The Haines Dolphins swim team held their first time trial of the year on Saturday. Eighteen swimmers competed and as many volunteers showed up at the Haines Pool to make the event possible. Results were submitted to the USA Swimming database, where the athletes can compare their times to swimmers across the country.
While many sought refuge from the rain over the weekend, the Haines Dolphins Swim Team let the wet times roll. It was all smiles at the post-race party, where a conga line of volunteers carried warm pizzas up the access ramp to hungry swimmers emerging from the locker rooms.
While the Haines Dolphins Swim Team started in 1997, Saturday was the first time trial ever for Joe Miller, Raevyn Parker, Azeo Walsh, Rellian Forster, Quim Montoliu Prio, and Dames Gregg. Hopped up on endorphins, several of the young swimmers happily took my microphone and interviewed each other, and anyone willing to be ambushed.
Kid reporter said, “What races did you do?”
Kid answered, “150 backstroke. And 50 freestyle.”
Kid reporter said, “We’re you happy with how you did?”
Kid answered, “Yeah. Yeah boy.”
Kid reporters said, “What did you like from this race?
Ambushed adult answered, “I liked the taste of the water.”
Around thirty kids make up the Dolphin’s roster. Their season runs from late-August through April. Ages range from high school age to as young as five. If a five-year-old can swim across the pool, then they are welcome to join the team.
Head Coach Sydney Wray started swimming young, and she still swims competitively. She travels for master’s competitions and is coached by the same person who coached her when she was the age of many of her Dolphins. This is her third season as head coach.
Wray said, “So this is USA Swimming. It’s a club team. And that just means that the governing body of the Haines Dolphin Swim team is USA Swimming. So when the kids come here and they swim at a time trial, their times get recorded in a database. And they get to watch as they get older. They get to watch themselves improve, and we have a metric for how well they’re doing.”
Coordinating a time trial is a large endeavor and the Dolphins cast a wide net across the community to fill the dozens of volunteers it requires. For the first time trial of the season, pool staff, parents and board members braved torrential rain at 9a.m. on Saturday to help, many of them using the event as training to become timers and officials.
The officials at Sunday’s time trial are a lot the same officials who conduct high school meets. Haines High School had a swim team last year, but doesn’t have the numbers to field a team this year. The Dolphins fill the void, and Wray tries to match the high school competition calendar with time trials, to keep the team motivated.
Wray said, “We got a lot of young kids. And hopefully they stay excited about swimming and want to keep doing it. And the best way that I know how to do that is for them to see how much better they’re getting. That the next time they’re at a time trial, they see their times and they’re having fun with their friends and they’re also improving and getting better.”
The Dolphins travel to Juneau for the Southeast Championships the first weekend in April. The team will hold more time trials to prepare, and on March 9th they will hold a Swimboree Fundraiser. Board member Jessica Edwards explained the upcoming event.
Edwards said, “The Swimboree is a type of fundraiser that is done in clubs all across the country to raise money. It is basically an opportunity for the swimmers to go around and get pledges from family and friends and community supporters. And then we have a Swimboree event where the swimmers will perform a number of lengths of the pool that they set out when they start their fundraising..”
Swimmers will have two hours to see how many pool lengths they can finish. Anyone interested can sponsor a swimmer with a flat donation, or can pledge to sponsor each length completed. Fiscal responsibility is advised. Some Dolphins can swim upwards of 200 lengths.
Donations can be made visiting hainesdolphins.org and clicking Donate. Each swimmer has their own profile, where sponsors can donate directly to each athlete online. The team’s goal is $10,000. Money raised will stay in Haines, to fund swim team essentials like pool rental and coach salaries.
