November/December 2017 Dolphin Newsletter

Hello dolphin families! I hope this finds you and yours well.

Welcome to the first issue of the Dolphin Newsletter!! This is a fun new way of keeping everyone informed on what's going on with the team. We will put out a new issue every other month and inside you will find current meet details, letters from coaches, fitness and nutrition tips, hacks on swim team life, etc. And please check out our sponsors... and return the favor by supporting them like they support us. This month, we have an opportunity for your family or business to become a sponsor by helping us purchase our blocks. Yes, that’s right, it's actually happening... we’re doing the final push to get our blocks in before the 2018 season. Check out Coach Greg's letter below for all the juicy details. Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy the very first Dolphin newsletter!

— Michele Hoffman, Board President

FROM COACH GREG

I get to talk about both the past and the future today, and I am already getting excited about getting the new season kicked off. 

In the recent past, we had a great showing at Meet of Champs to wrap up the season. We took the biggest team that we have ever taken — 25 swimmers — and all that swam did a great job. When all was said and done, we took 3rd place in the small team division for the second time in three years. 

The Dolphins took one High Point trophy with Josh Hoffman in the 11-12 boys (despite an equipment malfunction) and a new MOC record in the 15-18 girls by a very determined Melody Kohler. Those making finals were Cassidy Barry, Jacob Bote, Jackson Chigbrow, Jacob Chigbrow, Brent Daniel, Cooper Heydon, Josh Hoffman, Lydia Kohler, Melody Kohler, Keven Sahs, Megan Seifert, and Hope Sperber. Other Dolphins participating were Sevi Bagias, Mia Cottingim, Remington Garbarini, Jordan Hamamoto, Camilla Herman, Robin Herman, Ben Hoffman, Ruth Lowery, Tyson Lazano, Blake Pentecost, Romani Trejo and Kendal Winston.

For the first time I can remember we had a 6-under relay of Sevi Bagias, Jacob Bote, Remington Garbarini and Hope Sperber. The 15-18 girls team of Melody Kohler, Lydia Kohler, Kendal Winston and Cassidy Barry took 5th in the medley relay and 3rd in the free relay. 

It was a big fun group and a great experience for everyone who participated. My hope is to keep building on those numbers and start being competitive in the Big Team division.

My other exciting news is something that we all have been waiting for. We are very close to finalizing an order for…wait for it… STARTING BLOCKS. Janine and I met with a rep from Lincoln Pool Equipment and have made a decision on what we are going to go with (right).

This is the final push to something I know has been years in the making. We’re very close to our fundraising goal but there is still some more to raise. Here is where we need your help. Any sponsorship level your family or business can help out with will be acknowledged in a very special way at the club, on our website, and in this newsletter. Sponsorship opportunities can be found on the back page of the newsletter. We hope you can help us get to our goal and join me as we send the team off these brand new blocks for the 2018 season!

Stay tuned. 

FROM COACH JANINE

2017 Championships were nothing short of amazing!

Champs are always the highlight of the summer swim season and the culmination of all of the hard work the swimmers put in — and it is A LOT of hard work. From the first to the last days of practice, our focus is always to perfect our swims so at champs we can swim our best. That is why everything is important in our relatively short summer swim season — the practices, time trials, the dual meets and yes... even those pesky DQ slips are important. The excitement throughout the weekend is energizing and it really fuels each swimmer to do their best. Each year a handful of swimmers surprise us and we never know who these swimmers will be. I would love to highlight all of the great swims, but the list is far too long and I only have a paragraph! If you haven’t taken the opportunity to experience champs, we encourage you to try it out. From the coach’s standpoint championships isn’t about winning (but we do love it), it is about giving the swimmers one more opportunity to to reach their goals. It also allows us to evaluate their progress for the duration of the season and helps group swimmers going into the next season. Thank you to all for making it an exciting and fulfilling weekend and I can’t wait for next year. We will have the dates in the next newsletter to help you plan your summer accordingly!

FROM COACH EMILY L.

The Del Norte Dolphins, pairing up with Sacramento’s Parkway Dolphins as Sacramento Aquatics Club, have gone into the 2017-2018 fall swim season with a lot of energy! Enrollment for fall was the largest yet and our four-day-a-week practices are often very full and productive. We are pleased to have coaches Emily L., Greg, Janine, Teresa, Joe, Emily C., Jimica, Lydia and Cassidy on deck to guide our swimmers. Fall focus is slightly different from summer, as we focus a lot on distance with our 8 and overs. We are encouraging our USA registered swimmers to swim longer distances (100s, 200s & 500s) at the meets we attend. Many of our swimmers have already stepped up to this challenge at our first USA meet hosted by CCA! We had 8 year olds swimming the 100 and 200 freestyle and IM, 10 year olds jumping all over the 200 freestyle and 100 fly and our 12 and overs tackling the 200 IM, 200 backstroke, 500 freestyle and other long-distance events. We came away from the CCA meet with many of our swimmers in the top 5 overall and all of our swimmers representing our team well! 

We are looking forward to further development and watching our USA swimmers drop even more time at our next 4 meets this season. We are also excited to watch as our newer swimmers improve their technique and gain further knowledge, skill and love of swimming!

If you are interested in fall/winter swim, please email Coach Teresa at [email protected] (we currently have a waitlist you can place your swimmer on).

SPONSOR OUR NEW BLOCKS!

Click here for more information, and thank you for your consideration!