Excitement was in the air as the Dolphins earned their first Division E victory by a comfortable margin of 422 – 368 over the strong Potomac Glen Gators. Is there a better way to kick off the first summer weekend than seeing and hearing the Dolphins cheer their teammates on to victories and personal bests? Although the meet was expected to be close—the computerized projection was for a two-point victory—many Dolphins outswam their faster-seeded opposition to the delight of the home pool audience. Afterwards, the crowd of happy swimmers and Mama and Papa Dolphins enjoyed a feast of subs, chips and drinks organized by Xan Koneff. Thanks to Xan and all the other volunteers for organizing a wonderful meet. Truly a splendid summer day!!


AWESOME SWEEPS
The 11-12 boys were the sweeps leader this week with Ryan Chitwood, Alex Spigler, Bo Conaghan, Andy Lair and Andrew Wagman sweeping 1st through 5th places in free. That was 16 points for the Dolphins, zero for Potomac Glen! Ryan and Andy were joined by John Janezich for a sweep of fly. Like last week, Elizabeth Fosburgh, Elena Palermo and Madeline Alagia again swept 11-12 IM. The oldest Dolphin sweepers were the 15-18 backstrokers: Malena Lair, Danielle Schulkin, and Eleanor Gass, who outswam two much faster-seeded opponents with a strong final length in an exciting first race as a Dolphin.


PERFECT MEETS, WEEK 2
Kudos go this week to three Dolphins who won every event they swam: Elizabeth Fosburgh in IM, free, back and fly, and Callie Fosburgh and Ryan Chitwood in IM, free, breaststroke and fly.


A MEET DEBUTS
Very impressive in their A meet debuts this week were Carmen Colosi, Eleanor Gass, Isabelle Jeppsen, and Maggie MacPherson. Welcome!


ALL STAR TIMES
Ten Dolphins combined for an astounding 26 all star performances! These included Callie Fosburgh and Jackson Janezich in IM, free, breaststroke and fly; Elizabeth Fosburgh in IM, free, back and fly; Nicky Schulkin in free, breaststroke and fly; his sister Danielle Schulkin in free, backstroke and fly; Ryan Chitwood in IM, free and breaststroke; Malena Lair in free and back; Hannah Melrod and Elena Palermo in breaststroke; and Pieter Fosburgh in fly. Congratulations! Who will be next? See the Question of the Week.


NEW RECORDS
As if six records the first week were not enough, an incredible eight records were set by Dolphins this past week. Jackson Janezich started the parade by trimming 0.11 second from Willie Fitzgerald’s 2001 pool record. Jackson would later shave 0.02 second from the team fly record set by John Cox 32 years ago! Immediately after Jackson’s freestyle event, Callie Fosburgh shaved 0.05 second from her team free record set last week; this was also a new pool record, erasing the one set by Julie Duffy of Parkland in 1984. Callie’s record-setting hat trick continued with an IM performance that shattered the team record she set last week by nearly a half-second (as well as taking over a second off the pool record set by Kaitlin Mills of Potomac Woods last year); Callie’s breaststroke later knocked 1.2 seconds from the pool record set by Laura Hoopengardner of Merrimack Park in 2001. Malena Lair whacked an incredible 1.2 seconds from the team record she set only last week! This was also 1.5 seconds lower than the 1993 pool record held by Maria Costa of Inverness Forest. Proving that records can be set not only by the teenage Dolphins, Ryan Chitwood’s performance in 11-12 breaststroke broke Chris Keeling’s 1985 team record by a half-second and the pool record set by Chris Schwartz of Bannockburn in 1993 by 0.6 second. Lastly, the boys 14 & under relay team of Pieter Fosburgh, Ryan Chitwood, Jackson Janezich, and Nicky Schulkin broke the team record set last week by the same crew (except for Vincent Steis instead of Pieter) and the pool record set in 2005 by Ryan, Jackson, Matthew Tucker, and Vincent. This had to be a record-setting record-setting week!

Congratulations also go to Potomac Glen swimmer Brent Reinhardt for breaking Sam Brownell’s 1997 pool record in 13-14 backstroke by 0.13 second. We hope that one of our boys will bring it back home.


TIME DROP AWARDS
The big winner is Eleanor Gass, who dropped a remarkable 11.95 seconds in back and 4.19 in breaststroke. Second place goes to Stephen Spigler for his amazing 7.03 second drop in breaststroke. Our third place winner is John Janezich, who dropped time in all his events: over two seconds in fly and breaststroke, and over one second in back for a total time drop of 6.54 seconds. Our fourth place three-way tie goes to three swimmers who all shaved four plus seconds off their times: Kevin Wagman in free, Peter Metz in back, and Mikela McMahon in fly. Another winner in this slot in Jackson Janezich, who dropped time in all four of his events for a total time drop of 4.30 seconds. Taking fifth place is Elena Palermo, who dropped three plus seconds in her back and fly combined. A three-way tie for sixth goes to swimmers who cut two-plus seconds off their times: Anita Montero in fly, and Julia Ely and Maggie MacPherson in breaststroke. The following swimmers all took one plus seconds off their times: in free Lily Conaghan, Samantha Kline, Hanna Melrod and Max Palermo; in breaststroke Ryan Chitwood and Eliana Oechsler; in back Malena Lair; in fly Jessica Kline, and in both back and fly Elena Palermo.

