Outstanding Fall & Spring for Blue Dolfins
Blue Dolfins Pride
The Blue Dolfins have two branches - the long-established Oviedo branch under head coach Charlie Rose and the Winter Park branch.
Many of our Winter Park coaching staff —Joe Auer, Kim Schutzmeister Burke, Erin Yarbrough-Jenkins, and Jackson Auer—grew up here, competing for both the Blue Dolfins and/or Winter Park High School. We are so pleased to continue the nearly 50-year old tradition of the team. The Blue Dolfins were founded in Winter Park in 1972 by Coach Harry Meisel. (And if you haven’t read about our coaches in a while, check them out here.)
Coaches Maya Goldstein and Erin Yarbrough-Jenkins
As a reminder, this branch of the Blue Dolfins was re-established at Cady Way Pool in 2017, just four years ago, and one of those years (2020) involved weathering COVID and its necessary restrictions. So we are very proud of the way our swimmers and families have persevered and want to acknowledge the recent accomplishments of our team:
Olympic Trial Qualifiers
We had three swimmers qualify for Olympic Trials. Sophie Hampson qualified for the British Olympic Trials. Next, Bella Lojewski traveled to Poland to compete in the Polish Trials. And, finally, Megan Hansen, who is traveling to Omaha, Nebraska for the US Olympic Trials. (To put qualifying for the Olympic Trials in perspective, less than one-half of one percent of all swimmers achieve this honor.)
Megan Hansen ready to compete at the US Olympic Trials.
FYI: The Oviedo branch has four swimmers headed for the US Olympic Trials: Abby Gibbons, Mason Herbet, Taylor Grabenhorst, and Micayla Cronk, which brings the total to 5 for the Blue Dolfins competing in Omaha this year!
Junior World Team Member
While Bella Lojewski was not chosen to swim an individual event for the Polish Olympic team, she was selected to represent Poland at the Junior European Championships in Rome this summer. Good luck, Bella! (And there is a *small* chance she might still be put on the Olympic team as a relay member - stay tuned!)
Bella Lojewski competing in Poland.
National Qualifiers
The Blue Dolfins Winter Park have several swimmers that qualified to compete in Huntsville, Alabama and Greensboro, NC at the upcoming USA Swimming national meets: Lockett Bowley, Caroline Chasser, Erika Hirschmann, Peyton Powell, Bella Lojewski, Cami Semmen, Sydnie Hart, Gabby Puryear-Lynch, Sophie Cox, Lucy Jahn, and John Beattie.
American Record Holder
Blue Dolfins swimmer Lauren Bergquist has set a new Down Syndrome International Americas Region record in the 50 Breaststroke. This means she is the fastest American woman with Down Syndrome to have ever swum this event. She also owns three other American Records.
Lauren Bergquist after her latest American Record.
Top 10 Nationally-Ranked Swimmers
Due to their hard work, the Dolfins have several swimmers currently ranked in the Top 10 in the nation for their age group: Lockett Bowley, Cami Semmen, Megan Hansen, and Bella Lojewski.
High School Champions
As the feeder program for Winter Park High School, the Blue Dolfins helped the Wildcats to a 3rd place team finish at the FHSAA State Swimming & Diving Championships, and they supplied the swimmers who won the Girl’s 200 Free Relay for the Wildcats.
Championship relay at high school state.
All American Swimmers
The high school season finished with 5 Blue Dolfins who attained All American status: Lockett Bowley, Cami Semmen, Lucy Jahn, Caroline Chasser, and Erika Hirschmann. (Sydnie Hart and Katherine Nordheim are both under consideration, and we’ll know their status in a few weeks - stay tuned!)
College-bound Swimmers
Five current club swimmers so far have committed to continue their swimming in college: Cristian Jardine (St. Leo University), Lucy Jahn (University of Arkansas, Little Rock), Lockett Bowley (University of Alabama), Bella Lojewski (University of Florida), and Cami Semmen (Northeastern University). They will join Lizzy Linartas (University of Arkansas), Sophie Hampson and Chloe Hampson (Florida International University), Hector Rodriguez (University of Florida), Jessica Harris (Eastern Illinois University), Madison Harris (Wheaton College), Reese Gawronski (Colorado College), Brady Estrada (Arizona State University and then Nova Southeastern), and Ari Koerner (Marymount University), all recent Blue Dolfin graduates who continued their swimming at colleges around the country.
Lockett Bowley representing her future school on signing day.
Florida Age Group Championship Qualifiers
We’re excited for our younger swimmers who have qualified for the upcoming state championships: Isaac Tindall, Emmy Maguire, Sadie Jahn, Adrianna Lojewski, Jared Semmen, and Caitlin Bartle. (We still have time so stay tuned for even more qualifiers!) Congrats to coaches Ryan Walker and Jackson Auer for their outstanding work with this group.
Thank you!
We want to extend a gigantic thank you to our parents and swim families who have supported the team and swimmers this past year. One of the biggest compliments we had was from a new parent who recently transferred from another team. She said how welcoming and supportive our team environment was and it made us beam with pride. Thank you, swimmers and parents, for your continued support of each other - together we rise!
We are also grateful to the City of Winter Park for allowing us space to train these current and future stand-out swimmers. We look forward to continuing excellence both in and out of the pool.