The last two meets have been challenging. First the meet on July 17: we drove through
blinding rain and a truly spectacular thunderstorm to arrive ready to swim at Valois Pool. The storm ended just in time for our Dolphins to swim. We were fortunate however that the thunder and lightning abated. The rains however did not, and everyone on deck was soaked through! Thankfully it was a hot evening so it was more refreshing than anything. Valois, one of the top teams in our division, showed us their strength, but we fought hard and managed to keep our score above 500 points! We can be proud of our performance that evening. This week, on July 24, we suffered another loss, to another top-ranked team in our division: Lakeshore Pool. This time it was biting cold and a shortage of swimmers that led to our defeat. At each meet there were a few families who had said they were coming but decided not to come out, possibly because of the weather. We missed your swimmers! Remember: we swim RAIN OR SHINE, HOT OR COLD! Even a thunderstorm will pass, as last week's storm did, just in time for the meet to begin. As for this week, hoodies, sweatpants and hot chocolate were the perfect antidote and the kids all said it was warmer in the pool than on the deck! We must show up so as not to forfeit the meet to the other team. These are the rules of our league and we must abide by them. In a situation where thunder and lightning stop a meet and it has to be rescheduled, as has happened twice this season, we are required to make that decision at the host pool with our swimmers ready to swim if the storm clears. The rosters are set and it is unfortunate if swimmers who were expected don't show up: it sometimes means that relays get cancelled and that is disappointing for those who looked forward to the relay. If illness or a sudden change occurs, please advise the coaches at westmount.dolphins@gmail.com. We are a team and as such we need every available swimmer on deck and ready to swim: we want to avoid having empty lanes! If you were unable to get your swimmer to those meets because you did not have a ride you can always arrange with another member or meet at Victoria Hall at 5:15pm. All members with room for more passengers should be passing by Victoria Hall at that time to see if there are any swimmers looking for a lift. A friendly reminder to all that we are guests at all of the pools we visit whether it is for meets or practices. We must ensure that we are respectful by using appropriate speech and actions towards our hosts, our teammates, coaches and parents wherever we are. We want to be examples of true Dolphins spirit wherever we go! On another note, we were extended a special invitation by our friends at Viking Pool: they have graciously offered us the opportunity to attend their free swim on Saturday evenings for the remainder of the summer. Click on INVITATION and you will find their touching message. Print their message and bring it with you to gain access to their pool at a special guest-rate. Check out the Competitions section for updated records and results. We look forward to meeting you all next week at CAVIP! Maybe we can rally and win this one! People love to root for the underdog. This summer maybe they will coin a new term: the underdolphin! The last two weeks both the Westmount Examiner and Westmount Independent have been rooting for us, following our progress, reporting on our activities.
Today we are on the front page of the Westmount Examiner, cheering and making noise! We have a lot to make noise about: we’ve been proving ourselves to be a strong team even without a pool. No pool, no problem, indeed! Last week we finished our meet with Beaurepaire with a loss: 537 to 519. Then we followed it up the next evening with a win at Beaconsfield Heights 549 to 495!! This week we were again faced with lightning and found ourselves at Viking both Wednesday and Thursday evening to complete our meet. It was close all Wednesday evening but on Thursday, Viking edged us out 536 to 524. We can be proud that we fought to the end! We can especially be proud of a special moment of true ALPS spirit when both Viking and Westmount joined in a cheering session and demanded the officials to show their spirit in a cheering contest. The Westmount and Viking swimmers and coaches beat the officials from both pools hands down! Thanks to all of you who drove out to each of these 5 events (yet only 3 meets!) to ensure your swimmer’s participation and to help out as officials. Have a look at the Competitions section at our website: you will find results for each of the meets and you can look at our team records to see how some of our fastest Dolphins are doing! Congratulations to all! Best wishes to our Summer Swimmers who are swimming today at Beaurepaire! Look forward to meeting our next opponents at Valois Pool in Pointe Claire! Go Dolphins Go! A dedicated army of parent-volunteers and an energetic group of young swimmers came out to Westmount Park today in celebration of Canada Day. A huge thank you to all of them for working all afternoon, barbecuing, wrapping, selling and setting up and tearing down! A special thank you too all the families who donated delicious treats to the Bakesale as
well. Without your generosity and thoughtfulness this could not have been a success. This event was a phenomenal success for our team: we raised $2179 overall. The Bakesale took in $735 while the Barbecue made a profit of $1444. We can be proud of this incredible achievement owing to the enthusiasm of the volunteers who worked tirelessly! Special mention goes to David Bracco who was the first volunteer to arrive and the last to leave and who never left his place in front of the “Grill”: a thousand thank-yous! George Perlman, one of our 15 and over boys, was essential to our set-up team. Another special mention goes to the swimmers who helped at the drinks table: you were essential to our team! Yonje, Eve-Marie, Laetitia, Evelyne, Frederick, Leo, Flavie, Michael, Remy to name a few. But special mention must go to Ryan who was a stand-out throughout the day! Jonah, Hans, Joël were ready with wrappers at the BBQ. At the Baketable, other swimmers were out in force: Yoni, Mackenzie, Alexis and Sophie conducting sales with true Dolphins style! Thank you to one and all for all of your dedication! See you all tomorrow in Beaurepaire and at the regular meet on Wednesday at Beaconsfield Heights! Go Dolphins Go! |
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August 2021
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