January 1, 2026
The Dolphin Club once again rang in the new year with an Alcatraz swim. Recent rains made for an exceptionally high tide that flooded the South End dock and nearly flooded ours! The excess water in the bay also made for an exceptionally strong and early ebb. The water was unseasonably warm at a balmy 55 degrees, but pilots were less lucky with low 50’s air temp and rain.
Our jump was delayed slightly as we waited for our neighbors at the South End to jump who were in turn waiting for a large container ship to pass! Once the ship passed, both clubs jumped in quick succession, and we had a nearly combined swim! We thank our neighbors at the South End for their communication.
Currents posed a challenge, as we jumped on a still active flood that pushed swimmers east before the strong ebb pushed them back towards the cove. All 28 swimmers rose to the challenge and made it to the beach on their own power.
Congrats to all of the swimmers and thanks are due as always to all of the pilots and other volunteers that made this swim possible.
Lead Pilot: Ben Chun, Lead Swim Commissioner: Alex Kroeger
Test Swim: Alex Kroeger, Gina Rus, Peter Cullinan, Tovia Sobel, Ben Chun, Nathaniel Berger, Maggie Lonergan, Chris Clay, Maeve Lavelle, Diane Livia, Dominic Lusinchi, Margaret Keenan, Holly Reed
Volunteers: Eric Shupert, Beth Stein, Peter Cullinan, Allison Arnold, Kathleen Duffy, Chloe Noonan, Danny DeLeon, Heather Warm, Eric Wind, Sean Lavelle, Derrick Rebello, Kristoffer Milonas, Thorsten Anderson, Eva Adamson, Vicki Stolberg, Elspeth Farmer, Holly Reed, Sue Garfield, Emily Nogue, Diane Campbell, Diane Walton, Bill Gardner, Diana Pray, Farrah Spott, Rebecca Tilley, JB Melcher, Dave Holmes-Kinsella, Gina Rus, Nick Churcher, Liam Hennessy, Jude Stalker, Susan Allen
Pilots: Ben Chun, Nathaniel Berger, Maeve Lavelle, Ramsey Williams, Alex Kroeger, Tim Kreutzen, Mike Walsh, Sharon Wong, Aaron Smith, Eric Shackelford, Susanne Friederich, Jim Frew, Barry Christian, John Robiola, Margaret Keenan, Nanda Palmieri, John Thorpe, Brian Kiernan, Bobby Carp, Sunny McKee, Marlin Gilbert, Peter Strietmann, Jon Bielinski, Clay Tucker, Natazha Raine Bernie, Dominic Lusinchi, Daniel Cavey, Dmitry Kosorukov, Tom McCall, Mikhail Melnikov, Megan Wachs, Dave Zovickian, Lissi Knell, Paul Irving, Matthew Sheridan, Ellen Hathaway, Don Osborne, Maggie Lonergan, Madeleine Crow, James Dilworth, Peter Bradshaw, Gretchen Coffman, Sam Ferguson, Maile Smith
Swimmers
| Place | Name | Time | Ladies Cup Points |
| 1 | Lauren Au | 35:12 | 10 |
| 2 | Miranda Rouse | 36:10 | 9 |
| 3 | Jean-Marc Nugent | 36:25 | 8 |
| 4 | Juliet Cox | 40:02 | 7 |
| 5 | Jeff Citron | 43:37 | 6 |
| 6 | D Nielsen | 47:37 | 5 |
| 7 | John Gibbon | 47:47 | 4 |
| 8 | Daniel Rosario | 48:35 | 3 |
| 9 | Tovia Sobel | 49:03 | 2 |
| 10 | Tom Brown | 50:29 | 1 |
| 11 | Fiona Donald | 50:49 | |
| 12 | Betsy Mayer | 50:59 | |
| 13 | Gary Arabatyan | 51:30 | |
| 14 | Will Stockard | 51:33 | |
| 15 | Sean Lavelle | 51:53 | |
| 16 | Danny DeLeon | 52:10 | |
| 17 | Heather Warm | 52:13 | |
| 18 | Tom Kuglen | 52:20 | |
| 19 | David O’Reilly | 52:42 | |
| 20 | Mickey Lavelle | 52:56 | |
| 21 | Kristoffer Milonas | 53:06 | |
| 22 | Danny Wohlner | 54:04 | |
| 23 | Ernst Halperin | 54:44 | |
| 24 | Joe Spallone | 1:00:40 | |
| 25 | Damien Guenzing | 1:00:45 | |
| 26 | Ryan Hedum | 1:04:33 | |
| 27 | Kathleen Duffy | 1:09:42 | |
| 28 | Robin Hart | 1:11:15 |