Hello Dolphins!

This is a long email packed with information! Since we have a meet and a half this week, we wanted to go ahead and share some important meet reminders first.

Name on Swimmers' Backs: Please remember to put your swimmer’s first name on their back. We need our older kids to do this too! This is for the benefit of the swimmers so their times are recorded correctly. The past two meets, several swimmers raced in the incorrect heat. Fortunately, experienced timers and team managers stepped in to make sure the swimmers’ correct times were recorded. Our volunteer timers, officials and parent working bullpen and staging appreciate all swimmers having their names easily visible.

Keep Swimmers Away from Edge of Pool: In the past two meets, we’ve had several instances of younger swimmers sitting near the edge of the pool and even placing their hands/feet in the pool during the meet. League rules state that officials can disqualify the swimmers competing in the water if other swimmers or spectators are a distraction at the edge of the pool. Please help us keep non-competing swimmers away from the pool edge during meets.

EXTRA FUN FRIDAY

Despite not completing Thursday’s meet, we had an extra fun-filled Fun Friday! NCAA Champion and Hanarry West record holder Abby McCulloh talked with the swimmers and parents and answered questions in a large group … and then stayed around and chatted with swimmers for the rest of the morning. She talked about beginning summer swim league at age 8 and fondly remembers hanging out with friends in cars during rain delays! She talked about the importance of being a good teammate and told the swimmers her favorite pre-meet snack was a PB&J sandwich and post-meet snack fried chicken.

Two team records were broken Thursday night before the rain delay – Ansley Olojo in the 8U girls 25 backstroke and Alex van Maanen, Grant Fennell, Theo Channavong, and Isaac Wold in the boys 12U medley relay. And congratulations to our Swimmers of the week: Griffin Cornwell, Maddie Leonard, Kennedy Turner, Mikey Hillyard, Ellie Hanik and Logan Mercer.

THIRD MEET: Woods of Parkview Continuation

There is no evening practice Monday, but instead, our coaches and many of our swimmers are headed back to Woods of Parkview for a continuation of our third meet. Since this meet is abbreviated, we do not expect there will be Concessions. Parking and spectator seating should be much easier/less crowded, but please abided by parking rules and be respectful of neighbors. If any parents are not scheduled to volunteer Monday but are willing to help out as officials or timers, our friends at Woods of Parkview may need a few empty slots filled – we know hosting a meet twice is a lot of work and want to help them as much as we can.

Monday, June 16
Woods of Parkview Meet Continuation

6:45 p.m. – Arrival (Please do not arrive early, as we are trying to be respectful of Parkview’s team, HOA and neighbors.)
7:15 p.m. – HW Warm-ups
7:30 p.m. – Meet begins with Event 31 Heat 3
9 p.m. – We are hopeful that without weather delays, the meet will conclude – all individual events (no relays).

FOURTH MEET: Waterton

In our fourth meet and final home meet, we are welcoming the Waterton Waverunners to Hanarry West. Last season, we swam at Waterton in a close meet. The Waverunners’ team is similar in size to the Dolphins, and the new Gwinnett Swim League president (a volunteer position) Gio de la Pena is part of Waterton. Coach Brown will send out the heat sheet and additional details – but a reminder that warmups begin at 5 p.m. on Thursday. Concessions will also open at 5 p.m. (a great menu is attached). Please do not arrive before 4:30 p.m. as we are still prepping the pool deck and please reserve the front row of the shallow end for team leadership who are involved in making sure the meet runs smoothly.

This week the national anthem will be sung by Hanarry West swimmer Jessica Rodrigo.

Senior Night

At Thursday’s meet we’ll be celebrating our team’s seven seniors with decorations and a special recognition during their final swims (the Free Relay).

Emily Atkins: A graduate of Parkview High School, Emily has been a member of the Hanarry West swim team since she was 8 years old and holds several team records. She was a four-year letterman on the Parkview swim & dive team and is headed to Georgia Southern University as a business management major.

Porter Berryman: A graduate of Parkview High School, Porter set the school’s all-time strikeout record as a member of the Panther baseball team. Porter is headed to Brown University where he’ll be a member of the college’s baseball team.

Isabella De Leon: A graduate of Parkview High School, Isabella was a 4-year letterman on the Panther swim team, making the high school state championship all four years. She was also a member of the Parkview orchestra, playing viola. Isabella is headed to Augusta University as a pre-med major.

Kevin Kruger: A graduate of Parkview High School, Kevin was a member of the swim & dive team, Odyssey of Mind team and marching band. He’s been on the Hanarry West swim team since he was 4 years old. Kevin will be attending Georgia College and State University as an environmental science major.

Aiden Malkoc: A graduate of Discovery High School, Aiden was a member of his high school swim team. Aiden is taking a gap year after graduation to work full-time as a lifeguard.

Ayden Raffield: A graduate of Parkview High School, Ayden was a four-year letterman on both the Panthers’ cross country and swim & dive teams. He recently earned the honor of Eagle Scout with local Troop 504. He will be attending the University of Georgia.

Brooke Saye: A graduate of Parkview High School, Brooke was a 4-year letterman on the Panther tennis team. Brooke is headed to Georgia Southern University

END OF SEASON

Gifts for Coaches – Every season we are thankful for our wonderful coaches, and this season is no different. If your family would like to contribute to a group cash gift for our coaches, please send in your contribution by the end of day next Tuesday, June 23. You can label your gift to: “Coach Brown,” “Coach Ethan” or “Assistant Coaches”. If you want your gift split among all coaches, you can leave it blank or say “coaches.”

Contribute:
1) Venmo: Donate through our team Venmo account (HW-Dolphins)
2) Cash: Please give cash in a labeled envelope to Team Managers Patricia Heys or Christina van Maanen or Team Treasurer Shayna Olojo

Team Store Sales – As our season winds down, we wanted to offer a few Hanarry

West spirit items for sale. These items will be for sale at both this week’s home meet (from 5-6:30 p.m.) and during the first half of our End of Season Celebration. We’ll have bag tags, can coozies, car magnets and a limited number of framed backstroke flags! These flags hung above the pool for many years are labeled with lane numbers or the letters spelling “Dolphins”. Once they are sold ($50 each) they are gone. All proceeds from sales benefit the swim team.

County Celebration – For Dolphin swimmers who qualify for the County Meet in July, we’ll have a celebration at the Hanarry West on Thursday, July 10 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with treats and a fun swim. Please go ahead and mark your calendar. More info to come.

FUN FRIDAY

This week’s Fun Friday theme is “Float Away” and swimmers are invited to bring their own float to the fun swim. Donuts will be served! A huge thank you to Stars and Pipes Plumbing for sponsoring two of our season’s Fun Fridays! Please give this local business a call for your plumbing needs.