Every year since 2010, we have used the last weekend before Christmas as a celebration of the traditions of Seton Swimming with a Homecoming Meet. At that meet, we invite our alumni back to cheer and swim with us. This year, we had 38 Swimming and Diving alumni and Coaches hitting the water and several more joining us on deck. That is easily the most we have ever had come back.
This year felt like a particularly special Homecoming for me for other reasons too. This is the first year that I’ve am coaching without a kid on the team. It all started for me back in 2000 as an assistant coach with my daughters Kaitlyn (Brindle) and Kelly (Mooney), followed shortly by my son Kevin Koehr – and it ended when Connor Koehr graduated last year.
So, you can imagine how special it was for me to see Kelly, Kevin and Connor back on deck along with Fr. Sean Koehr, Patrick Koehr, Brian Koehr, Seamus Koehr, and Ceili Koehr.
The Meet was the beginning of what is going to be a very special Christmas Homecoming for me. With seven (7) sons that are, were, or are training to be military officers, it always seems like someone is deployed over Christmas. But this year is going to be different.
On the Sunday after the Meet, the family rallied for the baptism of Seamus Michael Koehr, Jr, Colleen and my 18th child from my son Seamus and his lovely wife Colette. As Fr. Sean began the sacramental celebration, I turned to see Daniel Koehr and Brendan Koehr walking into the church after a 25-hour drive from Colorado.
All that remains is for Kaitlyn, her husband Daniel Brindle, and their eight (8) children to show up to the house later today (Monday), and we will have them all – all 12 children, all 5 sons- and daughters-in-law, and all 18 grandchildren – for the second family celebration in two (2) days, Connor’s 19th birthday.
During the Mass right after baby Seamus’ baptism, Fr. Sean Koehr gave a homily that so eloquently spoke of the joy of new life. An openness to life has certainly resulted in more blessings than I could have possibly imagined, and I feel like the blessings I have experienced so far are just beginning. Here is the way that Fr. Sean described how an openness to life can seize our hearts and bring such great joy:
Fr. Sean Koehr Homily-Fourth Sunday of Advent 2025A
Fr. Sean Koehr Opening Prayer-Seton Homecoming Invitational-Dec20,25
My whole experience since Saturday has felt, figuratively, like 1,002 wins. I just cannot believe how much God has blessed Colleen and me.
But now, I think I need a nap.
1,002 Wins, Literally
It seems nearly impossible to imagine, but Seton Swim & Dive just crossed a threshold that not many teams, if any, ever cross. Since the start of the 2002 season, with the 20 wins we got on Saturday, we have now accumulated 1,002 regular season dual meet wins!
How is that possible?
Recall that regular season Dual Meets are scored as what is called a “3+ Dual Meet” which means there is actually a dual meet going on between every combination of teams present. At Saturday’s Homecoming Meet for instance, we had 11 boys’ teams and 11 girls’ teams. That means we had 11C2 Meets (i.e., the number of ways you can combine 11 teams, 2 at a time) going on for the girls and 11C2 for the boys – that means we had 55 total girl’s meets and 55 total boy’s meets.
For just Seton, we had 10 opponents for both the boys and the girls – thus we had 10 separate dual meets for both the boys and girls – and we won them all.
So, if you host over 200 Meets (as Seton has since 2002), and if you include multiple teams in each one, it becomes possible to get to over 1,000 in the course of nearly 25-years.
If you want to learn more about how high school swim meets are scored, you can check out my single most-read blog called, “So How is a High School Meet Scored, Anyway?”
Here is the actual tally of dual meet wins, losses and ties since 2002, when I first became the Head Coach. There are a lot of great memories in this tally:
Seton Swim & Dive Win-Loss Record-2002 thru Dec’25
If you were to look into the details, you’d see that the vast majority of the losses were against Division I teams like Woodberry Forest, Collegiate, and St. Catherine’s against whom we would swim annually when I was heavily involved in the VISAA State Swimming Committee. Of course, there were our fair share of losses to the Fredericksburg Christian boys in the middle 2000-teens, the Trinity Christian girls, and now the Immanuel Christian boys.
