The Ups and Downs of the 2017 Swim Season

  The 2017 swim season ended this past weekend for the Lakevale Dolphins.  Last year, the Dolphins were undefeated in Division 5.  That was a lot of fun and as a reward for their efforts, the team moved up to a new Division.......Division 3.  Now, for those of you that do not really pay attention to competitive swimming (and until moving until this neighborhood, Theresa & Joe fell into this category), this is how it works:


Division I:  Swimmers that train for the Olympics (think Katie Ledecky)
Division 2:  Swimmers that are alternates to the Olympics
Division 3:  Swimmers that are training for the junior Olympics in the hopes of getting to the Olympic Trials
Division   4:  Swimmers that will settle for a college swim scholarship
Division 5-6:  Swimmers that will get a college swim scholarship to a small school
Division 7-18:  Just have fun swimming

Anna in action

Needless to say, Division 3 swimming meant that the team was crushed at each meet this year.  It really is more fun to win...even if it is only one meet.  Alas, someone needs to lose.  The good news is, the team should drop to a lower division next year, which means hopefully the fun factor will increase.

As for Anna, she had a good season.  She was swimming in the 9-10 girls age group this year and thanks to her September birthday was the senior member of the group.  Her specialty is breast stroke, and she placed either 1st or 2nd in the meets throughout the season.  She was one of the bright spots for the team this year.  She also competed in butterfly (until she finally got the coaches to move her to backstroke) and with the medley relay team, where she also swam breast stroke.

Megan, Sarah & Anna with their intimidating body paint

Swimming is a family event.  Joe moved up the timer ranks and is a regular on the timing circuit at meets.  Theresa solidified her standing as one of the pool marshals, which basically means she gets to tell folks not to run and to be quiet at the start.  Both Joe and Theresa have found volunteer positions that give them the best vantage point to watch the meet!

In between the meets, the team did have lots of fun events throughout the season, including movie nights, pep rallies, and Anna's favorite:  the neighborhood scavenger hunt.  The scavenger hunt is a team tradition that sends the team all over the neighborhood looking for things like a VHS tape of the Little Mermaid, or a 1985 James Madison High School Yearbook, or a Barbie Dream House or a riding lawnmower (the teams must produce all items at the pool).  It is quite an event.  If you happen to be driving through the neighborhood on scavenger hunt night, you may be concerned to see packs of kids wheeling all sorts of items through the neighborhood.  It sort of looks like they are gangs of looters.

Nora, Anna & Megan preparing for the relays

After morning practices for the past 7 weeks, Anna is happy to be done with swimming for now.  When school starts, she will return to a once a week practice.  In the meantime, we all look forward to a different Division next year!