1) Great job to Norwich YMCA Dolphins swimmers Nora Diefenbacher (first place) and Kennedy Foulds (third place) for earning high points scorer in the age eight and under girls’ group. (Photo from Coach Diefenbacher) 2) Norwich YMCA Dolphins’ Maggie Williams swims in the 100 yard breaststroke, where she set a new team record with a top time of 1:44.70. (Photo from Coach Diefenbacher)

CORTLAND – The Norwich YMCA Dolphins had a stellar meet at the Snowman Classic at SUNY Cortland last weekend. Our swimmers took home numerous top 12 finishes across all age groups, with a collective 23 best times and over 62 seconds of time drops. Kennedy Foulds took home the third place high points earner and Nora Diefenbacher took home first place high points earner for the age eight and under girls’ group.

Two Dolphins also established two new team records with Maggie Williams in the 100 yard breaststroke and Kate Hull in the 100 yard backstroke for the age nine to 10 girls’ group. Williams finished in first place in the breaststroke with a time of 1:44.70 while Hull swam the backstroke in 1:35.18.

As a team, the Dolphins earned first place in the mixed 100 freestyle relay in the age eight and under group and second place in the mixed 200 freestyle relay in the age 11 to 12 group. The eight and under group was led by Nora Diefenbacher, Lawton VanCleef, Kennedy Foulds, and Reigan Aikins, who swam a best 1:16.32.

The age 11-12 team consisted of Alice Boland, Aiden Diefenbacher, Alex Shtrauch, and Brielle Shalna, who swam a total time of 3:02.09. Shtrauch, Boland, and Shalna all swam in the girls’ 50 yard freestyle with Shtrauch finished third with a time of 32.73 seconds as Boland came in ninth (35.76) and Shalna in 17th place (1:14.30). Shtrauch also took third in the girls’ 50 yard backstroke with a time of 40.05 seconds while Shalna finished 10th (1:17.17) individually.

Lawton VanCleef, Nate Shtrauch, and Maverick Douglass paved the way for the Dolphins boys. VanCleef swam in three individual events, where he placed well. He earned two fourth place finishes in both the boys’ 25 yard freestyle and in the boys’ 50 freestyle event. He also took fifth in the boys 25 yard backstroke for the age eight and under group.

Nate Shtrauch achieved seventh place in the boys 100 freestyle for boys aged 15 and older with a time of 59.36 seconds. Maverick Douglass finished ninth in the boys 100 yard freestyle for the nine to 10 age group (2:13.63).

We also had swimmers try new and longer events for their age group and they did an amazing job. Our swimmers wanted to do these more difficult events and have been working hard to accomplish their goal. They have been exhibiting some really great sportsmanship on deck by congratulating their competitors after a race and working together as a team which really showed in the mixed age group relays that they were in at this meet. Our experienced swimmers did a great job incorporating our newer swimmers into the events and encouraged them along the way.

Great job, Dolphins.

-Information from the Norwich YMCA Dolphins