Here are how the scores turned out for the 20 Dual Meets from just this past Saturday:
Boys
Seton Swim & Dive 174 Immanuel Christian 135
Seton Swim & Dive 197 Alexandria City High 103
Seton Swim & Dive 203 Basis Independent McLean 87
Seton Swim & Dive 225 Trinity Christian 59
Seton Swim & Dive 236 Fredericksburg Christian 39
Seton Swim & Dive 240 Fresta Valley Christian 47
Seton Swim & Dive 241 Trinity Meadow View 29
Seton Swim & Dive 244 Carmel School 34
Seton Swim & Dive 247 Evergreen Christian 28
Seton Swim & Dive 252 Veritas Collegiate 11
Girls
Seton Swim & Dive 201 Trinity Christian 97
Seton Swim & Dive 203 Basis Independent McLean 94
Seton Swim & Dive 204 Fredericksburg Christian 87
Seton Swim & Dive 205 Alexandria City High 94
Seton Swim & Dive 222 Immanuel Christian 76
Seton Swim & Dive 235 Evergreen Christian 44
Seton Swim & Dive 235 Trinity Meadow View 36
Seton Swim & Dive 239 Fresta Valley Christian 46
Seton Swim & Dive 243 Veritas Collegiate 21
Seton Swim & Dive 248 Carmel School 35
Let the games begin between the Seton and Trinity Christian girls as the Seton and Immanuel Christian boys. During this past week, I know that neither Seton, Trinity Christian, nor Immanuel Christian were lined up to try to win – personal development considerations were more important for the time being – but that will all change after Christmas break.
On January 3rd, we will gather all the teams in the Virginia Christian Athletic Conference (VCAC) for a series of Dual Meets to determine the regular season champion.
Two (2) seasons ago was the first time in 29-year history of the team (at that time) that our girls failed to win either the Regular Season Conference Championship or the Conference Championship Meet – thanks to Trinity Christian School. We lost the regular season meet with a DQ of our girls 400 Free “B” Relay on the last event of the meet, and we lost the Conference Championship Meet by a single point with over 600-points scored.
Needless to say, I am not anxious for that to ever happen again.
And as I wrote about last week, our boys will be faced with a similar but newer rival, Immanuel Christian School, who will be coming into the Meet with the strongest team they have ever had.
Immanuel Christian’s Moses Wolf (JR) and company will be hard for our Seton boys to beat, but we will be coming ready to compete!
Our Alumni are Still Fast!
I was trading messages with Seton parent David Wilson yesterday, and we were both expressing the joy we felt watching our adult kids come back and all swim together. His boys, Evan, Joe, Max, and Jonas, teamed up to form a relay that was still remarkably fast. I particularly enjoyed watching Evan Wilson ’21 rock a 24.06 anchor split. I know that David was just happy to see his boys all together again.
I know what he felt because I had Coach Kevin, Fr. Sean, Coach Shane, and Connor Koehr all back in the water too.
Connor ended up swimming with his buddies from last year – Drew Nguyen, Joe Borneman, and Liam Halisky – in a medley relay that was very competitive with our current relay.
The older Koehr brothers were joined in a Coach’s relay with Coach Bryce Bohman, a former NCAA All-America who, in his mid-30s, split an unbelievable 21.29 in 50 Butterfly. No breaths.
I had a great interview with Coach Bohman on the livestream after he swam. I asked him why he decided to volunteer to coach with Seton this year, and his very eloquent answer really moved me:
“I love the opportunity impact people. You see what you guys have built and how many people are invested in what you guys do. I saw that, I saw the way it was run, and I said, ‘this is the best opportunity for me to be able to help impact the most people that I can.’ ”
Bryce’s timing could not have been better, because he stepped in right as Coach Ross Palazzo was moving on with his life after moving the needle for our team in a similar way. Imagine my surprise when I looked up to the bleachers part way into the Meet and saw Coach Palazzo standing there! And Coach Pat Mulhern was on deck too. I know I was not the only one who was excited to have them back for Homecoming!
We had multiple other alumni relays in the water including one with Seth Kellogg, Peter Konstanty, William Sokban, and Michael Brox, one with Maggie Gibbons, Clara Condon, Stella Paradise, and Elodie Brox, and one with Haley Fifield, Rose Waldron, Lucy Cunningham, and Mary Catherine Hurley.
We even two other family relays in the water. In the first one, Coach Scott Kay with the help of Coach Jeremy Kleb, was able to compete with his son Connor Kay and his nephew Dominic Sciscilo. How about Coach Kay’s 26.61 50 Butterfly split! Then, Coach Casey Beltran, with the help of Coach Mary Claire Osilka, was able to swim with her kids James and Emma.
Even more fun than the medley relays were the alumni heats of 50 Free. The first heat featured four (4) adult Koehr brothers, two Konstanty brothers, William Sokban, Seth Kellogg and Coach Kleb. Fr. Sean Koehr, at age 35, smoked the field with a 25.13! That almost certainly makes him the fastest priest in the U.S. Navy or Diocese of Arlington.
