team for the 2026 season: 

• Absolute Tree 
• Candice Candelori Weichert 
• Fort Hunt Pilates 
• Fort Hunt Plumbing 
• Frida Hopper Realty 
• Grit and Grace Counseling Group 
• Hughes Orthodontics 
• Master Roofing 
• Nation’s Capital (NCAP) swim club 
• Paul Krizek, Delegate 
• Potomac Marlins 
• Scott Surovell, Senator 
• Seward Group Sotheby 
• Southside 815 
• Springfield Lorton Dental Group 
• Sunstone Counseling 
• The Cut Butchery 
• The Virginia Florist 

These sponsors supported our kids this summer underscoring their commitment to our community. Please consider them Dolphin partners – all have web links on the Dolphins Swimtopia website. Also, a big Dolphins thank you to Dolphins Sponsorship Coordinator Melanie DeMaria for managing our team sponsorship program! 

8) Call for 2027 volunteers 

The Dolphins are blessed to have a magnificent group of core lead volunteers who help organize, manage logistics, and run meet operations. Many volunteers return year after year, but every year the team has openings to fill. 

If you’d consider helping in one of these roles, please send the Team Reps a note letting them know what kind of opportunity might interest you. The team has roles that only require work at meets and others that are very flexible about how and when work is completed. It will be more work than just signing up for your family minimum shift requirement, but it’s also a great opportunity to meet neighbors and learn about the Dolphins team. 

9) Just keep swimming 

Looking toward summer 2027, some final tips for swimmers and parents as the team wraps up the 2026 season: 

• Involve your kids in year-round swimming. It will help them keep in shape over the winter, move their swimming skills forward, and you will see performance improvement when practice starts again in late May. There are several winter programs in the area that run the spectrum from competitive to recreational with different price points. 
• Spread the word. Brag to your WRA friends and neighbors about how much fun you had with the Dolphins this summer. Encourage them to join us next year! 
• Plan your vacation for August next year. Enjoy every Dolphin moment without interruption. Our team needs your swimmers in June and July – showing up is important! For aspiring coaches, availability for all of the swim season is an important factor in team hiring decisions. 
• In 2027, the Dolphins have a tentative A Meet on Saturday, July 3. Please keep this in mind as you make plans. 
• Make plans to volunteer. Volunteering is an integral part of being on the swim team—please arrange your summer plans for 2027 accordingly and maybe even plan to take a couple half-days at work to volunteer if you’re planning to be with us again next season. If you know availability is going to be an issue, reach out to Team Reps before the summer begins to see about flexible ways you can help the team. 
• Mark your calendar. Super Sunday is tentatively May 2, 2027. Expect our swimsuit vendor Sport Fair to be on hand to sell suits. We plan to open registration for summer 2027 in April. 

Questions? 

Don’t hesitate to contact our Team Reps James Connally, Melissa Bluey, and Luisa Gallagher (2027) at [email protected]

Go Dolphins! 

Waynewood Dolphins Communications