Dec. 8, 2008 – The St. Croix Dolphins swim team had 14 swimmers compete at the Puerto Rico Swimming Championships Dec. 6-7, in San Juan, P.R. They were invited to attend because they had previously swum faster than qualifying standards in two or more events over the past season. The Dolphins' Brigitte Rasmussen and Jemille Vialet established new Virgin Islands swimming records at the meet.
Jemille Vialet broke three records in the 15-17 boys category:
1. He broke a 12-year-old record in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of one minute, one second, seven hundredths of a second (1:01.07). The mark was previously held by George Gleason, who competed for the Virgin Islands in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Jemille eclipsed the previous mark by seven tenths of a seconds.
2. Jemille bettered his own V.I. record in the 50 backstroke, which he had just set back in October. He lowered the time to 28.07.
3. In his final swim of the weekend, Jemille broke the 200 backstroke record with a time of 2:14.77. He broke Kieran Locke’s record from 2001 by three quarters of a second.
Brigitte Rasmussen broke the 100 breast stroke record in the 13-14 year old girls age group with a time of 1:21.94. Jamie Shufflebarger set the previous record in 2001 with a time of 1:22.94.
More good news for the Dolphins came in the form of qualifying new swimmers for the 2009 CARIFTA Championships to be held in Aruba. Evan Warehime qualified for the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:24.47, and Caylee Watson qualified in the 50 butterfly with a time of 33.57.
Numerous swimmers swam faster than their previous best performance including:
Nicholas Dascher 50 breaststroke 58.10
100 im 1:51.62
Tony Hendricks 50 backstroke 41.88
50 breaststroke 46.74
100 im 1:33.75
Bryson Mays 100 butterfly 1:03.86
200 im 2:26.61
200 butterfly 2:28.14
100 freestyle 57.05
Matthew Mays 50 backstroke 42.65
100 im 1:31.78
Gloria Morales 100 backstroke 1:18.77
200 backstroke 2:48.52
Brigitte Rasmussen 200 breaststroke 2:59.74
Adriel Sanes 50 backstroke 42.31
100 im 1:32.18
Devontai Stevens 50 free 26.76
100 backstroke 1:07.31
200 freestyle 2:15.59
50 butterfly 29.43
200 backstroke 2:27.16
Jonathan Thomas 50 free 38.70
50 backstroke 47.26
100 freestyle 1:28.64
Jemille Vialet 200 im 2:20.03
100 im 1:02.27
Evan Warehime 100 butterfly 1:17.56
100 breaststroke 1:28.01
J.J. Washshah 50 backstroke 37.09
Caylee Watson 100 butterfly 1:17.56
100 backstroke 1:18.77
200 backstroke 2:51.00
The St. Croix Dolphin's next competition will be the V.I. National Short Course Championships. The meet will begin at 9:30 a.m., on Dec. 13, at the Caribbean Health and Racquet Club, Beeston Hill. The St. Thomas Stingrays will also be competing.
The Dolphins invite any new swimmers and parents who might be interested in the team to contact them at either 719-7946 or dolphinscoach@islands.vi.
Swimmers may try out for the swim team or participate in the swim lessons program. Confidential financial assistance is available upon request.
