Dolphin Swim Club Newsletter

Important Dates

Jan. 9 Board Meeting

Jan 20 Entries due for Snowflake

Jan 28/29 Snowflake meet

January Birthdays

Bailey Reiners - 11

Matthew Gottschalk - 10

Emilie Pearson - 14

Sean Silva - 14

Sam Leonhart - 15

Angel Forsling - 18

From Head Coach Dale Leonhart:

Happy New Year, Dolphins!!! I hope your holiday season was enjoyable.

We had the opportunity to participate in some good training and still get out for some good old-fashioned R&R. I think we are ready for Texas; I expect to have some very good swims by our team. We are poised for our own Snowflake Meet and I am eager to see the progress of our younger swimmers at this competition.

Congrats to the Senior Swimmers!

Their gift-wrapping fundraiser through Barnes and Nobles bookstore netted $277 towards the purchase of our resistance trainer; we are within $600 of this goal. Thanks to Marie DePuey and Will Leonhart for getting this organized and to the seniors who participated in the wrapping.

Dual in the Pool, Dolphin style:

Our very own 12Under Dual in the Pool @ Mesa State on 21 December was a success! The Thundercats, coached by Marie De Puey, edged the Lighting Rapids, coached by Will Leonhart, by the score of 78-76! This was a good meet for all swimmers and their parents; we got some valuable experience for our younger swimmers, some exposure to a meet setting for both parents and swimmers, and many of our swimmers tried new events!

Good Luck, Texas bound Dolphins!

On Thursday, 5 January, our very own “Determined Dozen” head to College Station, TX, for the Aggieland Open at Texas A&M. Best wishes for fast swims and a good time to

Christa Funk, Angel Forsling, Marie and Noelle De Puey, Morgan Wyrick, Ben and Tyler Walton, Ben Hogue, Patrick Kraybacher, Sam, Tim, and Will Leonhart. Chaperones are Brett Walton and Kathy Hogue. We leave Thursday and return Monday.

Snowflake Meet:

Our Snowflake Meet is fast approaching; we will be swimming Saturday, 28 Jan and Sunday, 29 Jan. Please sign up for hospitality donations, work sessions, and watch for meet info for your swimmers events at the Mesa State Pool. We need lots of help with this meet.

A very important job to volunteer for is ‘officiating’. Our Club is Officials weak! We need to get a new group of parents involved with this important aspect of running a meet. This summer, we will conduct a very ‘high profile’ Invitational Meet, participate in the Western Slope Conference meets, and likely be involved in several travel meets that will need officials. The Snowflake Meet and subsequent Developmental Meets throughout this spring will provide ‘low profile’ opportunities for training for the upcoming summer season. Please take the opportunity to become certified as a Stroke/Turn Official. Contact Dale if you are interested in more information.

Our January Practice Schedule:

This is a reminder that our January practice schedule at Mesa State Pool is modified to accommodate the Mesa State Women’s Swim Team.

Our schedule is ‘normal’ through Friday, 13 January. After that, it is as follows:

16 - 27 January: Bronze I, II, III will train TTF @ 4:15-5:15PM.

16 - 20 January: Gold/Platinum will train M-F @ 7-9PM.

23 - 27 January: Gold/Platinum will train TWF @ 7-9PM.

If the MSC Women continue into February, the schedule will be as above for Bronze groups and Gold/Platinum will follow TTF @ 7-9PM. I do not anticipate this schedule going beyond the first week of February. As some as the MSC Women wrap up their season, we will resume our current “regular” schedule.

Announcement:

We have three Dolphin drag suits for sale, $32.00 each (30, 32, 34). These are black with “DOLPHINS.” Printed on the rear, and GJD on the front right. We also have silicone Dolphin caps (which are much easier to put on) for $12.00. Contact Carrie Walton @ 241-2333; cwalton41@bresnan.net.

News from Board President Brett Walton:

Happy New Year!! 2006 will be a great year for the Grand Junction Dolphins! We have a great coaching team, a solid base of younger swimmers, a dedicated group of upper level swimmers and many dedicated parents! The Snowflake meet is scheduled for January 28/29 at Orchard Mesa Pool. We host this meet as a fundraiser for our club. We’ll need everyone to chip in to get the job done! There are signup sheets at Mesa for hospitality. We’ll also need people to help set up Friday night, and tear down Sunday afternoon. There will also be opportunities for timers, runners, and other jobs. No prior experience is necessary! If everyone contributes, it’s a lot of fun and a lot less work! Thank you!

Meet the Dolphin Senior Swimmers:

The Dolphin team has four swimmers graduating from High School in 2006. We would like to feature these swimmers in the monthly newsletter with a short biography. This month's featured senior swimmer is Angel Forsling.

Angel Forsling, a senior at Grand Junction High School, has been swimming for 8 ½ years with the GJ Dolphins and GJ High School teams. Her favorite stroke is the breaststroke but is accomplished at all four competitive strokes. Her uncle has been involved in swimming by the coaching of various high school and college teams in Nebraska.

Her future plans include college at the Colorado School of Mines with the intent to become a Petroleum Engineer. She does not have plans at this time to swim in college as she will focus on her studies. Once she completes her education, she hopes to go back to swimming, maybe a master’s swim program. She looks forward to having a great and exciting career in petroleum engineering along with having a family.

Angel’s spare time, if she has any between swim practice and homework, includes other sports like dodge ball, volleyball, and running. She enjoys all types of music, “Road Rules” is a favorite on TV, and her favorite movie is “The Notebook”. She has a dog named Genesis, and her favorite foods would involve anything with carbs. Angel’s ambition/passion in school involves her math courses.

Angel has learned much in her years of swimming but one thing stands out in particular, “you only achieve what you work for.” Lastly, one suggestion to the younger swimmers, “the feeling you get when you achieve something is always worth the work it took.”

We wish Angel well in her future endeavors after high school graduation. She has accomplished much in her swimming career with the Dolphins and will be sorely missed.