The College of Staten Island men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs will kick off their official 2017-18 season this coming weekend against Mount Saint Mary College, but they took some time this weekend to jump in the pool, literally, with members of the program’s alumni, competing in an annual Alumni Meet.  

A total of 15 alumni members were on hand to celebrate, competing in a variety of events alongside current Dolphins, who got themselves a good tune-up in time for the regular season starting soon.  In the end the current Dolphins team won 9 out of 14 individual events making them the winners, while the Alumni took the lone relay event.

It felt great to welcome back the alumni this weekend,” said Head Coach Michael Ackalitis.  “It’s great to see our alumni move into the future and find success while coming back to support us.”

Participants in the meet included: Stephen O’Driscoll, John Pignatelli, Chris Pinto, Timur Rakhimov, Santonio Shand, Tim Sweeney, Derek Villa, Priscila Alvarez, Natasha Caicedo, Tina Chen, Naomi Gaggi, Joanna Irizarry-Zaraza, Elaina Lei, Jamilia Mambetalieva, and Shannon McCormick.  After the meet, members of the Dolphins team and the alumni shared refreshments and spent time together, sharing stories and celebrating being a part of the winning tradition as CSI.

Highlights of the meet included the women’s 50-yard Freestyle, where alumni Shannon McCormick and Natasha Caicedo came in 1-2.  In a pair of very tight races, recent grad Timothy Sweeney narrowly beat out junior Nicholas Defonte in the 200-yared Freestyle, and sophomore Pete Carle narrowly defeated alum and current assistant coach Derek Villa in the 50-yard Freestyle.

“Despite the current team winning, it was really an exciting and close race,”  said Ackalitis.  “In the end it was simply great to see both teams come together and our alumni appreciating where they came from and giving back to our current team.”

For future event dates for Alumni and other major events, celebrating CSI tradition, be sure to follow the CSI Dolphins Alumni Facebook Page as well.

For photos of the Alumni Meet click HERE.