“You can always do more than you think you can do”
Has anyone heard me say that before? Perhaps those of you who are new to the team have only heard a variation of that line. It was the basic thesis of the talk I gave at the 2020 Swimming Awards Banquet in a talk entitled, “Let’s Literally Astound Ourselves” (link included, so give it a read).
That title is a reference to a famous quote by Thomas Edison when he said,
“If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.”
Do we believe that?
My hope is that, after intentionally or unintentionally putting many of you in uncomfortable situations over the past two weekends, many of you are starting to see this wisdom of Mr. Edison’s observation.
None of you swimmers has been 62 years old before, but I have been 13. I know what fear feels like when someone like me intentionally puts you in a position where you are compelled by a coach or parent to do something that you don’t think you can do. I do it on purpose. (Which I’ve noticed concerns some of your well-meaning mothers too ).
If you don’t believe that you can do it, neither me nor your mother will ever convince you that you can race the 500 Free, 200 IM, 200 Free, or even 100 Fly simply by talking to you. The only way to convince you is to let you convince yourself. You simply must face your fear to overcome it. I could tell by the smiles on so many of your faces this past weekend, that you now know exactly what I’m talking about.
My wife and I have raised 12 children, and I have coached over 750 different kids over the past 26 years. I’ve seen kids with Cystic-Fibrosis complete 200-lengths of the pool without quitting, and I’ve seen kids who were sick swim a Personal Record. So, when you come to me on deck, and try to tell me that you are somehow uniquely incapable of swimming 200 IM, you can forgive me for not believing you.
Over the past two (2) weeks, we’ve had four (4) swim meets, all with different purposes:
- The National Catholic High School Swim & Dive Championship was designed to help our advanced swimmers prepare to compete in the VISAA State Championship
- The Seton Winter Invitational was designed to allow our younger swimmers to experience Thomas Edison’s wisdom by tackling the 500 Free, 200 Free, and/or 200IM.
- The Paul VI Relay Carnival was just a fun mid-week meet where a small subset of our team got to race in fun relays and race for only 25-yards again
- The VISAA Junior Varsity Invitational Championship was designed as the capstone event of the season for all our swimmers and divers who are not progressing on to the Varsity post-season competitions.
This stretch of the season is always an exciting time for me because it is specifically where we have some of the best opportunities for forge the character of our swimmers and divers while they practice the fortitude required to get through what sometimes may seem to be extremely uncomfortable situations.
The theme of fortitude and how it is a cardinal virtue that can be developed through practice will be the topic of my banquet talk this year, so I won’t spend any more time on it here, but stand by – this is one of my favorite recurring topics.
What I will spend my time on is how I witnessed our swimmers develop this virtue in practice over the past two (2) weeks.
National Catholic High School Swimming and Diving Champs
Under my tenure as Head Coach, Seton started attending National Catholics annually in 2004 when the Meet was at Villanova in Philadelphia. While the Meet is not truly “national”, I did meet teams from as far away as northern Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and New York City.
The meet used to occur on the last weekend in February, much closer to the championship season, but I think I like it earlier because it is such a great opportunity to get some championship experience – and some fast times – earlier in the year.
Melissa Paradise is a National Catholic High School Champion:
Melissa Paradise (JR) was a tremendous example of fortitude this weekend in the process of going on to win the National Catholic High School Championship in 100 Backstroke!
Melissa entered the meet as the top seed at 56.35, just ahead of an outstanding young swimmer from Maryvale Preparatory School just north of Baltimore. In her preliminary heat on Saturday morning, she crushed her lifetime best by swimming 55.86. That was just .24 seconds off our team record, set in 2018, by All-America and 3-time National Catholic Champ, Anna Kenna!
She took her 100 Back in the Prelims out in only 27.04 for the first 50, and she came home in 28.82 on the strength of a long and gutsy 3rd wall. Long underwaters are vital in 100 Backstroke, particularly on the 3rd wall where you and your competitors all desperately want to come to air, and that is exactly how Melissa had such a fast swim.
Melissa entered the Finals on Sunday afternoon seeded first by 1.34 seconds, but she was having a problem. Her back was really hurting her. In the team area, I could see her stretching on the deck and using her Thera-band, but I didn’t realize it was to relieve pain. I just thought she had a very sophisticated pre-race routine.
After swimming a 26.30 for her lead-off 50 Backstroke split in the Championship Final (top 8) for the 200 Medley Relay (which took 7th place), the pain was enough for her to talk to her coaches. Melissa had two more races in Championship Finals before the 100 Backstroke Final. Believe it or not, she was also a championship finalist in 100 Free (6th) after swimming a lifetime best 53.54 in the Prelims, and she was the lead-off for our 200 Free Relay which was coming back for the Finals as the 7th seed.
