The Illinois Valley YMCA Dolphin swim team took 26 swimmers to the IL YMCA state swim meet March 8th-10th, 2024 at Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana. Due to a reorganization of Large and Small teams at the state level, the ILVY Dolphins are Small Team State Champions!  

Contributing to the success were the 14u Girls being named Small Team Champions for their age group.  Sam Nauman led the girls with a 3rd place finish in the 200 freestyle, 4th place finishes in the 500 freestyle, 100 backstroke, and 200 IM, and 5th place finish in the 21u 200 backstroke.  The 14u girls 200 Yard Medley Relay team consisting of Sam Nauman, Emma Short, Emily Lowery, and Anna Weitl placed 7th overall.  The 14u Girls 200 Yard Freestyle Relay team consisting of Sam Nauman, Anna Weitl, Emma Short, and Emily Lowery, placed 3rd overall.

The ILVY Dolphins also placed 2nd for Boys’ Small Team and 2nd for Girls’ Small team overall. James Lowery, 10, placed 3rd in the Boys 10u 50 Freestyle and 100 Freestyle, 4th in the Boys 10u 200 IM, and 5th in the 10u Boys 100 IM and 50 Butterfly.  Nathan Cheney placed 6th overall for the Boys 8u 25 Yard Breaststroke, and the Boys 12u 200 Freestyle relay consisting of James Lowery, Adrian Hermosillo, Sib Buffo, and Patrick Short placed 10th overall.

    Morgan Dowacter led the 8u girls with an 8th place finish in the Girls 8u 25 Yard Freestyle.  Gwen Nelson led the 12u girls finishing 3rd in the 500 Yard Freestyle, 4th in the 200 Yard Freestyle, 6h in the 50 Yard Butterfly, and 9th in the 100 Yard Butterfly.  Gwen also helped the 12u girls place 8th in both the 200 Medley Relay and 200 Freestyle relay.  The team consisted of Claire Lowery, London Jones, Gwen Nelson, and Chloe Short. The Girls 8u 100 Freestyle Relay consisting of Morgan Dowacter, Ellie Sester, Reese Carney, and Brinkley Baker placed 13th overall.

Overall, the ILVY Dolphins had  31 top ten individual finishes. ILVY finished with 5 relays in the top 10.  We had one team record broken.  Chris Lowery broke the ILVY Dolphins 21u Boys 200 Breaststroke record with a time of 2:12.47 and qualified for Y Nationals.