Girls’ swim continued their undefeated record with a 117-69 win against Bethesda Chevy-Chase High School on Saturday, Jan. 27. Boys’ swim is also 5-0, notching a 112-74 win against B-CC. This is the first time in Head Coach Jamie Grimes’ 20 years of coaching WJ swim that the boys and girls have gone 5-0 in their dual meets.
Many of the swimmers performed well in this meet, winning multiple events. Junior Noah Potter won the 200 IM and 100 Back, sophomore Taiyo Murphy won the 50 Free and 100 Breast and junior Madeleine Simmons won the 200 IM and 500 Free. There were also many successful relays, including the 200 Medlies for boys and girls, the 200 Free relays for boys and girls and the 400 Free relays for boys and girls. These triumphs drove the team to continue their undefeated season.
“We graduated [seniors] last year, we lost a bit, but I think the entire county lost a lot of quality seniors last year, so we were fortunate enough to have enough depth to keep us on top for the girls. For the guys, when we graduated, we got a few good freshmen that helped us improve. Everyone lost seniors and we were able to overcome it with seniors like Healey Morgan, one of our captains who is pretty much one of the top swimmers in the county, Matthew Martinez and Hayden Rogers who are both national qualifiers,” Grimes said.
This meet was especially special because it was senior night. Seniors Sophie Linkie, Paulina Horowitz, Healey Morgan, Matthew Martinez, Teke Helms, Emma Burlina, Charlotte Bull, Joe Flynn, Allison Xu, Oliver Forrest, Graham Eckert, Klara Pahlberg, Ivy Chen, Haden Rogers and Hannah Shroff celebrated their final regular season with a pre-meet ceremony.
For senior night, swim and dive came together to celebrate their upperclassmen, giving out sashes and tiaras to their seniors. At the end, they all went through a tunnel made by their teammates.
“I am going to miss all of the traditions and activities we do as a team. Our pasta dinners, post-meet lunches, cheers and team socials are such special traditions on the team, and I will definitely miss them a lot,” senior captain Morgan said.
Many seniors use this special night to reflect on their favorite memories from their time on WJ Swim and Dive.
“My favorite memories from WJSD were learning new dives sophomore year and attending social events such as pasta dinners,” Horowitz said.
Senior night, however, has not been the main focus for the Aquacats. With MoCo Division 1 Championships on Saturday, Feb. 3, the Cats have been working hard to prepare for their high-stake race.
“I have been working on my arm position mostly while sprinting, so there is no wasted movement while stroking,” Martinez said.
Divisionals contain the five other teams in Division 1: Churchill, B-CC, Whitman, Quince Orchard, and Wootton. There are four divisions, and Division 1 is the most competitive, making it the hardest competition to win.
“To stay calm for this competitive meet I would say that we’re putting trust into the work we’ve done so far this season and the success that we’ve had in the regular season,” Simmons said.
Now is also when divers try to master their higher skills for Divisionals to prepare for their performance.
“I’ve been working on my reverse dive to prepare for Divisionals. Most of my other dives are pretty solid and ready for Saturday, I am just trying to perfect the technique on my reverse,” sophomore Abby Koenig said.
WJ Swim and Dive hopes to keep up their undefeated record when it matters most in Divisionals.