Since it was a championship meet, she could not just skip those events without being disqualified for the rest of the meet, so we “declared a false start” for her 100 Free. By declaring a false start, she didn’t have to scratch from the event, and she also didn’t have to go the block and actually false start to get out of swimming.
As for the 200 Free Relay, Philomena Kay (JR) was the “next man up”. Because she had swum in the 200 Free “B” Relay, she was eligible to move up to the “A” Relay for Finals where she helped her team hold on to 8th place overall.
After more stretching and band therapy, it was time for the Final of 100 Back. Melissa had a tremendous start and a big underwater to take the early lead. Her 26.92 second split for the first 50 yards was even faster than in Prelims.
But then you could see her back start to tighten up. It didn’t become evident that she was in pain until that all-important 3rd wall. She came off the last turn with the best wall she had in her, but it left an opening for the Maryvale Prep girl.
With my anxiety rising, I saw Melissa’s lead starting to evaporate, but with the heart of a champion, Melissa held to win the championship by only 0.04 seconds with a final time of 56.35 – exactly the seed time at which she entered the meet!
Congratulations to Melissa Paradise (JR) for joining Kevin Koehr, Nevin Cook, Jameson Hill, Alex Doonis, and Anna Kenna as Seton Swimmers who have won an individual National Catholic High Championship.
Here is a link to my video of Melissa Paradise’s 100 Back National Catholic Championship swim. I have posted it along with many other videos on Seton’s All-Time Greatest Swims YouTube Channel which you can access on the Videos menu of www.setonswimming.org
Ariana Aldeguer (JR) and Lionel Martinez (JR) Score in the Face of Adversity:
Ariana Aldeguer (JR) and Lionel Martinez (JR) train at the highest levels on our team, and they have done that with the same USA team for many years. With the results they have seen from their training, it would not be surprising to find that they had become very comfortable with their coaches and their training partners on their team.
But that suddenly came to an end a few weeks ago when the two (2) of them plus Lionel’s brother Thiago Martinez (SO) lost their coaches in a swirl of uncertainty around the future of their USA team.
I know it was very stressful, but I know that one day soon, if that day has not already passed, they will realize that what happened was a great thing for them. As my mother always says, “Everything happens for a best”, and I can see already this is another example.
Everyone who has ever worked for me knows Jim’s Rules for Success.
Jim’s Rule 9: Find Opportunity in Change
I’ve noticed in my life that all the great turning points happened in the midst of some big change, and often that change was the result of some seeming calamity in my life.
One of countless examples for me was when I broke my neck in a rugby game in college and was physically disqualified from the US Navy and my dream of being a nuclear submarine officer. It was the worst possible thing that could have happened to – or so I thought at the time. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, it was the best possible thing that could have happened to me.
I think that is going to be true for Ariana, Lionel, and Thiago who were part of a very small group that were accepted for transfer into Coach Jeremy Linn’s (an Olympic gold medalist and former world record holder in the 400 Medley Relay in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic games) and Coach Bryce Bohman’s group at Nation’s Capital Swim Club (NCAP). These are the top two (2) coaches for their respective age groups in the entire area.
One of the biggest changes they saw right away was a dramatic increase in practice intensity, which I could see was making both of them a little nervous going into the meet in Baltimore. But that didn’t stop them.
Ariana Aldeguer (JR) had superior swims in both the 500 Free and the 200 Free. In the 500, she took the bronze medal after entering Finals in 4th place after Prelims. In the 200 Free, she took 5th in championship final with a new team record 1:54.58! Who’s record did she break? The great Ariana Aldeguer’s.
Lionel Martinez (JR) also fought through the rigors of his recent training to take 11th in 100 Fly and 12th in 200 Free. His 52.29 in 100 Fly and 1:45.58 in 200 Free were significant drops from Prelims and showed that he could hang with the incredibly fast boys field that comes to this meet every year.
Meghan Condon (SO) Takes the Silver Medal in Diving with a New Team Record:
I was so pleased with the results posted by our Diving team that competed under the tutelage of Coach Ashley Keapproth. One of those results was a new team record 6-dive performance from Meghan Condon (SO) who took the silver medal in a competition that came down the final dive. And like Ariana, the team record she broke was her own!
I’ll let Coach Keapproth tell the rest of story for diving at National Catholics:
I am so incredibly proud of our team performance at National Catholics in Baltimore this weekend. It was a great experience for our divers, and I am so proud of the team! National Catholics has some of the hardest judging of any meet in our season, but many of our kids PR’ed or came close to their PR. In a field of 35 boys and 36 girls – ALL of the Seton divers finished in the top half of the competition.