Special awards go to these additional swimmers who took time off in all their events: Max Palermo shaved off time in free, back and fly, Arthur Ammeson in back and fly, Nora Kelsall in free and fly, and Hanna Melrod in free and breaststroke. Congratulations one and all for your hard work.


SWIM-UPS SHINE AGAIN
The Dolphins are always indebted to those who swim over their heads and above their age groups to earn points in lanes that would otherwise go unfilled. And what a remarkable group; they earned points in every 13-14 event entered! These overachieving swimmers include 12-year-old Sophie Koneff in free, back, and IM, 11-year-old Charlotte Jeppsen who finished third in backstroke, just touching out an opponent seeded a second faster; 11-year-old Anita Montero in fly; and 11-year-old Julia Ely, who knocked over 2.4 seconds off her breaststroke seed time to barely touch out for 4th place the Potomac Glen swimmer next to her seeded over four seconds faster. What a huge performance among other huge performances!!


COACH’S CORNER—Ramzy Suleiman
What a week!!!!!!!!!!! I can't tell you how proud I was on Saturday when we got our first win of the season and my first win ever as a head coach. I had high expectations for everybody who swam this weekend, and you all went above and beyond what I imagined. We won almost every close race and we had countless swimmers step up and move up from their seeded place. Bannockburn has proved that we belong with the best.

I also want to thank all the PARENTS for their hard work this summer. You are just as much a part of this win as all the swimmers. Kids sometimes do not realize how much preparation work the parents actually do, and I want to let you know this team would not function without your invaluable contributions. I want to especially thank the McPhersons, the Colosis, the Jeppsens, and the Gasses for getting their kids involved in their first A meet. They all swam beautifully and I am so happy to have you guys on board. Special thanks also go to Arthur Ammeson and his family for stepping up and coming to the whole meet to compete and contribute this weekend. Arthur is the man!!

On another note, the season is just getting into full swing as our next three A meets are against local rivals Old Georgetown, Merrimack, and Potomac. If we continue to work hard I am confident we can win all three of these meets!!

I also appreciate the huge turn out at last week's B meet. Thanks to everyone for an excellent job at a very productive meet with some greatly improved swims.

In other news, I would like to mention that Jessica Kline now owns Matthew Tucker. In Friday practice her 8-year-old body stuffed Matt's 16-year-old mass in a game of water polo, and Matt has now become her inferior. Tough luck Matt, but you now belong to Jessica. Also, I would like to announce that manager Willie Fitzgerald and I have divided the 8 and unders into two teams, and will begin the battle of all battles this week. We will post the lineups Wednesday and the battle of speed, strength, wits, and pure adorableness will begin. The first contest is to draw a picture of the opposing coach and bring it to practice on Thursday afternoon, and a panel of judges will decide the team with the best drawings. Best of luck Willie, but you do not stand a chance. Keep up the good work Bannockburn and get ready to whoop up on Old Georgetown this weekend.


SWIMMING TIP of the WEEK
Hydration! Water is life!!!!!!!! and it is delicious. When you train hard during the week you must hydrate before, during and after practice. Too many kids are cramping up during practice, and that is due to a lack of hydration. In addition, you must eat bananas and oranges during the day if you are cramping. Cramping is no longer an excuse because it is due to improper care of your body, and if you want to succeed as an athlete, your body is the most important thing! In addition, SODAS ARE THE DEVIL. Parents DO NOT let your children drink sodas when they are training. Sodas are pretty much 18 teaspoons of sugar, some club soda, and food coloring. That is not the drink of an athlete. Apart from the symptoms of osteoporosis, tooth decay, and caffeine addiction, sodas dehydrate your body and I do not want to see a single child drinking soda at the pool.

Also, before practice or meets, dry cereal, crackers, peanut butter, dried fruit, and apples and oranges are always a good choice. High carbohydrate meals are excellent during the week to give your body the fuel it needs to train and excel. If you would like more information on swimming nutrition please come up and talk to me.


WEATHER GODS APPROVE WEDNESDAY MEET
In contrast to the previous Wednesday night rainout, this week’s Wednesday meet with Carderock Springs was a smashing success. Wave after wave of Dolphins happy to show their stuff successfully competed in a friendly meet. Many of the Dolphins dropped a second or more from their best times. We thank the many parents who volunteered as officials, timers, and whatever. Let’s hope for equally cooperative weather at this week’s Wednesday meet.


WEEK 2 DIVISION E RESULTS: To see the full meet results go to: http://www.mcsl.org/results/2007/week2/Div_E.txt


ANSWER OF THE WEEK
Last week’s question: what 4 swimmers are less than a second away from breaking 5 Bannockburn Team Records? The answer: Nicky Schulkin in breaststroke, Danielle Schulkin in free, Jackson Janezich in fly, Ryan Chitwood in breaststroke and fly.