Then the next boys heat featured a slew of swimmers from last years powerful boy’s class including Joe Borneman, Michael Brox, Connor Koehr, Liam Halisky, Max Wilson, and Drew Nguyen. Joe Borneman just out-touched Michael Brox and Max Wilson at 23.62. I was particularly amazed by Michael Brox’s 23.73 after his recent recovery from rotator cuff surgery.
Not to be outdone, the girls also had an excellent heat of 50 Free. Coach Casey Beltran joined recent graduates Clara Condon, Elodie Brox, Stella Paradise, Haley Fifield, Rose Waldron, Lucy Cunningham, and Mary Catherine Hurley. Stella and Elodie went 1-2 at 26.64 and 26.92, respectively. They all still have it!
We don’t normally swim alumni 200 Free Relays, but the senior boys from last year couldn’t resist – and boy did they make a show! Michael Brox, Joe Borneman, Max Wilson, and Liam Halisky put together a relay that swam the fastest time in the entire meet, beating our current “A” relay by more than a second.
Wow! Max Wilson split 22.95!
We had several other alumni join us on deck at various points in the meet including Molly Bauer and Meg Blanchette who stopped by to say hello.
Prior to the swimming competition, we also had several alumni divers compete including Connor Koehr, Seamus Koehr, Gus Kohlhaas, Coach Mick Fioramonti, and Rosie Waldron. Joining them was Coach Ashley Keapproth who showed that she definitely still has what it takes to compete.
Homecoming has become a great annual tradition right before Christmas, and I am really looking forward to getting more alumni back in the future. Put it on your calendar for next year – Saturday, December 19, 2026!
Diving
Our diving team continues to excel, with the experience divers stepping up to the challenge presented to them by the younger divers, particularly on the girls’ side. I think Emma Magness (7) could one day be a State Champion if she chooses to be.
Here are some excerpts from the note that Coach Ashley Keapproth sent out to the Diving Team:
Good afternoon, Seton Diving Families–
It was great to see so many alumni at our Homecoming Invitational yesterday. The meet was much bigger than anticipated (we never know how many alumni will dive), so I apologize to the group 2 divers who were not able to have their exhibition meet before the pool was set up for the swim meet. Nevertheless, it was a great bonus practice for those who were able to dive!
With 13 divers on the girls’ side and 13 on the boys’ side, this was the largest competition we have had all season. Many divers set new Personal Records including:
- Emma Magness (7) absolutely rocked her first high school dive meet ever, and her score of 159.80 was the second highest in the meet! Emma is a Level 8 gymnast, and her power and grace were evident in her dives.
- Maria Miller (12) placed 3rd with 153.60 points, setting a new PR! I was incredibly proud of her competing in a new dive — an inward one and a half somersault — that she had just learned the night before, as well as competing a back somersault with a half twist for the first time ever!
- Clare Kay (8) finished 4th with 149.60 points, setting a new PR for herself! She has worked hard on mastering a front double somersault, which she competed for the first time yesterday!
- Bella Gorman (8) absolutely crushed her prior PR by over 15 points, setting a new PR of 139.15 — less than a point away from the State Championship qualifying score. She is only 1 dive away from the full list she needs to dive at States!
- Kenny Ngyuen (11) placed 3rd place with 142.30 points, setting a new PR and hitting the State qualification score! Kenny has been incredibly focused and has stepped up his training this week, and it shows!
- Tom Waldron (10) placed 4th and also broke his PR this week with 134.10 points. He competed an inward one and one half somersault which he had just relearned the day before.
- Max Ashton (8) also increased his PR by 3 points, setting a new PR of 113.10.
We are at a point in the season where we don’t actually spend a lot of time doing the six dives we compete on any given week. Instead, the bulk of our time is spent working on new dives to increase difficulty, as well as ensuring that divers know all 11 dives needed to compete in the championship season. Lots of divers learned new dives this week including:
- Mark Hartung (7) learned a front one and a half somersault.
- Bella Gorman (8) learned a reverse dive.
- Max Ashton (8) learned a front double somersault.
- Lucy Herwick (9) learned back somersault with a half twist.
- Meghan Condon (10) learned a back one and a half somersault.
- Jane Judge (10) learned a reverse dive with a half twist.
- Daniel Sokban (11) learned back somersaults with a full twist.
- Maria Miller (12) learned an inward one and a half somersault.
