Harbor View Swim Team takes third at conference finals
The Harbor View Swim Team, the “Mighty, Mighty, Dolphins,” finished their season with a third-place finish at the South Coast Swim Conference finals Saturday.
Newport Hills Swim Team won the SCSC finals with 1,705.5. Green Valley came in second with 1,298 points and Harbor View scored 1,258.5.
The Dolphins, while not achieving their goal to win league, have plenty to be excited about.
New Coach Todd Hickman, with over 20 years of coaching experience, has his team in the right lane after a difficult start to the season. The HVST pool and deck was refurbished this spring and finished only a week before the first home meet.
Hickman and his team of assistant coaches Tom Norton, Ben Dowswell, Isle Anderson, Stephanie Gabert, Delaney Pouch and Shannon Griffin spread out at pools all over town to get the Dolphins the valuable time they needed in the pool for spring practices. This commitment paid off at the SCSC finals.
At finals, two SCSC records were set by the Dolphins. Ellen Naruse, a 14-year HVST veteran, concluded her brilliant career by setting a league record in the girls’ 15-18 division 50-meter backstroke, with a time of 28.19 seconds, besting the previous record by seven-tenths of a second. Naruse also won the 50 buterfly.
The youngest Dolphins fared very well and will be leading the Dolphins in the future. The girls’ U6 took first place in their age group in the final. The team of Allison Cohen, Emme Garsh, Grace McCarthy and Sarah McMillen set a SCSC record in the 4x25-yard free relay. This after setting a pool record two weeks ago in the champion Newport Hills’ pool. The same foursome finished first in their age group in the 4x25 medley relay. Garsh won an individual first in the 25 breaststroke.
In addition to the league records, many Dolphins finished with individual firsts in their respective age groups.
The boys U6 were just as strong as their female counterparts. Jack Cohen, Bryce Garbutt, Tyler Law and Mason Nguyen teamed to win the 4x25 freestyle and medley relays.
Megan Schafer, voted most valuable swimmer on her team, won the 25 freestyle and 25 fly for girls’ 7-8.
In the 50 breaststroke, Robert Naruse won the boys’ 15-18 age group and Nicole Harvey won in the girls’ 11-12.
“We are so proud of the progress the kids made this year,” HVST President Cheree Garbutt said. “After having Co-Head Coaches since the retirement of Coach Ted Bandaruk three seasons ago, we are so happy to have Coach Todd Hickman leading us forward. His positive teaching attitude was evident from Day One. From getting in the pool with the ‘mini-Dolphins,’ to teaching technique to the older swimmers, to having fun with the kids and parents at the family events, Coach Todd fits in with our team. The future of HVST looks bright.”
— Reader submission