November 11, 2023
This was our Inaugural Veterans Day Swim, and what a spectacular swim we had! The day was warm, windless, and clear. About 80 happy swimmers took part. Our youngest swimmer was 7 years old, and to balance that out we also had many, many of our beloved Old Goats participate. The day was about joyous vibes to honor our veterans. Several of our Dolphin veterans swam and others came out to support the event. I was told that our oldest veteran is Don Reid, who also showed up!
Special thanks go to Duke Dahlin, Diane Walton, Ben Chun, Joni Beemsterboer, Diane Campbell and Dorian Dunne. These six provided planning guidance and strength every step of the way. And, then there was the beautiful voice of Diana Pray, John Hornor and his cornet, the amazing SF Fire Department with their Fire Boat water display, and, of course, all our hearty swimmers. THANKS, ALL!
Swimmers
67 swimmers checked in and were issued arm numbers. They are, in alphabetical order:
Tamar Besson
Aude Bouagnon
Julia Brashares
Kathy Brody
Mary Cantini-Norkin
Jess Christine
Jeffrey Citron
Phillip Clark
Darcy Cohn
Christophe Crombez
Laura Croome
Peter Cullinan
Bevin Daniels
Leslie Daniels
Anne Diedrich
Lisa Domitrovich
Anthony DuComb
Johan Duramy
Sherri Eng
Elliot Evers
Phil Fernandez
Anne Hamersky
Steve Hanson
Pia Hinckle
John Hornor
Nancy Hornor
Heidi Howell
Krist Jake
Beko Jang
Alisha Kewalramani
Adrienne Klein
Chloe Klug
David Klug
Christopher Kocher
Heather Kremer
Nancy Lange
David Maloney
Marla McGowan
Robert McKenzie
John Melcher
Nico Mervin
Shane Mervin
Kent Myers
Tom Neill
Peter Neubauer
Dorothy Niccolls
Devan Nielsen
Chloe Noonan
David O’Reilly
Todd Oppenheimer
Rick Perez
Tony Phillips
Diana Pray
Robin Rome
Debra Rose
Miranda Rouse
Julian Sapirstein
Donna Schumacher
Brendan Sheehan
Beth Stein
Arnie Thompson
Omer Thompson
David Ufferfilge
Kathy Wallace
Diane Walton
Jesse Wayne
Eric Wind
In addition, a number of swimmers arrived too late to be checked in, but swam anyway. An incomplete list of them is:
Justine Juson
Jeff Kennedy
Steve Pratt
Stephen Schatz
Daniel Silva
Callen Taylor
Mike Tschantz-Hahn
HELPERS
- RACE DIRECTORS: Duke Dahlin, Diane Campbell
- Co-Captains: Joni Beemsterboer & Dorian Dunne
- Signups: Lindsay Casablanca (paper) Diane Campbell (online)
- Promotion/Posters: Maryann Murphy & Ben Chun
- Courses: Beth Stein, Brian Kiernan, Jon Grunstad, Ben Chun
- Food: Susan Garfield, Justine Juson, Karin McClune, Ellen Boyle (SERC), Dorian Dunne
- Tributes: Steve Hanson & Julie Ask
- Registration & Check-in: Andrew Cassidy, Jeff Citron, Peter Cullinan, Claire Perry, Sona Sondhi
- Decorations: Sunny McKee, Bevin Daniels, Robin Hart, J Christine
- Swim Briefing & Starter: Ben Chun
- Safety/Emergency Plan: Vincent Huang & Cathy Huang
- Pilots: Brian Kiernan, Kati Hopman, Ryan Hedum, Margaret Keenan, Susan Allen, Madhuri Yechuri, Sunny McKee, Raine O’Connor, Kristoffer Milonas, Cathy Huang, Vincent Huang, Era Osibe, Eric Shackleford
- Trinkets: Duke Dahlin
- Finish Line Chute Build: Maeve Lavelle, Dorian Dunne, Joni Beemsterboer
- Finish Line Recorders: Janice Wood, Tom Hunt, Joni Beemsterboer, Mara Iaconi,
- Monica Towers, Dorian Dunne, Duke Dahlin
- Clean-up: Marie Sayles, Jean Lamming, Paul (new member), Rick Perez, Dorian Dunne, Ellen Boyle (SERC)
- Club Veteran Researcher/Outreach: Beth Stein & Diane Campbell
- Ceremony: Duke Dahlin, Diane Campbell, Diane Walton, Diana Pray, John Hornor, David O’Reilly (Sound system & Fire Boat spotter)
- Photographer: Jana Asenbrennerova
- Dolphin Log/Dolphin Data Base: Andrew Cassidy
- Fire Boat: SFFD
- Consultants/Gophers/Cheerleaders: Duke Dahlin, Diane Walton, Tom Hunt, Andrew Cassidy, Sue Garfield, Ben Chun, Dorian Dunne, Brendan Sheehan, Tim McElligott, John Ingle, Nathaniel Berger, Margaret Keenan, Jeff Citron, Robin Rome, and Joni Beemsterboer.