128 Total Personal Records for 107 Swimmers and Divers
Besides the joy of Christmas and the opportunity to see so many of our old swimmers and divers, we had three (3) other things going on during the Meet. First, we gave as many kids as possible the opportunity to show what they could do in Breaststroke and Butterfly. Since Election Day, we have been methodically building every stroke and every wall (i.e., Starts, Turns, and Underwaters) with all six (6) practice groups, and this week, our focus was Breaststroke and Butterfly.
I was incredibly pleased by the level of improvement that I saw – 128 new Personal Records. As I scanned down the results of 100 Fly, 100 Breaststroke, and the unique opportunity we were able to provide this week with 50 Fly, I was very impressed with the very high percentage of swims that were Personal Records. In most of the heats, it was a Seton swimmer who was the “last one up”, and I loved watching so many long underwater glides in Breaststroke and so many “soft hands” in Butterfly.
Next, I have used our three (3) December Meets to try to get as many people as possible to swim as many different events as possible. The goal of having as many kids as possible swim all eight (8) events before the end of the season has been more elusive than normal because of the number of kids who have been sick. On Saturday, we had over 19 kids out for sickness or other reasons. I hope everyone can get healthy over the Christmas holidays!
The final big thing that was happening in the background during this Meet was our swimmers starting to compete in earnest for spots on our championship Meet team and relays. I have been mixing up the relays to offer the best possible opportunity for everyone to earn a spot on team for our upcoming trip to Loyola University in Baltimore for National Catholics on January 17th and 18th.
As I’ve already discussed however, my more immediate focus, however, is our VCAC Conference Meet on January 3rd which will decide the Regular Season Conference Championship. Our boys and girls are going are really going to have to swim their best to beat Immanuel Christian and Trinity Christian.
And if our girls want to win the VISAA Division II State Championship in February, we are going to have to be able to finish 100s and 200s. We had an excellent turn-out at our first Christmas practice – we need that level of attendance to continue because we have some serious training to do to be ready.
With 128 this week, our total for the first half of the season is now 465 Personal Records! I’ve always said that the fastest way to get faster is to do the stroke right, and we see the evidence of that every single week. Some of the Personal Records that I saw on Saturday were absolutely stunning – there’s no other way to get that level of improvement with conditioning alone.
Can you tell that we’ve been working on Breaststroke and Butterfly as you look down the lists below? One indication is our 86.3% Personal Record Rate for Breaststroke and Butterfly.
Let me start the list by welcoming Lara Martinez (8) to her first meet of the season. She’s only in 8th grade, but she is going to make her mark this year, as she already started to show with a 8.09 second PR in 100 Fly (1:09.48), her 3.93 second PR in 100 Back (1:08.34), and her 1.63 second PR in 100 Free leading off a relay (59.98).
Here are the largest PRs we saw on Saturday:
- Charlie Dusek (SR) must have eaten his Wheaties on Saturday morning! (Perhaps I should drop references to 1970s culture in this blog, but if you were around then, you know that is a big compliment and that I’m about to say that he did something amazing). He swam 500 Free almost 2 full minutes faster (116 .67 seconds) than his previous best. Charlie also cut 9.19 seconds in 100 Breaststroke.
- Thomas Goodman (8) did it! Not only did he swim his first truly legal 100 Breaststroke, but he swam it 93.63 seconds faster than his previous best time. Coach Shane Koehr was very pleased.
- Joel Bookwalter (FR) surprised exactly no one when he destroyed his previous 500 Free PR by over a minute (64.37 seconds) and swam 100 Fly for the first time in only 1:20.50.
- Caeli McCardell (6) had two massive time drops on Saturday. In 100 Free she dropped 45.29 seconds, and in 50 Free she dropped 13.81 seconds.
- Jane Judge (SO) had a heck of a good day on Saturday. Not only did she drop a massive 44.29 seconds in 500 Free, she dropped 2.10 seconds in 100 Fly and .23 seconds in 50 Back leading off a relay.
- Jane Vaughan (7) broke 2:00 for the first time in 100 Breaststroke after an incredible 38.31 second PR. She also dropped 2.17 seconds in 100 Free to break 1:30 for the first time.
- Angela Andreu (SO) not only swam her first legal breaststroke, but she did it in stunning fashion with a 36.70 second PR. Her 50 Fly was almost as stunning with a 9.62 second PR. Here underwaters were long and beautiful and that contributed to this very large time drops.
- Heidi Mayer (6) dropped a nearly unbelievable 36.22 seconds in 100 Back and 9.08 seconds in 50 Free. She is now only .25 seconds away from breaking 1:00 in 50 Free. Coach Jeremy Kleb was beaming.
