NORWICH — The Norwich YMCA Dolphins swim team put on a fantastic performance at their first home meet of the season on Saturday, November 7. The now growing 45 member team dropped a collective 1 minute and 45 seconds worth of time with 32 best times achieved! This meet was also marked by many first-time swims from the growing MiniDolphins program.

“Our youngest and newest swimmers have been working very hard to get ready for their first meet. Starts, turns, finishes, freestyle and backstroke have been their main focus. Nerves were high in the beginning but the smiles at the end of the meet told the whole story, and we had a lot of proud young swimmers and parents by the end of the meet.”

Several age group teams won against the Fulton Speed Demons. These age group teams included the 9-10 Boys (Gideon Matthews, Jackson Buddenhaggen, Sebastian Beiu, Finley Rhone, and Zachary Wilkinson), 11-12 Girls (Reigan Aikins, Nora Diefenbacher, Mila Beltz, Adeline Vazquez, Kennedy Foulds, and Anna Renne Keller), and 11-12 Boys (Lawton Ferris, Joseph Anderson, and Stefen Straight).

Even more swimmers earned their way onto the State qualifying list including Gideon Matthews (200 free & 50 Breast), Adeline Vazquez (50 fly), and Dezmond Beltz (50 free) along with several swimmers adding to their events list including Reigan Aikins (100 free & 50 back), Amon Oliver (100 free), and Jackson Buddenhaggen (50 back). From the newest swimmers to the experienced veterans, the team continues to grow in depth, love, and knowledge for the sport.

“Our veteran swimmers are doing a great job of focusing on their goals, analyzing their races and communicating with the coaches on what went well and what they feel they need to improve upon in practice.”

Whether swimming for the first time in a competitive swim meet or being a seasoned swimmer deciding to do a more difficult event than they were used to, this meet proved to the swimmers that they can do hard things. This will build their confidence well into the future.

The Dolphins continue their November meet lineup with an away meet to Oneida this Saturday November 14 before the Turkey Turn Invitational on November 21.