2024 Meet #3: South Irvine Dolphins @ Westpark Marlins

Joe Lee
Meet Report: Meet # 3 – South Irvine Dolphins vs. Westpark Marlins
Date: June 29th, 2024
By: Nate Williams, Dolphin Parent 4 Life
On Saturday, June 29th, the South Irvine Dolphins traveled farthest from their home pool yet this season to encounter a group of Marlins in the community of Westpark.  Known for their swift swimming abilities and long, pointed noses, the Marlins had long been considered some of the quickest in the water.  The Dolphins needed no introduction, though.  We have a reputation of our own for quickness and agility.  The Marlins and Dolphins respected each other’s talents and knew the only way to settle who had the fastest squad was to hold a swim meet for the ages!  The Dolphins accepted the challenge without hesitation.  Soon after, the Dolphins and Marlins put on a swim meet that more than lived up to the hype.  This Marlins team presented the toughest challenge this pod of Dolphins has faced yet, but the Dolphins stuck together and had another successful meet filled with exciting swims and time improvements!
A few of the highlights from the meet:
  1. Our younger Dolphin calves, Isla Henderson, Ari Mobasseri, Summer Williams, Noah Mobasseri, Amelia Henderson, Carlo Soriano, and Oliviia Efimenko got the pod off to a hot start by winning the first seven butterfly events of the meet.  Way to go, Dolphin butterfliers!
     
  2. Blake Shefer dropped nearly 5 seconds in the Boys 5-6 25 Back and nearly 3 seconds in the 25 Breast to make new ISL Champs qualifying times in both events.  Great job, Blake!
     
  3. Nathan Wu made his season debut, awing the crowd by winning and making ISL Champs qualifying times in all three events he swam in: Men’s 15-18 50 Back, 100 IM, and 50 Breast.  Nathan also showed us that he has talent outside of the pool by performing a wonderful duet of the National Anthem with fellow coach, Halle Ewing, prior to the meet.  Is there anything these Dolphin swimmers and coaches can’t do!?
     
  4. The coaches and parents showed what it means to be a “Dolphin 4 Life” by winning the coaches relay and parent relay at halftime, a pair of exciting races indeed!
     
  5. Notable time improvements were recorded by several Dolphins.  Ladies will be mentioned first.  The following swimmers dropped time in all three of the individual events they swam: Sai Bhargava in the Girls 5-6 25 Fly, 25 Back, and 25 Breast!  Ayla Jalili improved in the Girls 5-6 25 Fly, 25 Back, and 25 Free!  Keilani Aban dropped time in the Girls 7-8 25 Back, 25 Breast, and 25 Free!  Summer Williams shaved off time in the Girls 7-8 25 Fly, 25 Back, and 25 Breast!  Sienna Shefer and Stella Singer both dropped time in the Girls 9-10 50 Back, 50 Breast, and 50 Free!  Olivia Nguyen joined the party by dropping time in the Girls 11-12 50 Fly, 50 Back, and 50 Breast!  Ella Jalili improved her times in the Girls 13-14 50 Fly, 50 Back, and 50 Breast!  Taylor Simon improved all three of her swims in the Women’s 15-18 50 Fly, 50 Back, and 50 Free!  Way to go, young ladies!
     
  6. The following boys dropped time in all three of their events: Blake Shefer in the Boys 5-6 25 Back, 25 Breast, and 25 Free!  Noah Li bettered his time in the Boys 7-8 25 Fly, 25 Breast, and 25 Free!  Ryan Diba and Fred Liu both recorded time improvements in the Boys 9-10 50 Fly, 50 Back, and 50 Free!  Keep it going, boys!
Congratulations to all the swimmers who dropped time.  Remember, each time improvement earns a Dolphin Dollar to be spent on snacks and merchandise at the Dolphins Store. 
For those swimmers who had disqualifications (DQ’s), please make sure you talk with your coaches about what you can do differently next time!  Don’t get discouraged and keep working at it at practice!
The following is a laundry list of swimmers who recorded new individual time improvements: Keilani Aban, Bryce Alpert, Colton Barrett, Brij Bhargava, Sai Bhargava, Helena Blanco, Lara Blanco, Emmie Brandes, Alex Chen, Charlie Chen, Shaan Chenam, Jonathan Choi, William Choi, Brayden Chow, Katherine Chow, Ryan Diba, Oliviia Efimenko, Callahan Espiritu, Kynsley Espiritu, Ava Fahim, EG Goltz, Amelia Henderson, Edith Henderson, Ayla Jalili, Ella Jalili, Edward Lee, Olive Lee, Joshua Lerner, Noah Li, Max Lin, William Lin, Carina Lin, Dominic Liu, Fred Liu, Carl Liu, Mila Moaven, Ari Mobasseri, Noah Mobasseri, Marcus Nguyen, Mason Nguyen, Olivia Nguyen, Penelope Nguyen, Liam Putterman, Mark Shabanie, Blake Shefer, Sienna Shefer, Riley Simon, Taylor Simon, Kaia Sina, Keanu Sina, Stella Singer, Carlo Soriano, Abby Suh, Isaiah Suh, Aaban Tehrani, Olivia Toft, Nicolas Tsai, Eric Wang, Kyle Wang, Reese Williams, Summer Williams, Nathan Yu, Sophie Yu, and Elle Zitzman.  The team is so proud of all of you!!
Congratulations on a great meet against an excellent Marlin team!  We return to our home pool to host the Deerfield Bluefins on Saturday, July 13th.  See you all on deck!