- Charlotte Meadows (FR) beat her previous best 500 Free time by more than half a minute (31.01 seconds), and she beat her previous best 200 Free time by 11.44 seconds.
- Bethany Allen (7) had massive PRs in 100 Fly and 100 Breaststroke, cutting 28.60 seconds and 8.62 seconds, respectively.
- John Cooley (SO) crushed his 200 IM PR by 24.31 seconds.
- Oisin Haggerty (7) had a huge drop in 100 Breaststroke, beating his previous PR by 22.86 seconds.
- Thiago Martinez (SO) continues to show that he is one of the top two male swimmers on our team – as a sophomore! In 200 Free, he went 1:56.62, a PR by 21.74 seconds. In 100 Breast, he went 1:10.07, a PR by 3.74 seconds, and in 50 Free, he went 23.87, a PR by .20 seconds.
- Mary Elder (6) made her grandfather, Gary “Carl” Meza, very proud with her 19.92 second PR in 100 Breaststroke. Coach Jerry Zadnik was also quite pleased.
- Lucas de Brey (7) made Coach Shane Koehr proud with his 18.87 second drop in 100 Back and his 3.72 second drop in 50 Free.
- Betsy Arnold (JR) dropped 18.32 seconds in 200 Free, .67 seconds in 50 Back leading off a relay, and .84 seconds in 100 Free leading off another relay.
- Jonas Wilson (SO) has cemented himself on the Varsity roster already because of his continued and dramatic improvement. On Saturday, he cut 17.38 seconds in 100 Back to go 1:10.71, and he cut 13.78 seconds in 100 Fly to go 1:11.92.
- James Beltran (7) cut 17.28 seconds from his 100 Breaststroke PR and 3.94 seconds from his 50 Fly PR.
- Dominic Sciscilo (7) crushed his 100 Fly PR by 16.07 seconds and his 100 Breast PR by 12.59 seconds. The resulting times of 1:25.70 and 1:34.75, respectively, are superior for a 7th
- Aoife Haggerty (JR) had a great swim in 500 Free, beating her previous best time by 15.99 seconds.
And here are the rest of the many Personal Records that were swum on Saturday:
- Ariana Aldeguer (JR) took advantage of her opportunity to swim some events that she wouldn’t normally do, like 100 Breaststroke where she dropped 1.33 seconds.
- Naomi Allen (6) lowered her 100 Breast PR by 2.24 seconds and her 50 Free PR by .36 seconds.
- Clara Bauer (7) had a pair of beautiful swims in 100 Breast and 50 Fly, dropping 3.72 seconds and 8.33 seconds, respectively.
- Katie Bauer (SO) looked great during her 12.52 second PR swim in 200 IM.
- Emma Beltran (8) is starting to get more competitive at the high school level with her 9.88 second PR in 100 Breast and her 3.21 second PR in 50 Fly.
- Michael Brand (SR) showed great improvement in 100 Breaststroke cutting 4.99 seconds from his Personal Record.
- Grace Catabui (8) beat her previous best 100 Breaststroke time by 3.97 seconds.
- Katie Cooley (8) broke 1:40 for the first time in 100 Breaststroke after a 2.71 second PR.
- Rafael De Micoli (SO) cut 6.56 seconds from his PR in 100 Back.
- Annie Dusek (SO) dropped 1.40 seconds in 500 Free.
- Rose Ellis (SR) rocked her 50 Fly with a 9.50 second PR. She also cut .37 seconds in 50 Back leading off a relay and .88 seconds in 100 Breast.
- Kyleigh Fifield (JR) beat her 100 Fly PR by 11.56 seconds to go a time that should score well in conference competition.
- Luke Fifield (FR) looked great during his 2.74 second PR swim in 100 Breast and his .33 second PR in 50 Free leading off a relay. His 50 Free was under :30 for the first time.
- JJ Garvey (FR) had his best swim ever in 100 Free, lowering his PR by 3.12 seconds. He’s starting to look very strong in the water.
- Gigi Gibaldi (JR) looked great during her 3.91 second PR swim in 200 Free and her 2.32 second PR swim in 100 Breaststroke.
- Addi Hadro (8) cut 11.16 seconds from her 100 Breaststroke PR and 1.00 seconds from her 100 Free PR.
- Eamon Haggerty (FR) lowered his 100 Breaststroke PR by .97 seconds.
- John Paul Hartung (FR) beat his previous best in 100 Back by 14.17 seconds.
- Charlie Hawley (7) had a 6.15 second PR in 100 Free.
- Maddie Henderson (7) looked great during her 4.50 second PR in 100 Breaststroke and her 1.61 second PR in 50 Fly.
