2025 Meet #4: South Irvine Dolphins & Deerfield Bluefins @ Woodbridge Tritons

Meet Report: Meet # 4 – South Irvine Dolphins & Deerfield Bluefins @ Woodbridge Tritons

Date: July 19th, 2025

By: Nate Williams, Co-President

On Saturday, July 19th, the South Irvine Dolphins went on the road again to take on two other teams in their first and only tri-meet of the season: the migrating Deerfield Bluefins and the host Woodbridge Tritons at the “Dub Tub”!  This wasn’t just any tri-meet.  It was a demonstration of the speed and agility of two of the ocean’s most formidable creatures swimming alongside the Greek mythological demigods of the sea!  The Bluefins (which can weigh up to 2,000 pounds and swim as fast as 40 mph) were not to be taken lightly.  The Tritons are well known as mighty and fierce sea warriors.  The nearly 300 swimmers competing from the three teams gave the “Dub Tub” all it could handle!  Today was the day that was to be remembered as the legendary competition between three great swim teams.  The Bluefins and Tritons were both arguably the strongest teams this Dolphins pod has faced yet.  Soon after the swim meet began, a newfound, mutual respect blossomed between the Dolphins, Bluefins, and Tritons.  They realized that each creature 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 again proved to be successful in the face of adversity.  This meet was filled with exciting swims and a huge number of time improvements!

A few of the highlights from the meet:

1. Our youngest Dolphin calves, Simon Xie, Penelope Nguyen, Levi Kahn, and Shaily Bassiri got the Dolphins off to a hot start by winning the Mixed 5-6 100 Medley Relay.  Way to go, kids!
2. Clara Chen improved in all three events that she swam, including dropping nearly 6 seconds in the Girls 9-10 50 Back!  Way to go, Clara!
3. Coach William Choi shaved off time in all three of his events.  Great work, Coach!
4. Katherine Chow had a hat trick of her own, dropping time and winning each of her three events: the Girls 9-10 50 Fly, 50 Back, and 50 Free!  Wow, Katherine!
5. Cassius Espiritu continued to make progress, dropping time in all three of the events he swam while earning new ISLQ times in the Boys 9-10 50 Back and 100 IM.  Amazing job, Cassius!
6. Joshua Lerner improved his time in all three of his events including a nearly 3 second time drop in the Boys 9-10 50 Free!  Way to go, Joshua!
7. Dominic Liu improved in all three events while making an ISLQ time in the Boys 11-12 50 Back!  Nice work, Dominic!
8. Coach Shana Riazi put her coaching into action by dropping time in each of the three events she swam!  Excellent job, Coach!
9. Aaban Tehrani had massive time improvements in the three events that he competed in, including a nearly 6 second time drop in the Boys 7-8 25 Fly!  Keep it up, Aaban!
10. Ava Craver dropped time in the Girls 9-10 50 Breast and 50 Free while earning ISL Champs Qualifying (ISLQ) times in those same events!  Great job, Ava!
11. Coach Eric Wang saw time improvements in all three of the events he swam!  Way to show your stuff, Eric!
12. Kyle Wang dropped time in each of his three events and did it in style by winning the Boys 11-12 100 IM!  Excellent swims, Kyle!
13. Skylar Yeh showcased nice time improvements in each of her three events, including a nearly 5 second time drop in the Girls 13-14 100 IM!  Great job, Skylar!
14. Ben Yang made his season debut by winning all three individual events he swam: the Boys 13-14 100 IM, 50 Breast, and 50 Free!   Where did this dude come from!?  Way to go, Ben!
15. Our young Dolphin calves, Noah Mobasseri, Arsha Bassiri, Ari Mobasseri, and Summer Williams finished off the meet in style by winning the Mixed 7-8 100 Free Relay!  Way to go!

Congratulations to all the swimmers who saw time improvements in their swims!

Our rate of disqualifications (DQ’s) at this meet was extremely low 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: Bryce Alpert, Brice Banga, Pasha Bassiri, Arsha Bassiri, Shaily Bassiri, Emmie Brandes, Clara Chen, Drew Chen, Joel Chen, Jonathan Choi, William Choi, Brayden Chow, Katherine Chow, Ava Craver, Ella Diba, Ryan Diba, Oliviia Efimenko, Callahan Espiritu, Cassius Espiritu, Felipe Falleiros Friggi, Amelia Henderson, Lachlan Henderson, David Hwang, Ayla Jalili, Amemia Kahn, Noelle Kim, Iyla Kissinger, George Knox-Vega, Ashley Kwan, Sebastian Ladjevardi, Mia Lee, Bear Lee, Jojo Lee, Joshua Lerner, Dominic Liu, Bryce Morales, Marcus Nguyen, Olivia Nguyen, Penelope Nguyen, Liam Putterman, Shana Riazi, Julian Salazar, Matin Shakernia, Mia Shakernia, Sienna Shefer, Noah Shmurak, Riley Simon, Carlo Soriano, Abby Suh, Isaiah Suh, Diego Tarry, Aaban Tehrani, Marco Pablo Tirado, Ava Toft, Olivia Toft, Caprie Troccoli, Niccolo Troccoli, Eric Wang, Kyle Wang, Reese Williams, Summer Williams, Izzy Wolf, Becca Wolf, Nathan Wu, Simon Xie, Skylar Yeh, Bernie Yu, and Sophie Yu!  Wow, just wow!

Congratulations on a great tri-meet against the Bluefins and Tritons!  The Dolphins return to their home pool to host the Heritage Park Seals in their fifth and final dual meet of the season on Saturday, July 26th.  See you all on deck!

Nate