On the girl’s side:
- Meghan Condon (10) took 2nd with 194.90 points — less than a point away from 1st. She even broke her own Seton School record by nearly 4 points!
- Maria Miller (12) finished 11th with 150.75 points. Her front double and inward 1.5 somersault were her highest scoring dives!
- Jane Judge (10) finished 12th with 150.55 points and a new personal record. Her back dive scored 7s from the judges and was one of the best dives of the meet!
- Bella Gorman (8) finished 13th with 146.60 points and a new personal record! She had a very strong meet with an amazing inward dive and full twisting somersault!
- Clare Kay (8) finished 15th with 142.85 points. Her front double and inward somersault were her highest scoring dives!
- Lucy Herwick (9) finished 18th with 139.95 points. Her full twisting somersault and back dive pike were her highest scoring dives!
On the Boy’s side, the meet was very close:
- Max Ashton (8) took 13th with 131.95 points. His front 1.5 somersault and inward dive were his best dives. He has been working hard on tight form, which really paid off today!
- John Witter (8) was 14th with 131.65 points. His backflip with a full twist was his highest scoring dive, which is incredible as he just learned it this week!
- Daniel Sokban (11) was 15th with 130.55 points. He had a consistent meet and his reverse flip was his highest scoring dive.
Congratulations to these divers and Coach Ashley Keapproth!
17 More Personal Records:
Melissa, Ariana, Lionel, and Meghan were not the only outstanding performers at National Catholics. We had a total of 17 Personal Records in Baltimore, bringing our season total to 832. Here are the other outstanding Personal Record swims we saw:
- Patrick Kay (SO) had the best meet of anyone on the team, from a PR perspective anyway. How about a 7.94 second drop in 200 Free to go 2:01.48! It would surprise me if he broke 2:00 in one of our final championship meets. Patrick also had a 4.02 second drop in 100 Breast, a .77 second drop in 50 Free, and a .43 second drop in 50 backstroke leading off a relay. It was a great weekend for Patrick!
- Kyleigh Fifield (JR) was all smiles after her 2.36 second PR in 100 Free. She also had a big drop of .55 seconds in 50 Backstroke leading off a relay.
- Anastasia Garvey (SR) hit her stride in 100 Back with a .42 second PR to go 1:05.95.
- Jack Herwick (SO) continues to get faster in 50 Free, this time by .24 seconds.
- Avila Mantooth (SO) cut another .30 seconds from her 50 Free PR.
- Maggie Schroer (SO) took a crack at the 200 IM, and swam beat her previous best time by 2.73 seconds.
Finally, we had two (2) relays come back for Sunday Finals too:
- Our Girls 200 Medley “A” Relay of Melissa Paradise (JR), Therese Paradise (8), Ariana Aldeguer (JR), and Maggie Schroer (SO) took 7th place with a very fast 1:50.59.
- Our Girls 200 Free “A” Relay of Maggie Schroer (SO), Therese Paradise (8), Philomena Kay (JR) (stepping in for Melissa Paradise), and Ariana Aldeguer (JR) made it to the championship final and scored in 8th
All in all, it was a great weekend for our top Seton Swimmers. Without the benefit of staying in the Madison House, a “Museum in a Mansion” as former owner Dr. Paul Rhodes called it, we tried separate AirBnB houses for the girls and the boys. I thought it worked so well having the boys and girls in their own spaces that we are going to do the same thing for States. It was so cool being able to have a gathering space between sessions and a central place for all our meals.
We must start our Thank Yous with the great work of Mrs. Katie Condon who handled all the logistics for the diving team and the work of Mrs. Theresa Zahorchak who put together a tremendous meal plan for both swim houses. It was a huge job very well done. I am personally so grateful to them both!
A special thanks to volunteer coach Ashley Keapproth, who does not have any kids on the team, for taking her weekend to guide our divers.
Astounding Personal Records in Manassas at the Winter Invitational
It’s never easy running a Meet in Manassas while you have part of the team in Baltimore, but I long-ago resolved to keep hosting the Seton Winter Invitational during the weekend of National Catholics because it offers such a great opportunity to teach one of the key lessons of Seton Swimming that we discussed at the top of this blog:
You can always do more than you think you can do.
I remember once in 2015 when I accidentally put Marcie Vander Voorde in 100 Butterfly at Fork Union Military Academy. In my software, the toggle button for 100-Free and 100 Fly are right next to each other so it is an easy mistake to make. As 4’10” Marcie was walking up to the blocks for 100 Fly – in a meter pool, so it was going to be even farther – I was tempted to fix my mistake. But then I thought, if she thinks she can do it, why would I ever tell her she couldn’t? It may have been the most painful 3 minutes and 37.55 seconds I’ve ever personally experienced as the Seton Swimming coach, but that little girl did not quit!
