This weekend, members of the Dolphins swim team from the West Seattle Y (WSB sponsor) are likely still savoring their successes from last weekend’s Northwest Regional YMCA meet in Boise. One team member even qualified for nationals, according to the swim-team parent who shares the photo (from the pre-meet team dinner) and report. And if someone in your family is interested in competitive swimming, there’s contact info in the story too. Dive in!

The West Seattle YMCA Dolphins swim team just returned from a weekend trip to Boise, where they competed in the YMCA North Regional Championships. The Regional Championships is the culminating meet for most swimmers on the team during the short course season (September – March). The team had 15 swimmers attend along with families and two coaches, Kyle and Ben. The WSY placed 8th out of 23 total teams in attendance and also placed 3rd in points per swimmer (total points/number of swimmers).

All swimmers dropped time in their events. Andrew Woodworth dropped 5 seconds in his 100-yard breaststroke. Anne Williamson dropped 4 seconds in her 50-yard breaststroke. Maya DeGasperi broke 3:00 in her 200-yard breaststroke, a big milestone for any swimmer. Angelica Gil dropped 5 seconds from her seed time in the 200-yard freestyle and moved up places from where she was seeded. David Danichik went from a 2:19 down to a 2:14 in his 200-yard freestyle and also anchored the boys 13-14 200-yard medley relay. Jeffrey Kasahara swam the 50-yard breaststroke in 31.82 seconds to win his event and also led off the boys 13-14 200 yard medley relay that won the title. Andrew Khim, also part of the boys’ 13-14 200 medley relay, went 1:02.92 in the 100-yard butterfly and also won his event. Darla Long led off the girls 13-14 200-yard medley relay that took first place in the event; she also went a best time in the 100-yard freestyle. Rose Morgan, also part of the champion 200 medley relay, swam the 1,650-yard freestyle for the first time and did great. Kara Russell had great swims in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle and had personal bests in both races. Theresa Tran had best times in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard Individual Medley and swam butterfly in the champion 200-yard medley relay. Chelsea Villanueva swam breaststroke in the title-winning girls’ 200 medley relay and had a best time in her 200-yard backstroke. Elizabeth Yamashita had best times in the 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard breaststroke, and 50-yard butterfly.

A swimming career achievement worth noting this weekend was Karen Woodworth dropping over 5 seconds in her 200-yard breaststroke to qualify for Speedo Champions Series and YMCA Nationals. Karen will be making the trip to YMCA nationals in North Carolina at the beginning of April.

Another career achievement attained this weekend came from Anthony Tran. Anthony won three individual events and contributed to a winning relay team on his way to winning high point for the 11-12 year-old boys’ age group. Anthony is also ranked in the top 20 in the nation for all 12 year old boys in many of his events and top 200 in many others. Anthony will be swimming at Northwest Age Group Regionals, the fastest meet for swimmers 14 and under in Pacific Northwest Swimming, where he is currently ranked 1st overall in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Next up for the team is the Long Course swimming season, which runs April – July.

If you would like to join the fun of swimming on the WSY swim team, get to know the other swimming families in your community, and learn about the world of competitive swimming, please don’t hesitate to contact Kyle Homad (khomad@seattleymca.org, 206-295-5058) or Ben Tang (tang.benjaminm@gmail.com, 206-407-4690).