QUESTION OF THE WEEK
What swimmers are a second away from all-star times? (Hint: six swimmers, four girls, two boys, eight events.)


PRETEAM
Preteam practice continues to have a strong turnout, with the smallest Dolphins making huge strides in improving their strokes. Keep up the good work!


THIS WEEK’S MEETS AND FESTIVITIES
The next B meet is Wednesday, June 27 at home against our neighbors from Palisades. Please be at the pool for warm-ups at 5:00pm. We are in tremendous need for helpers at this meet: timers, card runners, you-name-it. Experience is not necessary: if your child is swimming, you should be helping in some fashion. Please fill in the lines on the sign-up sheet on the pool bulletin board. We also need volunteers to bring food; salads, snacks, desserts, and other accompaniments for the main grilling entrees. Please sign up or contact Sandy Spigler at sgspigler@aol.com for more information.

On Thursday, June 28, the Dolphins will visit Martha’s Table. For several years, the Dolphins have enjoyed a wonderful relationship with this social service organization. On Thursday, 11-and-older Dolphins will visit Martha’s Table summer camp for a fun time getting to know and playing with the 7 and 8 year old campers. Parents who are willing to drive are desperately needed; the Dolphins will depart shortly after morning practice ends (i.e., 10:30) and they will stay at Martha’s Table for a bit longer than an hour. Note that the time posted on the bulletin board is incorrect!! The time in the email sent earlier this week is also incorrect!!! The actual time for the trip is 10:30 to 1:00. We are in particular need of drivers. For further information, contact Jeanine Greene at jm.rtgreene@verizon.net.

Friday at the Movies: On Friday, June 29, the Dolphins will go to the movies to see Ratatouille at the Bethesda Regal Cinemas. The movie starts at 11:15 and the team will leave from the pool shortly after morning practice ends. As always, children 10-and-under should be accompanied by an adult.

Our next A meet is Saturday, June 30 at Old Georgetown. Warm-ups are at 8:30am. Directions are on the pool bulletin board, at the MCSL web site (www.mcsl.org) or available by email from djchit@yahoo.com.


FUTURE EVENTS
The next home A meet will be with neighborhood rivals Merrimack Park on Saturday, July 7. Don’t miss this battle for bragging rights!!!

Although not a Swim Team event, the annual Bannockburn Pool Crab Feast will be held on July 14. This is not a mere run-of-the-mill crab feast. Instead, this event features gourmet delicacies prepared by neighbors who can cook much better than this writer and probably you as well. So mark your calendars and line up your baby-sitters now! Reservations can be made at the guard desk at the pool.


WHAT IS THE RELAY CARNIVAL?
The Relay Carnival will take place on Sunday, July 9 at Potomac Glen. Warm-ups could be as early as 8:00. What’s a relay carnival? Merely the most ear-splitting, exciting meet of the year. Imagine a meet where each race is as exciting as the relays that end each A meet. The Relay Carnival includes 22 races involving four-or-five person teams swimming medley or freestyle relays. In some events, girls swim with boys; in two, 8-year-olds swim with (and against) 18-year olds. Each of the six Division E teams will field one team per event.

The Relay Carnival is truly a team event; Dolphins never swim against other Dolphins. Except for four of the races, the winners of the relay carnival races will advance to compete at the county-wide all-star relay meet July 28. This makes for quite a bit of excitement. At the same time, an absent swimmer will cause tremendous disappointment in three teammates. Therefore, parents, please check the pool bulletin board in advance of the Relay Carnival to indicate whether your swimmer will be there. (And also check the pool directions; yes, we have had lost swimmers before.) And be prepared to cheer!


PARENT NOTES & REMINDERS

1. Because no-shows can dearly cost a team during meets, this first section is reprinted from last week’s Dolphin Times.

a. A list of all swimmers for the Wednesday meets will be on the bulletin board by noon each Tuesday.

b. A list of all swimmers for the Saturday meets will be on the bulletin board by 4pm each Thursday.

c. The coaches ask that all parents check the lineups and initial after their swimmer(s) if s/he is coming to the meet OR cross the name of their swimmer(s) off the list if s/he is not able to attend. For the Saturday meet, this must be done by the end of practice on Thursday as the lineup must be submitted Friday morning.

d. There is currently a list of all swimmers and dates of the A meets on the bulletin board. Parents, please take the time to indicate the meets your child will NOT be able to attend.

2. Please read the parent checklist posted on the bulletin board or available by email from djchit@yahoo.com.

3. We are in desperate need of drinks to sell at meets and to hydrate our swimmers with. Please bring your case of sports drink, water, or frappucino (we can dream, can’t we?) to the pool, preferably before Wednesday’s B meet. We do not need juices but we do need sodas to sell at the meets (but not to Dolphin swimmers!).


Happy swimming!!