All I want from you is all I ever want from you, “Give me the best you can, whatever that is today.” Even if you are feeling a little sick or your stomach is upset because you are so nervous, just go and do your best – and you just might literally astound yourself.
As remarkable as it was to watch the top swimmers for the top Catholic Schools swim times that might seem otherwise unbelievable if you didn’t see them for yourself, what I saw on Saturday at the Freedom Center was even more remarkable. I would say it was “unbelievable” but after experiencing this Meet every year for the last several years, I am no longer surprised by all the ridiculous time drops.
Just for fun, I thought it might be interesting to add up the total amount of time dropped in the 107 Personal Records we saw during the meet. The total time dropped was 3,758.08 seconds – that is a whole hour (1 hour, 2 minutes, 38.08 seconds to be exact)! Are you kidding? I might not have believed it myself had I not seen something similar every year in the past at this Meet.
When I add those 106 Personal Records and the 17 Personal Records swum at National Catholics to our previous season total, our new season total for Personal Records so far this season is now up to 832!
To accommodate that many swimmers for the 500 Free – an event that could take up to 15 minutes per heat – Charles Seltman, Tommy Reynolds, Mike Judge, and our outstanding Head Timer Yudi Sokban helped pull together our plan to swim two (2) heats at the same time – a so-called “chase start”. It required us to get 20 separate timers (who also had to count) and stopwatches to make sure that, with multiple kids in a lane, we could reliably get a time on each one. It worked much better than our previous attempts to swim three (3) per lane because this year, each swimmer could have their own half lane.
It was a remarkable event to behold as I watched so many young swimmers swim in the pool with long and efficient strokes. You didn’t need a stopwatch to see that our team has experienced massive levels of improvement since the first practice. And the most remarkable thing? The huge smiles on the faces of all the swimmers at the end of their race!
Final Scores:
This past week, the scores were not really a focus for us at all, especially with 25 of our top athletes in Baltimore, but here’s how they turned out all the same:
Boys
Seton 149 Trinity Meadow View 102
Seton 182 The Carmel School 62
Seton 183 Fresta Valley 64
Seton 200 Veritas Collegiate Arlington 35
Seton 202 Evergreen Christian 33
Girls
Seton 137 Trinity Meadow View 97
Seton 144 Evergreen Christian 102
Seton 164 Veritas Collegiate Arlington 32
Seton 165 Fresta Valley 67
Seton 166 The Carmel School 69
Massive Personal Records:
There were some absolutely massive Personal Records in the 500 Free. Can you imagine a Meet where we had 19 PRs of more than one-minute, seven (7) PRs of more than two (2) minutes, and one (1) by almost four (4) minutes? Remarkable!
Here is the swimmer who swam a Personal Record of almost four (4) minutes:
- Addi Hadro (8) dropped a nearly unbelievable 230.09 seconds from her previous fastest time in 500 Free, and in her 200 Free she also had an incredible drop, by 51.82 seconds. She wins the award for the largest individual time drop in the entire meet.
Here are the people who overcame their fear and swam Personal Records of more than two (2) minutes:
- Gabe Marm (SR) joined the team to improve his ability to swim in preparation for his upcoming time at the US Military Academy at West Point. I’d have to say that he’s been wildly successful in his mission. How about a 173.63 second drop in 500 Free and a 85.33 second drop in 200 Free?
- Julia Maranian (SO) had an amazing 170.94 second PR in 500 Free – that’s almost a 3-minute drop! She also cut 47.69 seconds in 200 Free.
- Peter O’Malley (8) had a massive drop of 156.15 seconds in 500 Free.
- Joe Witter (SO) swam a superior time in 500 Free after a 145.41 second drop. He also was excellent in 200 Free after a 39.43 second drop. If you had seen John swim at the beginning of last season, you would be as amazed as I am by his level of improvement. He made Varsity!
- Heidi Mayer (6) had made massive strides in her ability to swim, and she demonstrated that with a 140.55 second Personal Record in 200 Free.
- Jane Vaughan (7) had a big drop in 500 Free, beating her previous PR by 137.47 seconds. She also beat her previous best in 200 Free by 26.55 seconds.
Here are the swimmers who swam Personal Records of more than one (1) minute:
- Camila Quispe (FR) has really caught my eye this season with her huge level of improvement, so it didn’t surprise me I saw her swim the 500 Free 112.34 seconds faster than ever before. She also swam 200 Free 41.51 seconds faster.
- Natalia Hercules (7) made Coach Jeremy Kleb proud with a huge 111.30 second PR in 200 Free!
- Lucas de Brey (7) crushed his previous best time in 200 Free by 105.39 seconds.
