The swim and dive team once again proved why they have a great reputation for performing well at the end of the season. In the final “big three” meets of the season, the Division I Championships, MCPS County Championships and Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Championships, the team delivered. They finished second in both the divisional and county meets, and wrapped up their season with a combined third place finish in the Metros, a meet usually dominated by private schools.
After losing a very strong graduating class last year, many thought the team would not perform at the high level they did in recent. However, the team has surprised those critics with a very productive, winning season.
“Attitude plays a big role in how you do,” said sophomore swimmer Elizabeth Pepper. “The more positive you are, the more likely you are to do well, and I think that was a big advantage we had over the other teams.”
The boys’ team finished the season with a record of 5-1, with the girls’ finishing strong as well with a record of 4-2. During the course of the season, five school records were broken, with two of those records being broken again later in the season at least once.
“[The season] was good. I had a lot of fun,” said junior swimmer Andrew Tollefson. “[There was] some really fast swimming on the girls’ side and the guys’ side.”
Their postseason began with the Division I Championships on Feb. 7, the highest division for MCPS swim teams. The team was propelled to a second place finish with strong wins by Pepper, Tollefson, senior swimmer Mina Vucic, sophomore swimmer Sidney Drill and freshman diver Annie Kastler. Senior Aaron Budner and juniors Kevin Spak and Greg Karel also contributed with a strong meet. Pepper capped off the team’s performance by breaking the school’s record in the 100-yard Butterfly.
The team aimed for a sixth straight combined county championship on Feb. 13 and 14 at the MCPS Championships. Although the team only won two races throughout the entire meet, the team’s depth was what helped them prevail over the other teams to another second place finish out of the 22 competing schools. However, many of the swimmers had to overcome illness to swim in the meet.
“We had a number of swimmers not feeling well so we performed well despite that,” said coach Jamie Grimes. “I felt that the team did very well.”
Finally, the team aimed to challenge the rest of the schools in the Washington metro area on Feb. 21 in the Metro Championships. The team, once again, showed its depth, finishing third overall, despite only a single race win by Pepper in the 200-yard freestyle. Vucic, Tollefson and Budner also performed well in their respective races, as the team finished only behind Good Counsel, and champion Churchill, who ended Good Counsel’s run of 12 straight girls’ titles.
“Metros isn’t like any other meet,” said Pepper. “The crowd and the cheering are intense, and there’s this atmosphere there where all you want to do is go fast. I don’t think there’s any other meet that’s more exciting than that one.”
After a successful 2008-2009 season, the team is very excited for next year. Many top swimmers and divers will return, such as Tollefson, Pepper, Drill and Kastler. However, their main goal for next year is to dethrone Churchill.
“Next year should be really good,” said Tollefson. “We hope to beat Churchill, and redeem ourselves to win.”
