The Haines Dolphins swim team began its season last Wednesday with an eager group of kids.

Longtime assistant coach Jim Green said the 46 kids who turned out this year, including one 4-year-old who will not formally compete, are the “biggest group in the past four to five years.”

For anyone who has been in the Haines swimming facility, it would be easy to think that such a large turnout would be hard to manage. However, first year coach Erin Pratt and assistants Jim Green, K.C. O’Connor and Jackie St. Clair appear to have things well in hand.

As individuals hit the pool at practice, encouragement rains down from those still waiting their turn and the enthusiasm on the kids’ faces is exhilarating. Shouts of “You can do it!” and “Come on, you got it!” fill the space.

Pratt, who hails from Juneau and swam for the Glacier Swim Club in high school, said, “It would be really awesome if we could bring a big group to the Southeast Championships in Juneau or even to the Age Group Championships in Fairbanks because that’s a statewide meet. But I’m still learning where everyone is at (with regard to skill level).”

Lydia Andriesen, an eighth-grader who has been swimming for the Dolphins since kindergarten, said she hopes to improve her time in the 200-meter individual medley. “It is a lifetime skill that you are going to keep with you for your entire life,” she said. “You don’t notice that you sweat.”

Fifth-grader Leo Wald and fourth-graders Ariel Long and Lucia Chapell said they enjoy going to the meets, improving their skill levels and hanging out with their teammates.

The Dolphins’ upcoming meets this year are the Ryan Downing Swim Meet in Whitehorse on Nov. 4; the November Rain Meet in Petersburg on Nov. 11-13; the Southeast Championships on Dec. 2-4 in Juneau; the Winter Games North in Haines on Jan. 20-21; the Spring Southeast Championships in Ketchikan on March 31-April 2; and the Whitehorse Spring Meet May 5-6.

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