- Kolbe Partridge (6) broke 8:00 minutes in the 500 Free after a 101.84 second PR swim.
- Maddie Henderson (7) made her great grandparents proud with a 95.00 second Personal Record in 500 Free. She also swam a 3.46 second PR in 100 Back with a 1:25.76, an excellent time for a 7th
- Bella Vaughan (FR) broke through the 10:00 barrier in 500 Free with her 92.62 second PR. She also came close to breaking 3:00 in 200 Free after a 34.14 second PR.
- Rafael De Micoli (SO) cut a massive 84.72 seconds from his 500 Free PR and 10.03 seconds from his 200 Free PR.
- Siobhan Maher (8) crushed her previous best in 500 Free by 70.25 seconds and in 200 Free by 45.16 seconds.
- Angela Andreu (SO) dropped huge in 500 Free, cutting 65.91 seconds from her previous best. She also cut 1.98 seconds from her 50 Back PR leading off a relay.
- Will Judge (7) looked great in the 500 Free while he was cutting 65.09 seconds from his PR. He also cut 9.94 seconds in 200 Free with another superior time for a 7th
- Mary Elder (6) beat her previous best in 200 Free by 62.24 seconds.
Here are the other swimmers who swam the rest of our 106 Personal Records on at the Seton Winter Invitational. Some of these PRs would have been very significant in any other meet, but with the PRs in this meet, you almost get numb to how good these performances were:
- Bethany Allen (7) dropped 2.38 seconds in 50 Back leading off a relay and .97 seconds in 100 Free.
- Naomi Allen (6) cut 23.75 seconds from her 200 Free PR.
- Emma Beltran (8) beat her previous best 500 Free time by 29.94 seconds.
- Joel Bookwalter (FR) swam 100 Backstroke 3.06 seconds faster than ever before.
- Michael Brand (SR) beat his PR in 200 Free by 16.28 seconds.
- Grace Catabui (8) had two (2) big PRs, in 200 Free by 14.28 seconds and in 500 Free by 19.78 seconds.
- Anselm Clune (7) rocked his 200 Free PR by 20.48 seconds.
- John Cooley (SO) dropped .99 seconds in 100 Fly.
- Katie Cooley (8) cut 44.00 seconds in 500 Free and 5.17 seconds in 100 Fly.
- Annie Dusek (SO) had three (3) PRs. In 200 Free she cut 3.14 seconds, in 100 Back she cut 3.68 seconds, and in 100 Free leading off a relay she cut .58 seconds.
- Charlie Dusek (SR) beat his 200 IM PR by 27.56 seconds and his 100 Back PR by 8.25 seconds. Those are big drops!
- Ben Ellis (JR) dropped another 1.90 seconds in 100 Free and .12 seconds in 50 Free.
- Luke Fifield (FR) cut 7.88 seconds in 100 Back
- JJ Garvey (FR) had a great meet with four (4) new Personal Records, in 500 Free by 11.37 seconds, in 100 Breast by 10.26 seconds, in 50 Back by .42 seconds, and in 50 Free by .10 seconds.
- Gigi Gibaldi (JR) beat her previous best in 200 IM by 1.88 seconds.
- Thomas Goodman (8) dropped 15.52 seconds from his 200 Free PR.
- Camille Hallada (6) cut 58.03 seconds from her 200 Free PR.
- John Paul Hartung (FR) dropped 52.39 seconds in 200 Free
- Mark Hartung (7) lowered his 200 Free PR by 45.59 seconds.
- Charlie Hawley (7) swam 200 Free 45.07 seconds faster than ever before.
- Dominic Henry (SO) swam three (3) PRs including a 51.59 second drop in 500 Free, a 24.20 second drop in 200 Free, and a .21 second drop in 50 Back leading off a relay.
- Monica Irving (SO) was awesome in her 200 and 500 Free where she had big drops of 19.80 seconds and 30.51 seconds, respectively.
- Colette Kramer (SR) dropped 1.70 seconds in 100 Breast and .44 seconds in 50 Free.
- Cora Kramer (JR) cut 44.63 seconds from her 500 Free PR.
- Rebecca Kramer (8) had a remarkably similar drop, cutting 44.93 seconds in her 500 Free.
- Joey Lynch (SO) is getting very fast, but that didn’t stop him from swimming three (3) PRs – in 100 Fly by 2.34 seconds, in 100 Breast by 2.01 seconds, and in 50 Back leading off a relay by 2.05 seconds.
- Evie Mayer (FR) dropped 5.72 seconds in 200 Free
- Aidan McCardell (SR) show another huge improvement in 100 Free, beating his previous best by 8.13 seconds.
- Charlotte Meadows (FR) swam beautifully during her 3.14 second PR in 100 Free.
