2024 Meet #4: Deerfield Bluefins @ South Irvine Dolphins

Joe Lee
Meet Report: Meet # 4 – Deerfield Bluefins vs. South Irvine Dolphins
Date: July 13th, 2024
By: Nate Williams, Dolphin Parent 4 Life
 
On Saturday, July 13th, the South Irvine Dolphins returned to their home pool to host a school of Bluefins migrating from the lush community of Deerfield.  This wasn’t just any dual meet.  It was a demonstration of the speed and agility of two of the ocean’s most formidable creatures!  The Bluefins (which can weigh up to 2,000 pounds and swim as fast as 40 mph) were not to be taken lightly.  We Dolphins, known for our sleek bodies and playful demeanor have always been crowd favorites.  The meet began right as the sun peeked through the stubborn marine layer, and a buzz of excitement permeated through the pool deck.  Today was the day that will be remembered as the legendary competition between two great swim teams.  The Bluefins were arguably the strongest team this Dolphins pod has faced yet, but the Dolphins banded together and had yet another triumphant meet filled with exciting swims, time improvements, and even some record-breaking performances!
A few of the highlights from the meet:
  1. Our younger Dolphin calves started off the meet with a bang by busting out back -to-back record-breaking relay performances.  The Mixed 5-6 100-yard Medley Relay Team of Isla Henderson, Callahan Espiritu, Ari Mobasseri, and Alex Chen crushed an 11-year-old team record with a time of 1:36.94.  Moments later, the Mixed 7-8 100-yard Medley Relay Team of Mason Nguyen, Summer Williams, Noah Mobasseri, and Katherine Chow shattered a team record that had stood since 2012 with a time of 1:15.62.  Way to go, young Dolphin relay teams!
  2. The depth of our pod was showcased early when the Dolphins swept all 6 Medley Relay events.  Wow!
  3. Pasha Bassiri dropped nearly 10 seconds in the Boys 9-10 100 IM and shaved off nearly 2 seconds in the 50 Breast to make new ISL Champs qualifying times in both events.  Great job, Pasha!
  4. Keanu Sina slashed nearly 4 seconds to win the Boys 9-10 50 Breast and make a new ISL Champs qualifying time.  Keep it up, Keanu!
  5. The coaches and parents continued their halftime dominance by winning the coaches relay and parent relay, a pair of splendid relay performances indeed!
  6. Dewey the Dolphin made another special appearance to swim across the pool at halftime.  Dewey started off the race strong but due to a wardrobe malfunction late in the race, Dewey was shut out once again by our swifter and more well-conditioned Dolphin calves.  Better luck next time, Dewey!
  7. Notable time improvements were recorded by several Dolphins.  The following ladies dropped time in all three of the individual events they swam: Carina Lin in the Girls 9-10 50 Back, 100 IM, and 50 Free!  Riley Simon improved in the Girls 11-12 50 Back, 50 Breast, and 50 Free!  Way to go, ladies!
  8. A huge pod of Dolphin gentlemen dropped time in all three of their events: Pasha Bassiri in the Boys 9-10 50 Fly, 100 IM, and 50 Breast!  Charlie Chen bettered his time in the Boys 9-10 50 Fly, 100 IM, and 50 Free!  Shaan Chenam had massive time drops in the Boys 7-8 25 Back, 25 Breast, and 25 Free!  Kyle Chuang improved in the Boys 13-14 50 Fly, 100 IM, and 50 Breast!  Shane Chung shaved off time in the Boys 7-8 25 Back, 25 Breast, and 25 Free!  Shane also recorded a new ISL Champs Qualifying time in the 25 Back!  Noah Lee and Ryan Lee both had time drops in the Men’s 15-18 50 Fly, 50 Back, and 50 Breast!  Ryan Lee also punched his ticket to ISL Champs with a new qualifying time in the 50 Breast!  Christopher Lin shaved off more time in the Men’s 15-18 50 Fly, 100 IM, and 50 Breast!  Keanu Sina had a hat trick of time improvements in the Boys 9-10 50 Back, 50 Breast, and 50 Free!  Mateo Tirado dropped serious time in the Boys 11-12 50 Back, 50 Breast, and 50 Free!  Niccolo Troccoli slashed more time off in the Boys 13-14 50 Fly, 50 Back, and 50 Free!  Nathan Yu saw time drops in the Boys 7-8 25 Back, 25 Breast, and 25 Free!  Keep it going, gentlemen!
Congratulations to all the swimmers who saw time improvements in their swims.  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 how you can clean up those swims!
The following is a massive list of swimmers who recorded new individual time improvements: Keilani Aban, Hailey Alpert, Pasha Bassiri, Arsha Bassiri, Emma Blanco, Helena Blanco, Lara Blanco, Emmie Brandes, Alex Chen, Charlie Chen, Shaan Chenam, Jonathan Choi, William Choi, Brayden Chow, Kyle Chuang, Rachel Chung, Shane Chung, Ryan Diba, Callahan Espiritu, Cassius Espiritu, Kynsley Espiritu, Ava Fahim, London Foster, Shaw Fournier, Niknaz Hashemipour, David Hwang, Milan Kaprealian, Sienna Kaprealian, Bear Lee, Edward Lee, Handersen Lee, Jojo Lee, Noah Lee, Olive Lee, Ryan Lee, Max Leong, Christopher Lin, Carina Lin, Fred Liu, Sayiid Martinez-Gutierrez, Mila Moaven, Noah Mobasseri, Bryce Morales, Penelope Nguyen, Liam Putterman, Brian Razaee, Julia Shabanie, Mila Shakernia, Noah Shmurak, Riley Simon, Taylor Simon, Kaia Sina, Keanu Sina, Carlo Soriano, Abby Suh, Diego Tarry, Mateo Tirado, Olivia Toft, Niccolo Troccoli, Kate Wallin, Mila Wang, Alice Wang, Reese Williams, Summer Williams, Nathan Wu, Nathan Yu, Sophie Yu, Bernie Yu, and Elle Zitzman!  The team is so proud of all of you!!
Congratulations on a great meet against a high-quality Bluefin team!  We return to our home pool to host the Turtle Rock Sharks and University Hills Narwhals in our first and only tri-meet of the season on Saturday, July 20th.  See you all on deck!