- Natalia Hercules (7) dropped 5.29 seconds in 50 Free and 4.43 seconds in 100 Back. Coach Jeremy Kleb was very pleased.
- Lucy Herwick (FR) had a great swim in 100 Breaststroke, beating her previous best by 11.87 seconds.
- Monica Irving (SO) dropped 2.15 seconds in 200 IM.
- William Judge (7) crushed his 100 Fly PR by 9.79 seconds and his 100 Breast PR by 3.96 seconds.
- Clare Kay (8) had a wonderful 2.27 second PR in 200 Free and a 4.06 second PR in 100 Breaststroke.
- Marian Kay (6) lowered her 100 Breast PR by 1.11 seconds and her 50 Fly PR by .51 seconds.
- Patrick Kay (SO) dropped another .46 seconds in 50 Back leading off a medley relay that could make the finals at States. Keep it up Patrick! He also cut .11 seconds in 50 Free to go 25.43.
- Rebecca Kramer (8) looked beautiful in 100 Breaststroke during her 8.71 second PR swim. She also looked great during her 7.88 second PR swim in 50 Fly.
- Joey Lynch (SO) cut 4.81 seconds from his 200 Free PR.
- Emma Magness (7) swam 100 Fly for the first time in only 1:24.52. The only reason that wasn’t a PR was because I didn’t have a previous time on her.
- Avila Mantooth (SO) cut 1.88 seconds in 100 Backstroke, swimming a time that should score well in conference competition.
- Julia Maranian (SO) had a huge 7.90 second PR in 100 Breaststroke.
- Colette Mikkelson (6) dropped 7.80 seconds in 100 Breaststroke.
- Maggie Mikkelson (8) dropped 4.26 seconds in 100 Breaststroke too.
- Maeve Mooney (6) had a great meet on Saturday. She crushed her previous best in 100 Breaststroke by 9.82 seconds and her previous best in 50 Free by 5.01 seconds. In 50 Free, she broke :40 for the first time. Then, when I put her in 50 Fly at the last minute, she crushed that too, beating her previous best by 7.53 seconds!
- James Nugyen (8) had a great swim in 100 Fly, dropping 12.16 seconds. He also swam well in 100 Breaststroke with a 7.11 second PR and in 50 Free leading off a relay with a .52 second PR.
- William Orellana (8) cut 19.43 seconds in 50 Back leading off a relay. I can only imagine what he could do with better practice attendance.
- Melissa Paradise (JR) continues to drop in 50 Backstroke leading off our girls “A” Medley Relay. With more concentration on her underwaters, she dropped another .16 seconds to go a very fast 27.60.
- Therese Paradise (8) showed her versatility by thriving in the 200 Free and 100 Breaststroke this past weekend. She cut .36 seconds and .19 seconds, respectively, and went very fast times, especially for an 8th In 200 Free she went 2:05.74, and in 100 Breaststroke she went 1:13.63.
- Kolbe Partridge (6) beat his previous best in 100 Breaststroke by 2.05 seconds.
- Charbel “CJ” Pennefather (7) had his best swim ever in 100 Breaststroke, lowering his PR by a whopping 11.13 seconds. He also cut a whopping 5.62 seconds in 50 Fly.
- Gianna Pillion (FR) lowered her 100 Breaststroke PR by 5.64 seconds.
- Camila Quispe (FR) has improved so much that we had to look on the Meet Program during the livestream to make sure it was her. It was fun to watch her drop 4.05 seconds in 50 Fly.
- Lexi Reeves (6) cut .35 seconds in 100 Free.
- Sofia Reeves (7) dropped 1.00 seconds in 100 Free and .28 seconds in 100 Breaststroke.
- Therese Rehmann (6) beat her previous best in 50 Free by 2.55 seconds.
- Caroline Schroer (8) lowered her 100 Back PR by 1.32 seconds.
- Christopher Schroer (6) used a better glide to swim to a 6.38 second PR in 100 Breaststroke.
- Daniel Schroer (6) also swam a PR in 100 Breaststroke, his by 2.13 seconds.
- Maggie Schroer (SO) beat her previous best in 100 Fly by .93 seconds.
- Bella Vaughan (FR) dropped 10.03 seconds in 100 Breaststroke and 3.81 seconds in 50 Back leading off a medley relay.
- Noah Vaughan (JR) cut 8.45 seconds from his 200 Free PR.
- Lily Waldron (SO) dropped 6.09 seconds in 100 Back and .07 seconds in 100 Free.
