The Hampshire Regional YMCA Dolphins Swim Team concluded their winter season schedule recently. This season marks the second under head coach Jay Fritz, who was assisted this year by Ania Axas and Hannah Creamer.

To celebrate the season, the Dolphins competed against their own parents in an exhibition meet on March 2. A total of 73 swimmers – parents, coaches, and Dolphins alike – competed in over 200 event entries. Some families had enough members to be able to field an entire relay team.

Former Dolphin and Northampton High School swimmer Maggie Baumer, now 43, swam alongside her nieces, Alice and Arlo Baumer, 10 and 8, respectively.

“It was wonderfully nostalgic to be back in the Y pool after so many years,” Baumer said. “My brother and I were on the HRY team growing up and it was so much fun to see my nieces enjoying the sport the way we did. The best part was actually getting to swim with them in a relay.”

Halfway through the meet, the Dolphins observed a moment of silence to mourn the recent passing of former Dolphins coach and local swimming icon Kim Bierwert. Kim’s sister Karen – also a former assistant coach of the Dolphins – was in attendance and reflected on the team’s importance to the area.

“The HRY Dolphins program attracted swimmers from many area towns. Thus, its influence extended far beyond Northampton,“ Bierwert said. “Many swimmers, having a start on the HRY Dolphins, continued their competitive careers in college and/or became coaches, continuing an HRY legacy in a sense.”

Now in his second year as head coach, Fritz is starting to see new growth.

“All the kids and all the swim community, everyone’s been so welcoming the past couple of years, and every year it’s been getting better,” Fritz said.

In one heat of the 25-yard freestyle, Zara Melnik, 11, swam against her mother, Zoe Zeichner, and her father, Pat Melnik. In the 50-yard freestyle she competed against both her dad and her cousin, Nora Penney (also 11).

“My Mom lost to me, and my Dad was really good, and the rest of my family was ahead of me because they’re all swimmers,” she recalled.

Melnik’s other cousin (and Nora’s twin sister), Katie Penney, also competed in the meet.

Like many local swim teams, the Dolphins compete in meets under the auspices of both the YMCA and USA Swimming organizations. All swimmers are eligible for the YMCA meets, while some swimmers – often those who are more advanced – also choose to compete in meets organized by USA Swimming. The Dolphins’ practice sessions are divided into four groups based on age and ability, with the youngest and least experienced group practicing three times per week from September until March.

The Dolphins competed in three YMCA meets this year in addition to the Western Mass. District Championship meet held in Holyoke in January. Attendance at these meets increased over the course of the season, with Dolphins swimmers entering 51 events at the Halloween Havoc meet in Holyoke in October, 67 events at the Thanksgiving Invitational meet, also in Holyoke, and 68 events during the District Championship meet. The Dolphins also competed in a smaller meet at the Berkshire Family YMCA in early January.

Fourteen swimmers also competed on the USA Swimming circuit, often racking up some impressive times.

“We did have Audrey Dowsett make it under a minute in her 100 free, which was really awesome,” noted Fritz.

Dowsett, 14, also recorded an “A” time of 27.52 seconds in the 50 yard freestyle at the New England Silver Championships in January.

Melnik recognizes the hard work she puts into her swimming, and also the rewards: “It’s really fun, because we do a lot of fun things, and it’s interesting but hard at the same time.”

The Dolphins summer session begins in May and new swimmers should contact the YMCA for details. The next winter season begins with tryouts in early September.

For Melnik, swimming is more than just exercise. “I like just getting in the water and just flowing through the water, because after you swim really hard you get to go real easy, and it’s really nice.”