- Maggie Mikkelson (8) cut 20.67 seconds from her 500 Free PR.
- James Nguyen (8) beat his PR in 500 Free by 34.54 seconds and his PR in 100 Free by 1.49 seconds while leading off a relay.
- Philip Nguyen (8) dropped 18.37 seconds in 500 Free.
- Luke Partridge (JR) swam 500 Free 22.36 seconds faster than ever before. He also swim PRs in 200 Free, by 9.79 seconds, and in 100 Free leading off a relay, by .04 seconds.
- Paul Partridge (8) cut 2.86 seconds in 100 Free, 1.23 seconds in 50 Free, and .66 seconds in 50 Back leading off a relay.
- CJ Pennefather (7) dropped 45.13 seconds in 200 Free and 5.32 seconds in 500 Free.
- Gianna Pillion (FR) beat her previous best in 500 Free by 13.72 seconds.
- Charlotte Poullath (8) saw big improvements in 500 Free and 200 IM, by 33.49 seconds and 14.46 seconds, respectively.
- Lexi Reeves (6) cut 1.27 seconds in 200 Free
- Therese Rehmann (6) dropped 44.46 seconds in 200 Free
- James Reynolds (FR) beat his previous PR by 21.69 seconds.
- Gabby Russo (JR) had three (3) PRs including a 2.06 second drop in 50 Back, a 1.86 second drop in 100 Back, and a .35 second drop in 100 Free.
- Caroline Schroer (8) had a huge PRs in 500 Free and 200 IM, by 38.77 seconds and 27.47 seconds, respectively.
- Christopher Schroer (6) dropped 30.38 seconds in 200 Free and .12 seconds in 50 Free.
- Daniel Schroer (6) had a big 18.22 second PR in 200 Free.
- Dominic Sciscilo (7) lowered his 500 Free PR by nearly a minute, cutting 53.26 seconds.
- Lily Waldron (SO) cut 2.87 seconds in 100 Breaststroke
- Jonas Wilson (SO) dropped 1.05 seconds in 200 Free to go 2:13.66.
We also had 44 first-time swims that couldn’t get a Personal Record. Here are the swimmers who swam the most challenging events in a high school Meet for the very first time:
- Bethany Allen (7) – 200 IM
- Noami Allen (6) – 500 Free
- Angela Andreu (SO) – 200 IM
- Emma Beltran (8) – 200 IM
- James Beltran (7) – 200 IM
- Joel Bookwalter (FR) – 200 IM
- Michael Brand (SR) – 500 Free
- Anselm Clune (7) – 500 Free
- Lucas de Brey (7) – 500 Free
- Mary Elder (6) – 500 Free
- Leah Fifield (6) – 200 IM and 500 Free
- Luke Fifield (FR) – 100 Fly
- Blaise Hallada (8) – 500 Free
- Camille Hallada (6) – 500 Free
- John Paul Hartung (FR) – 500 Free
- Mark Hartung (7) – 500 Free
- Charlie Hawley (7) – 500 Free
- Natalia Hercules (7) – 500 Free
- Connor Kay (6) – 200 IM and 500 Free
- Marian Kay (6) – 100 Fly and 500 Free
- Cora Kramer (JR) – 100 Fly
- Rebecca Kramer (8) – 200 IM
- Evie Mayer (FR) – 500 Free
- Heidi Mayer (6) – 500 Free
- Caeli McCardell (6) – 500 Free
- Maeve Mooney (6) – 200 IM and 500 Free
- James Nguyen (8) – 200 IM
- Peter O’Malley (8) – 200 IM
- Kolbe Partridge (6) – 200 IM
- Gianna Pillion (FR) – 100 Fly
- Alexis Reeves (6) – 500 Free
- Sofia Reeves (7) – 200 IM and 500 Free
- Therese Rehmann (6) – 500 Free
- James Reynolds (FR) – 200 IM
- Christopher Schroer (6) – 500 Free
- Daniel Schroer (6) – 500 Free
- Lily Waldron (SO) – 200 IM
- Jocelyn Wilson (7) – 200 IM and 500 Free
- Patrick Wise (7) – 200 Free and 500 Free
I recall the first day of practice for many of these young swimmers. I was so pleased to see them perform the way they did.
Seton Boys and Girls Win More Than Just the 19th Annual Junior Varsity Invitational
Earlier last week, I announced the Varsity team members who will compete in the post-season for Seton, where no more exhibition swimming is allowed. Twenty years ago, after having the season ended abruptly for nearly half the team, we hatched the idea of a fun, season-ending meet for all the members of Seton’s Junior Varsity team.