- Joce Wilson (7) lowered her 50 Fly PR by 5.36 seconds and her 100 Breast PR by 3.27 seconds.
- Joe Witter (8) cut .55 seconds from his 50 Back PR leading off a relay.
- Michael Zahorchak (JR) rocked is 100 Fly in only 1:05.63 after a 4.22 second PR. He also had a great swim in 100 Back after a 1.22 second PR.
Championship Meet Qualifiers
Recall that there are two championship meets that are unique in that, to qualify, you or your relay must beat a qualification time at a high school meet during the current season. Those meets are:
- The National Catholic High School Championship at Loyola University of Maryland in Baltimore, MD on January 17-18, 2026 (aka “National Catholics”)
- The VISAA State Swimming & Diving Championship at Jeff Rouse Swim & Sport in Stafford, VA on February 12-14, 2026. (aka “States”)
I have posted both the qualification standards and the qualifying swimmers under Meet Information for both Meets.
Congratulations to the following Seton individual qualifiers for National Catholics, so far:
- Swimming
- Girls
- Ariana Aldeguer (JR)
- Betsy Arnold (SO)
- Kyleigh Fifield (JR)
- Anastasia Garvey (SR)
- Philomena Kay (JR)
- Avila Mantooth (SO)
- Lara Martinez (8)
- Melissa Paradise (JR)
- Therese Paradise (8)
- Maggie Schroer (SO)
- Boys
- Jack Herwick (SO)
- Lionel Martinez (JR)
- Thiago Martinez (SO)
- Daniel Sokban (JR)
- Diving
- Girls
- Meghan Condon (SO)
- Maria Miller (SR)
- Jane Judge (SO)
- Claire Kay (8)
- Lucy Herwick (SO)
- Bella Gorman (8)
- Boys
- Daniel Sokban (JR)
- Girls
- Girls
The eligibility rules for National Catholics are much less stringent than the rules for States. For instance, the Seton team qualifies an “A” and/or “B” relay – as a team – and then we are free to line up the fastest versions of those relays.
At States, each individual on the relay must have actually swum on the qualifying relay during the season. One update this year is that for a relay to qualify, all four (4) swimmers must have swum that relay together. Another example of a difference in the qualification rules is that, for National Catholics, if you are qualified for the Meet at all, you can swim up to two (2) individual events. That is definitely not true for States.
For Diving at States, to qualify you must be able to do 11 Dives from all five (5) categories and demonstrate that you scored at least 2.5 on each one of them. Plus, you have to have scored at least 140.00 in a 6-Dive Meet or 200.00 in an 11-Dive Meet.
Here is where Seton currently stands on individual qualifiers for the VISAA State Championship Meet:
- Swimming
- Girls
- Ariana Aldeguer (JR)
- Melissa Paradise (JR)
- Therese Paradise (8)
- Maggie Schroer (SO)
- Boys
- Lionel Martinez (JR)
- Thiago Martinez (SO)
- Daniel Sokban (JR)
- Girls
- Diving
- Girls
- Meghan Condon (SO)
- Maria Miller (SR)
- Jane Judge (SO)
- Claire Kay (8)
- Boys
- Kenny Nguyen
- Girls
We have already qualified both A and B Relays for all three (3) relay events for the girls at States, and I hope to qualify both A and B Relays for Seton in every boy’s relay event also, so the list of attendees at States will get longer. We will run the fastest possible relays at States, so just because you are qualified in a relay, doesn’t mean you are going.
I’ve posted the current individual and relay qualifiers under Meet Information for both National Catholics and States.
Christmas Break Practices
Traditionally, every Christmas Break, we have practices at the Freedom Center for the Varsity swimmers who will be scoring in the key Conference and Championship meets starting in January. It is time to get to work on some cardiovascular training, so don’t miss these practices if you can possibly help it!
Since we don’t yet know who is on the Varsity team, in general, this means Group 1 and 2 Swimmers who were entered as a scoring swimmer in one of the December meets. That means that most of the swimmers who practice with Coach Bohman, Coach Kay, and Coach Schroer should plan on attending.
Everyone else can take the Christmas holiday off. I know that some of you want to swim, but we won’t have enough lanes or enough coaches to accommodate any more kids. So, if you are not Varsity, relax and enjoy Christmas – then come back ready for the push to the January 24th JV Invitational at the Freedom Center.
For Diving, Coach Keapproth will announce her expectations for attendance over the break.
