Diving in with big goals

By Adam Krohn
adamkrohn@daltoncitizen.com

July 22, 2008 10:17 pm

— The Dalton Dolphins begin today an effort to reclaim the Chattanooga Area Swim League City Meet title they won just two seasons ago.
And after today’s diving competition at Baylor, plus the swimming portion of the meet — scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Warner Park — Dolphins coach Charles Todd hopes it’s his squad that commits the fewest mistakes, because he believes that’s how the meet will be won.
Title or no title, he expects a strong fight from his swimmers.
“I think we should finish at least in the top two,” Todd said. “But I expect a battle. It’s going to be like a chess match with the coaches. I’m interested to see how the different coaches use their swimmers in different events.
“And we have to watch out for little things like false starts — especially in the relay events, where you earn double points. A disqualification in any of those events will kill you, so we have to keep those to a minimum. Hopefully, Signal Mountain will have more of those.”
There is a reason Todd mentions Signal Mountain, and not just because the Green Giants ended the Dolphins’ 30-meet win streak last week. In the bigger picture, the Dolphins’ 2006 City Meet title ended a run of seven consecutive for Signal Mountain, but the Green Giants were back on top last year.
Todd doesn’t discount talent on other teams, but he knows this meet will more than likely come down to the teams with the largest number of swimmers — the Dolphins and Signal Mountain — and that’s where the chess match comes into play. Individual swimmers can only participate in five non-relay events out of seven, so teams with the deepest rosters can better spread their talent out between events and typically don’t see a drop-off from one event to the next.
Todd believes last year’s loss to Signal Mountain was due largely in part to how many swimmers Signal Mountain had.
“Last year, we did well and set a lot of team records,” Todd said. “But (Signal Mountain) had more numbers with 120 swimmers to our 88.”
This year, Todd said, Signal Mountain will bring 112 swimmers to the meet and the Dolphins 128.
One of Dalton’s swimmers is 10-year-old Ethan Young, who turned in a big-time performance at last weekend’s state meet in Savannah, earning a silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 1:18.9 and a bronze in the 50-meter butterfly with a time of 1:02.31, both personal bests.
He considers his season to this point to be a tremendous success because of the support he’s received.
“It’s been good,” Young said. “I’ve broken several of my own personal records. Probably about a month before state, I realized I’d really be able to succeed. My parents and coaches have let me know I can do it.”
Dolphins assistant coach Olga Davis, who works with the 10-year-old age group, said it’s Young’s maturity that allows him to thrive.
“Ethan has improved so much,” Davis said. “He’s not only physically prepared, he’s mentally prepared too.
“You don’t see too many kids his age at the level he’s at. Some kids are physically ready, but not mentally ready, but that’s not the case with Ethan.”
Davis’ objective is to instill the confidence Young possesses in the rest of the swimmers.
“They can do anything they put their minds to,” Davis said. “I think that coming from state and seeing those fast times we should be looking at a lot of first-place finishes.”
Another Dolphin making a big splash this season is 12-year-old Macie Maret. She’s on the same page as Davis.
“I want to help the team,” Maret said. “It’s important not just to win, but to try your hardest. I’m going to be there to help the team and cheer them on in our races.
“When they finish racing, I’ll encourage them. If they’re nervous, I’ll help them. To me, it’s not about victory as much as doing what we like to do.”

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