Gulf Shores, Ala – February 14, 2012 – The Gulf Shores Swim Team swam away from the competition as they took home the 20th annual Polar Bear Swim Fest title. The Dolphins won five of the 10 relay races they entered at the meet held on February 4th and 5th at the David L. Bodenhamer Recreation Center in Gulf Shores. Joining the 34 Dolphins swimmers were five other teams from the Florida Panhandle and around Baldwin County.

Leading the Dolphins over the weekend was Catherine Taylor (15-18 Girls), Stephen Kichler (9-10 boys), Nate Hubenthal (15-18 boys), Trey Davis (13-14 boys) and Nate McGee (11-12 boys) as each of the swimmers took home individual trophies along with the team title. Jon Shannon (15-18 boys) and Garrett Robinson (11-12 boys) each finished runner-up in the High Point Award, as well.

The Dolphins established 14 new team age group records at the Polar Bear Swim Fest, while seven Dolphin swimmers saw their first action in an USA Swimming sanctioned event.

“It was a total team effort. 30 of the 34 swimmers contributed points to the 728 point total the team achieved. Trey Davis and Catherine Taylor deserve special mention for their performances this weekend,” Head Coach Brook Hopkins said. “Catherine added another Sectional qualifying time, a first in GSST history and several team records. Trey set two team records and won all but one of his races. And he had best times in 9 of his 10 races.”

Assistant Coach David Lloyd said, “My favorite race was the 8 and under boys 100 yard freestyle relay. I had 4 boys from my training group, Walker Watson, Lukas Kopp, Bryce Warner, and Cody Hall, who tried really hard and won this event.”

The Gulf Shores Swim Team will be back in action at the Southeastern Swimming South District meet at the University of West Florida Aquatic Center on February 18th and 19th. The following week the team will send qualifying swimmers to the Southeastern Short Course Championships in Knoxville on the campus of the University of Tennessee.

Catherine Taylor, age 15, has qualified for and will attend the Southern Zone Eastern Sectional swim meet in Greensboro, NC in the 100 Freestyle and 200 Backstroke. This meet will be held March 8th- 11th.

For more information about the Gulf Shores Swim Team, contact Head Coach and Aquatics Director for the City of Gulf Shores, Brook Hopkins, at 251-968-1427. The Swim Team practices at the Bodenhamer Recreation Center in Gulf Shores 5 days per week.

Gulf Shores, Ala – January 18, 2012 - The Gulf Shores Swim Team competed in the Greater Pensacola Aquatics Club Winter Invitational Swim Meet on January 15 and 16. The Dolphins sent 15 swimmers to the University of West Florida for the highly competitive, short course meet.

Gulf Shores finished 11th overall in the meet that included teams from New Orleans, Jackson, MS and Tallahassee. Cody Hall, 7, and Holly Blair, 14, led the way for the Dolphins with 32 and 28 points respectively. Head Coach, Brook Hopkins, selected Blair and Nate Hubenthal, 16, as Gulf Shores’ Swimmers of the Meet with Blair swimming personal best times in 8 of 10 races while Hubenthal turned in a similar performance in 6 of his 7 events.

With the short course season well underway, the Gulf Shores Swim Team has entered their winter “swim-ester” for the remainder of the season. The Dolphins will be back in action on February 4 and 5 as the Pensacola Navy Youth Team hosts the Polar Bear Invitational in Gulf Shores at the David L. Bodenhamer Recreation Center.

The Gulf Shores Swim Team practices at the David L. Bodenhamer Recreation Center in Gulf Shores, five days per week. For more information about the Gulf Shores Swim Team, contact Head Coach, Brook Hopkins at 251-968-1427.

Gulf Shores, Ala – December 13, 2011 - The Gulf Shores Swim Team competed in the Holiday Invitational Swim Meet, held on December 3 at the David L. Bodenhamer Center in Gulf Shores. Five teams from around the region competed in the annual meet hosted by the Pensacola Navy Youth Swim Team.

Twelve Gulf Shores Dolphins swimmers attended their first USA Swimming sanctioned meet. These swimmers are Daulton Anderson, Amanda Cortes, Hallie Daniel, Marlo Daniel, Kinsey Gleason, Abby Kis, Max Kis, Jackson Lee, Max Nettles, Asher Pampel and Walker Watson.

The Holiday Invitational is a flighted age group meet and no team scores are kept. This meet format allowed all Dolphin swimmers to win at least one ribbon in the 76 events that were contested throughout the two day event. The Gulf Shores Team set personal best times in 60 percent of the events the squad competed in.

Assistant Coach David Lloyd mentioned several swimmers for outstanding performances. These included Kinsey Gleason for breaking a team record in the 50m Backstroke, Grant Lee and Joe Woodley for their third and fourth place finishes in the 200m Individual Medley, Conrad Reetz for winning his division in the 100m Individual Medley, Stephen Kichler’s victory in the 100m Breaststroke, and Emily Anson’s second place finish in the 100m Freestyle. Coach Lloyd said, “Those swimmers really gave it their all. Their work at practice paid off at the weekend swim meet.”

The Gulf Shores Swim Team will be starting their next “swim-ester” on January 3, 2012. The Dolphins’ winter schedule has the team travelling to Pensacola for a meet hosted by GPAC on January 27-29.

For further information about the Gulf Shores Swim Team, Head Coach Brook Hopkins, at 251-968-1427. The Swim Team practices at the David L. Bodenhamer Center in Gulf Shores 5 days per week.