The Junior Varsity Invitational was the result of that plan. Our little Seton School had just started hosting the State Championship meet at that point – how hard could this one be? So, we set out on a journey to create an annual event at the beautiful new Fitch Warrenton Aquatic and Recreation Facility, which was brand new at the time.
The meet has grown into a championship, officially sanctioned by the VISAA, and it continues to attract swimmers from all over the State of Virginia. With the impending weather, many of the teams canceled prematurely so we ended up with a smaller than normal group of seven (7) teams and 147 swimmers and divers.
93 of those athletes were from Seton. I try to tell other coaches that the way to achieve sustained success over many years is to focus on the younger swimmers. We continue to execute on that experience which leaves me incredibly hopeful for the future of our team.
The competitive part of this championship is reserved for 9th grade and below who are students in the school (so no 6th graders could score for us), but we also used the meet as the capstone event for everyone on the team who is not going into the championship season, including and especially the seniors.
We have five (5) seniors who had their “last splashes” on Saturday:
- Rose Ellis (SR)
- Colette Kramer (SR)
- Michael Brand (SR)
- Charlie Dusek (SR)
- Gabe Marm (SR)
- Aidan McCardell (SR)
We also celebrated with Coach Mary Claire Osilka (SR) who coached her final Group 5 practice.
Final Scores:
The scoring for the top teams at the meet ended up with both the Seton boys and the girls taking home the traveling trophies.
In the end, our “Depth over Dominance” strategy proved to be the difference – plus diving!
When I saw Immanuel Christian’s Michael Salter (8), Landon Howell (7), Luke Bluey (8), Benjamin Francisco (7), and Colvin Anderson (7), I immediately felt like I could see the future battles our boys will face. These guys are good, and their new coach, Ken Burgess, doesn’t seem to be messing around.
And, for many years, our girls have had a great back-and-forth rivalry with Trinity Christian School. Unfortunately, they chose not to swim this year, but I know they will be good for a while to come still.
The future I could see was Therese Paradise (8), Joel Bookwalter (FR), Katie Cooley (8), Luke Fifield (FR), JJ Garvey (FR), Will Judge (7), Clare Kay (8), Emma Magness (7), Charlotte Meadows (FR), James Nguyen (8), Paul Partridge (8), Caroline Schroer (8), Dominic Sciscilo (7) and so many others battling the powerful future Immanuel Christian and Trinity Christian teams for the VCAC Conference Championship year-in and year-out.
For round one of the battles, we came out on top of the Immanuel Christian boys by 154 points. That sounds like a lot until you consider that 52 of those points were from diving. If you look at just the swimming events, we would have won by 102 points, which I suppose is still a lot.
Our depth has always been our greatest strength, and it will continue to be for the foreseeable future. To highlight that point, when you look at the scores, try to remember that we only won one (1) individual gold medal for the entire meet, and we finished in the top 3 individually only 13 times.
Fortunately for us, Diving is one of the events in an NFHS-rules high school Swim & Dive meet, and we have the best diving coach in the State!
Boys
Seton 441
Immanuel Christian 287
Trinity Academy at Meadow View 227
Girls
Seton 453
Oakcrest School 225
Immanuel Christian 213
Trinity Academy at Meadow View 136
Evergreen Christian 51
Trinity Christian 25
Veritas Collegiate Arlington 24
Congratulations to our two (2) Swimmers of the Meet:
- Michael Salter, FR, Immanuel Christian School
- Five (5) Gold medals in 50 Free, 100 Free, 50 Breaststroke, the 200 Free Relay, the 200 Medley Relay, and the 200 Backstroke Relay.
- Set a new meet record in 50 Freestyle
- Abby Harders, FR, Evergreen Christian School
- Three (3) Gold medals in 50 Free, 100 Free, and 50 Breaststroke
- Set a new meet record in 50 Freestyle
Our Divers Prepare for States:
The VISAA JV Invitational was a great chance for our young Divers to shine, not just our young swimmers. And they sure did shine!
I’ll let Coach Ashley Keapproth tell the story herself with an excerpt from her message to the team:
What an exciting JV Invite yesterday! That was, by far, the strongest JV Invite we have ever had. I am so proud of all of the divers!
Special congratulations to Max Ashton (8) and Daniel Sokban (11) who qualified for the State Championship yesterday, joining John Witter, Meghan Condon, Maria Miller, Jane Judge, Clare Kay, Lucy Herwick, and Bella Gorman on the State Championship team.
I was so pleased with the team yesterday at the JV Invite. The future of Seton diving is bright!!!! On the girl’s side:
- Emma Magness (7) took 2nd with 172.85 points, beating her prior PR by over 10 points! She had a consistently strong meet and earned the highest scores on her front 1.5 somersault and back somersault. She has an incredibly bright future ahead in Seton diving!
