Twenty members of the St. Croix Dolphins Swim Team competed in the 2022 Puerto Rico Short Course Championships, which took place from Friday, Dec. 9 through Sunday, Dec. 11, at the San Juan Natatorium. The Dolphin swimmers ranged from 8 to 16 years old.
They are Ramsey Adams, Tobias Hinkel, Carter Dahlberg, Taliyah Franco, Cole Cullinan, Diella Maynard, Kameryn Padgett, Teague Gleason, Sawyer Holley, Nicholas Crikelair, Kalonji Von Schilling-Royer, Daryan Maynard, Madelyn Donnelly, Riley Miller, Morgan Garner, Scott Roth, Kaeden Gleason, Y’zell Bengoa, Gaby Evora and Evan Dykstra.
The competition was split into two pools: 13 years and over swimmers and 12 years and under swimmers. The 13 and over swimmers competed in a three-day, preliminary and final session each day with the top eight swimmers in each event from the preliminaries advancing into the finals in the afternoon; the 12 and under swimmers competed in a two-day timed finals event which took place on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Throughout the weekend, Dolphin swimmers broke 11 USVI records and earned a total of 25 medals. Competing in the 13-14 girls age category, Riley Miller broke a total of six USVI records (the 13-14 girls’ 50-meter backstroke, 100-meter backstroke, 200-meter backstroke, 50-meter butterfly, and the open girls’ category 50-meter backstroke and 50-meter butterfly).
Riley won two gold medals in the 50-meter butterfly and 50-meter freestyle in the 13-14 girls age group. She also won four other individual medals. Miller was the backstroke leg of the USVI record-breaking 400 mixed medley relay (Riley Miller, Madelyn Donnelly, Daryan Maynard, Kaeden Gleason) that won a silver medal.
Kaeden Gleason set a new USVI record in the 13-14 boys 100-meter butterfly and Daryan Maynard set a new USVI record in the 13-14 boys’ 200-meter butterfly. He won a total of three gold medals in the 100-meter backstroke, 200-meter backstroke, and 200-meter butterfly. Both Gleason and Maynard were also part of the USVI record-breaking 13-14 boys’ 200-meter medley (Kalonji Von Schilling-Royer, Nicholas Crikelair, Daryan Maynard, Kaeden Gleason) and 200-meter freestyle (Daryan Maynard, Kalonji Von Schilling-Royer, Nicholas Crikelair, Kaeden Gleason) relays. The medley relay won a gold medal and the freestyle relay took a silver. Gleason and Maynard both earned a total of six individual medals each.
Other medal winners include Kalonji Von Schilling-Royer, who earned a bronze medal in the 13-14 boys 50-meter backstroke; Teague Gleason, who earned a bronze medal in the 11-12 boys’ 400-meter freestyle; Ramsey Adams, who won a bronze medal in the 7-8 girls’ 50-meter backstroke; and Kameryn Padgett, who won a bronze medal in the 11-12 girls’ 50-meter butterfly.
Individual records:
Riley Miller broke six individual records:
13-14 50-meter backstroke – 31.46
13-14 100-meter backstroke – 1:08.38
13-14 200-meter backstroke – 2:30.51
13-14 girls 50-meter butterfly – 30.44
Open girls 50-meter backstroke – 31.46
Open girls 50-meter butterfly – 30.44
Daryan Maynard broke one individual record:
13-14 boys 200-meter butterfly – 2:15.28
Kaeden Gleason broke one individual record:
13-14 boys 100-meter butterfly – 1:00.95
Relay records:
13-14 mixed 400-meter medley relay (Riley Miller, Madelyn Donnelly, Daryan Maynard, Kaeden Gleason) – 4:30.27
13-14 boys 200-meter freestyle relay (Daryan Maynard, Kalonji Von Schilling-Royer, Nicholas Crikelair, Kaeden Gleason) – 1:45.86
13-14 boys 200-meter medley relay (Kalonji Von Schilling-Royer, Nicholas Crikelair, Daryan Maynard, Kaeden Gleason) – 1:55.64