The Haines Dolphins Swim team held a time trial this weekend, their final event as a team this season after interruptions in ferry service forced a meet with Juneau to be canceled.
Despite the canceled meet, Dolphins head coach Sidney Wray said 30 swimmers from ages 7 to 15 participated in 130 swims and earned 113 personal best times.
“That’s very good,” Wray said. “A lot of the swimmers got to swim events that they never swam before.”
Spinners Archie Dunbar, 7, and Tyson Combs, 7, both swam the 50-free and both earned best times in the 25-free event. Sydney Wray,7, also earned a best time in the 25-free. Lucia Chapel and McConnel Robinson earned a spot in the Junior Olympics and Robinson swam the mile for the first time, a tough event, Wray said. Junior Olympics will take place in April and a few other Dolphins will swim next month at Southeast Champs in Juneau.
Wray said she hopes the athletes will have the opportunity to travel and participate in more meets next year if the pandemic recedes.
“I want to travel,” Combs exclaimed on Tuesday.
Wray said despite the lack of competition with other teams, the swimmers made the best of it and improved throughout the season.
“It’s a really hard sport,” Wray said. “It requires a lot of mental toughness and focus. I could not be happier with the level of improvement I’ve seen in all of them and their continuing to show up.”