Thirteen Panthers (Saidah Banwaree, Nicholas Crikelair, Cameron Cullinan, Cole Cullinan, Madelyn Donnelly, Morgan Garner, Hazel Gilbert, Lu Joseph, Nora Kammerzelt, Daryan Maynard, Diella Maynard, Scott Roth, and Anna Simon) represented the St. Croix Dolphins Swim Team at the ISCA January Classic 2025 in Hampton, Virginia. They had a phenomenal weekend of swimming that saw lots of best times accomplished, and they also got to experience how fast swimmers are in the States, which will help motivate them and push them to be better and faster.
On the first day of the meet, Morgan Garner was our sole individual swimmer to swim in finals that day in the 400 IM and finished 18th with a best time of 5:11.63. She was also part of the mixed 400 free relay that also finished 18th with a time of 3:51.28. The second day of the meet saw a vast improvement in Dolphins swimmers who qualified for finals. Daryan had two final swims, the 200 IM and the 100 back. He finished the 200 IM with a best time of 1:58.96 and won his heat and finished 9thwith a best time of 52.53 in the 100 back! Cole qualified in the 200 fly and finished 13th with a best time of 2:32.38. Former Panther Kamryn Padgett also qualified in the 200 fly and finished 14th with a best time of 2:19.92. Hazel qualified in the 100 IM and finished 16th with a best time of 1:21.53. The Dolphins had two relays swim the mixed 400 medley relay and the A relay, composed of Daryan, Nicholas, Kamryn, and Lu, finished 17th with a time of 3:57.03, while the B relay, composed of Cameron, Scott, Morgan, and Madelyn, finished 18th with a time of 4:08.89. The last day was only one session, meaning it was timed finals. The Dolphins had two relays in the mixed 200 free relay and the mixed 200 medley relay. In the mixed 200 free relay, the A relay, composed of Daryan, Nicholas, Madelyn, and Lu, finished 17th at 1:36.87, and the B relay, composed of Scott, Cameron, Morgan, and Kameryn, finished 20th at 1:46.17. In the mixed 200 medley relay, the A relay, composed of Daryan, Nicholas, Kameryn, and Lu, finished 17th at 1:53.92, and the B relay composed of Cameron, Scott, Morgan, and Madelyn, finished 19that 1:56.14. Both Daryan and Diella qualified to be on the open water team at CARIFTA by achieving the double AA standard in the 1650 yards!
It was an excellent weekend of racing for the Dolphins swim team, and they should be excited on how much they improved and look forward to championship season! Also, a great bonus to the trip was that the Dolphins got to tour Old Dominion University and the College of William and Mary! They met the coaches from both universities and toured the athletic facilities and campus, as some of our older Dolphins swimmers are starting to look at and pursue where they may want to attend college!