Swimming practices:
- Monday, December 22nd (8:34 a.m. for Dryland, 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. in the water)
- Tuesday, December 23rd (10:04 a.m. for Dryland, 10:30 to Noon in the water)
- Update: No Practice swim on Friday, December 26th
- Monday, December 29th (8:34 a.m. for Dryland, 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. in the water)
- Friday, January 2nd (8:34 a.m. for Dryland, 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. in the water)
Diving practices:
- Monday, December 22nd (10:15 a.m. to Noon)
- Tuesday, December 23rd (11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.)
- Monday, December 29th (10:15 a.m. to Noon)
- Friday, January 2nd (normal times for normal groups from 4:15 to 7:00 p.m.)
Our Christmas practice schedule is posted on the Team Calendar on www.setonswimming.org
Also remember that we have the Cystic Fibrosis Swim-a-thon on Wednesday, December 31st from 10:00 to 1:00 p.m. at the Freedom. I have the detailed information posted under Meet Information.
Each Captain has a team, and every member of the Swim Team is assigned to one of those teams. By now, you should have joined your team and started fundraising. If you have a question, ask your team captain.
If you are in town, please plan on being at these practices and the Swim-a-thon. I’m sure that Trinity Christian and Oakcrest will be working hard.
Cystic Fibrosis Swim-a-Thon
If you look under Meet Information, you will see some details on our annual New Year’s Eve Cystic Fibrosis Swim-a-thon on Wednesday, December 31st from 10:00 to 1:00 p.m. at the Freedom Center.
The Meet Information page gives you step-by-step instructions how to set up your fundraising page and which fundraising team you are on.
- By now, your team captain should have contacted you. If they haven’t, contact them.
- Everyone who is in town should plan to swim, but even if you are out of town on New Year’s Eve, you can help us raise money.
- The Johns Hopkins folks have made it really easy:
- Find the instruction page under Meet Information
- Click on the link to register yourself and join your assigned team
- Send a few e-mails with that same link to family and friends asking for a modest sponsorship
- If everyone does a little, we should be able to break $10,000 this year which would mean that we would break $100,000 in total fundraising since we began this event!
- The Johns Hopkins folks have made it really easy:
Here’s where the Team Standings are as of the morning of December 26th:
- Team Kyleigh $1,470
- Team Dominic $ 675
- Team Philomena $ 480
- Team Anastasia $ 350
- Team Daniel $ 275
- Team Gabby $ 270
- Team Greg $ 120
Individually, the leaders are:
- Charlotte Meadows $350
- Therese Rehmann $280
- Katie Bauer $110
- Annabelle Mikkelson $100
- Maeve Mooney $100
- Daniel Sokban $100
- Dominic Judge $100
- Gabby Russo $100
- Jack Herwick $100
- Lucy Herwick $100
- Kyleigh Fifield $100
This is a good start, but we still have loads of work to do here. Many hands make light work, so if everyone does just a little, we should be able to get there.
A Final Thought on Showing Gratitude
My kids all know that, when their friends come over to my house, they’d better greet me on the way in and on the way out (if I’m not already in bed ). I do that not simply so I know who is in my home, but I do it mainly to make sure that I send the message to my own kids that they should do that when they go to other people’s houses.
I also require my kids to thank their coaches after every practice. I recall picking Connor up from his youth lacrosse practice and making him run all the way back to the field to look his coach in the eye, shake his hand firmly, and thank him for practice.
That sort of show of gratitude has become standard practice at Seton Swim & Dive. Some are more consistent than others, like kids named Judge, Maranian, Fifield, Hurley, and Haggerty, (no one has better handshake than Oisin Haggerty who is only in 7th grade), but most are pretty consistent.
I’ve noticed that kids, and even coaches on many other teams most often don’t think that way. Believe it or not, there are teams that show up to our meets, and I never see their coach at all. It’s certainly not that way with schools like Trinity Christian or Immanuel Christian, but you’d be surprised how common that is. If I don’t greet them, which I often seek to do, we would never talk at all. Personally, I couldn’t imagine going into someone’s “house” and not greeting the host, but perhaps our culture has just deteriorated that much.
There’s a benefit to that for each of you however, because if you just do this most basic thing, I promise you it will get noticed. Not just because it is polite and gracious but because it has become so rare.
At Saturday’s meet, there were over 300 kids in attendance from schools other than Seton, and exactly one of them came up and thanked me before he left the meet. Caleb Wolf, an alumnus from Immanuel Christian School, was a model of Gratitude that I hope all of you follow for the rest of your lives.
We’ve had a highly successful first half of the season. We need to continue to work through Christmas break so we can be ready to start competing for championships in January.
See you at practice,
Coach Jim Koehr