2024 Meet #5: Turtle Rock Sharks & University Hills Narwhals @ South Irvine Dolphins

Joe Lee
Meet Report: Meet # 5 – Turtle Rock Sharks vs. University Hills Narwhals vs. South Irvine Dolphins
Date: July 20th, 2024
By: Nate Williams, Dolphin Parent 4 Life
 
On Saturday, July 20th, the South Irvine Dolphins returned to their home pool to host two teams in our first ever tri-meet: the neighboring rival Turtle Rock Sharks and University Hills Narwhals!  Having faced off against them earlier this season, this frenzy of Sharks was already a familiar foe to our pod of Dolphins.  The Narwhals on the other hand, were a mysterious and mystical pod of creatures that the Dolphins had not yet encountered.  With their spiraled and unicorn-like tusks that can grow up to 10 feet long, the Narwhals were like nothing these Dolphins have challenged before.  With each sea creature boasting its prowess in speed and agility, this was a tri-meet for the ages.  The nearly 300 total swimmers competing from the three teams gave the University High School Pool all it could handle!  Soon after the swim meet began, a newfound, mutual respect blossomed between the Dolphins, Sharks, and Narwhals. They realized that each species possessed unique strengths and abilities, and that true competition was not just about winning but also about embracing the spirit of camaraderie and sportsmanship.  The Dolphins, with their biggest showing yet (109 total swimmers!) again proved to be successful in the face of adversity.  This meet was filled with exciting swims, a huge number of time improvements, and more broken records!
A few of the highlights from the meet:
  1. Arsha Bassiri improved in all three events that he swam, including dropping nearly 7 seconds in the Boys 5-6 25 Fly to achieve a new ISL Champs Qualifying time in that event!  Way to go, Arsha!
  2. Nicolas Tsai dropped time in all three of his events, including improving by over 2 seconds in the Boys 13-14 50 Breast to record a new ISL Champs Qualifying time!  Great work, Nicolas!
  3. Ryan Lee dropped time in all three of his events to qualify for ISL Champs in the Men’s 15-18 50 Fly, 50 Back, and 50 Free!  Amazing job, Ryan!
  4. Isla Henderson won the Girls 5-6 25 Backstroke with a record-breaking swim!  Isla’s time of 22.97 seconds broke the previous record of 23.92 seconds that had stood since 1998!  A historic swim indeed, Isla!
  5. Niknaz Hashemipour improved in all three events that she swam and achieved new ISL Champs Qualifying times in the Girls 11-12 100 IM and 50 Free!  Keep it up, Niknaz!
  6. Katherine Chow dropped time in two of her events, including a record-breaking swim in the Girls 7-8 25 Free!  Katherine’s time of 15.31 seconds in the freestyle event edged her record of 15.40 seconds that she had set earlier this season!  Way to go, Katherine!
  7. Our youngest Dolphin calves finished off the meet in style by winning the Mixed 5-6 100 Free Relay in record-breaking fashion.  The relay team comprised of Alex Chen, Isla Henderson, Arsha Bassiri, and Ari Mobasseri recorded a time of 1:25.75 to shatter the record time of 1:27.94 that was set in 2023 by Bryce Alpert, Isla Henderson, Summer Williams, and Noah Mobasseri.  Way to go, young Dolphin calves!
  8. Notable time improvements were recorded by several Dolphins.  The following ladies dropped time in all three of the individual events they swam: Niknaz Hashemipour in the Girls 11-12 100 IM, 50 Breast, and 50 Free!  Mila Moaven dropped time in the Girls 9-10 50 Back, 50 Breast, and 50 Free!  Sienna Shefer recorded time improvements in the Girls 9-10 50 Fly, 50 Breast, and 50 Free!  Reese Williams shaved off time in the Girls 11-12 50 Back, 50 Breast, and 50 Free!  Way to go, ladies!
  9. A large pod of Dolphin gentlemen dropped time in all three of their events: Arsha Bassiri in the Boys 5-6 25 Fly, 25 Back, and 25 Free!  EG Goltz bettered his time in the Boys 9-10 50 Back, 50 Breast, and 50 Free!  Bear Lee had time drops in the Men’s 15-18 50 Fly, 100 IM, and 50 Free!  Ryan Lee improved in the Men’s 15-18 50 Fly, 50 Back, and 50 Free!  Noah Li shaved off time in the Boys 7-8 25 Fly, 25 Breast, and 25 Free!  Carl Liu dropped time in the Boys 13-14 50 Back, 50 Breast, and 50 Free!  Carlo Soriano had time drops in the Boys 9-10 50 Fly, 50 Back, and 50 Free!  Diego Tarry shaved off more time in the Men’s 15-18 50 Back, 100 IM, and 50 Breast!  Nicolas Tsai had a hat trick of time improvements in the Boys 13-14 50 Fly, 50 Breast, and 50 Free!  Eric Wang dropped time in the Boys 13-14 50 Fly, 50 Breast, and 50 Free!  Kyle Wang slashed more time off in the Boys 11-12 50 Fly, 50 Breast, and 50 Free!  Keep it going, gentlemen!
Congratulations to all the swimmers who saw time improvements in their swims!
Our rate of disqualifications (DQ’s) at this meet was 9%, which is a low percentage and a direct result of all the hard work we have been putting in at practice.  For the small percentage of swimmers who had disqualifications, 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, Sai Bhargava, Emma Blanco, Helena Blanco, Lara Blanco, Shaan Chenam, Jonathan Choi, William Choi, Brayden Chow, Katherine Chow, Antoinette Clancy, Emmett Clancy, Madeline Clancy, Ryan Diba, Callahan Espiritu, Cassius Espiritu, Kynsley Espiritu, Halle Ewing, Ava Fahim, London Foster, Gia Fournier, Kareem Gendy, EG Goltz, Niknaz Hashemipour, Amelia Henderson, David Hwang, Ayla Jalili, Ella Jalili, Amemia Kahn, Levi Kahn, Milan Kaprealian, Sienna Kaprealian, Bear Lee, Edward Lee, Noah Lee, Ryan Lee, Max Leong, Joshua Lerner, Noah Li, Max Lin, William Lin, Carina Lin, Claire Liu, Dominic Liu, Carl Liu, Mila Moaven, Noah Mobasseri, Bryce Morales, Arlan O’Byrne, Awnan O’Byrne, Liam Putterman, Shana Riazi Esfahani, Julia Shabanie, Mark Shabanie, Nikan Shahrokhi, Mila Shakernia, Blake Shefer, Sienna Shefer, Avi Shmurak, Noah Shmurak, Riley Simon, Taylor Simon, Kaia Sina, Carlo Soriano, Abby Suh, Isaiah Suh, Diego Tarry, Aaban Tehrani, Darya Tehrani, Mateo Tirado, Olivia Toft, Nicolas Tsai, Kate Wallin, Eric Wang, Kyle Wang, Mila Wang, Alice Wang, Thomas Wen, Reese Williams, Summer Williams, Sophie Yu, Bernie Yu, and Elle Zitzman!  Wow, just wow!
Congratulations on a great tri-meet against the Sharks and Narwhals!  Our next swim meet is the Irvine Swim League (ISL) Championships at Woollett Aquatics Center on Saturday, August 3rd.  See you all on deck!