- Clare Kay (8) took 3rd with 159.15 points, beating her prior PR by nearly 10 points! She also finished 2nd in the 11-dive exhibition meet with 288.0 points — breaking her 11- dive record from last year by over 50 points!!! For perspective, 288 would have been a 10th place finish at States last year! She crushed her front double and full twisting somersault!
- Bella Gorman (8) was 4th with 152.05 points, beating her prior PR by over 10 points! She also finished 3rd in the 11 dive exhibition with 272.55, crushing her PR from a few weeks ago by over 50 points!!! For perspective, 272.55 would have been a top 16 finish at States last year! She had a very consistent meet, earning the highest score on her front 1.5 somersault and reverse dive.
- Lucy Herwick (9) finished 5th with 143.50 points, setting a new PR for herself! Her front 1.5 somersault and back dive pike were her highest scoring dives. Lucy continues to push herself to learn new dives and increase her difficulty and even learned an inward 1.5 somersault this week!
- Cecelia Reyes (9) performed 6 dives and was 7th with 87.70 points, crushing her prior PR by over 20 points! She had an amazing inward dive and I was so proud of her for performing her front flip with a half twist and reverse dive for the first time in a competition! She has improved so much this season due to her positive attitude and willingness to try!
- Bella Nguyen (10)(exhibition) performed 6 dives and was 8th with 86.60 points, setting a new PR for herself! Her front somersault and her reverse dive were her highest scoring dives. I am so proud of her for learning her reverse dive this year, and really improving her height off the board!
- Clare Judge (9)performed 5 dives and was 9th with 77.85 points, beating her prior PR by over 20 points! She had an amazing inward dive and completed her front flip with a half twist for the first time! Clare has really improved this season and learned several new dives!
- Penny Kramer (11) (exhibition) performed 5 dives and was 10th with 70.30 points, crushing her prior PR! Her highest scoring dive was her inward dive! Penny works so hard every practice and always has such a positive attitude. Great job, Penny!
- Molly Croson (8)performed 3 dives and finished 11th with 56.55, setting a new PR for herself! Her front dive tuck and back dive both received high marks from the judges, and Molly has so much natural talent for diving!
- Addi Hadro (8)performed 2 dives and finished 12th with 26.0 points. Her front lineup and back lineup both received strong scores from the judges! Addi has really improved her trampoline skills this season!
On the boy’s side:
- John Witter (8) took 1st with 150.35 points, setting a new PR for himself! His back flip with a full twist was outstanding, even earning a 7 from one of the judges. John has been working hard to increase his difficulty, learning front 2.5 somersault and back double somersault this week.
- Max Ashton (8) took 2nd place with 147.25 points, crushing his prior PR by 10 points! Mas also competed in the 11 dive exhibition, scoring 279.20 points in his first 11 dive meet ever and qualifying for the State Championship!! For perspective, 279.20 would have been a 12th place finish at States last year! He had a consistently solid meet and didn’t miss any dive for less than a 4. An outstanding performance!!
- Caleb Neuhaus (8) finished 3rd with 132.65 points, crushing his PR by over 30 points. Caleb competed his front somersault with a full twist and reverse somersault for the first time and they were some of his highest scoring dives. Caleb is so focused and coachable in practice and really has great talent for diving!
- Will Judge (7) finished 4th with 103.55 points, crushing his PR by over 20 points. His front somersault pike and front 1.5 were his highest scoring dives! I am so proud of all that Will has learned this season through his hard work and dedication, and he has such a bright future on the Seton diving team!
- Mark Hartung (7) finished 5th with 88.35 points. He competed his reverse dive for the first time and it was his highest scoring dive!! Mark had an amazing first season of diving and learned so much! He is incredibly coachable and an absolute pleasure to have on the team!
- Daniel Sokban (11) dove as exhibition, crushing his prior 6-dive PR by over 15 points with a score of 152.75 and beating his prior 11-dive PR by over 30 points with a score of 244.85. His highest scoring dives were his reverse dive and back somersault. Daniel continues to show amazing leadership as a dive team captain!
I hope you all have fun in the snow today!
God bless you all!
Coach Ashley
Top Scorers for Seton:
I was very excited for the future of Seton Swimming while I watched so many young swimmers swim so well. The future of Seton Swimming sure does look bright!
Saturday’s meet was very fast, but our strong core of young swimmers was up to the challenge.
Here are our top young swimmers who took gold, silver or bronze medals on Saturday:
- Therese Paradise (8) was one of the top swimmers in the entire meet and she demonstrated that with our only individual gold medal in 50 Fly plus two individual silver medals in 100 Free and 50 Breaststroke. Her 50 Fly time was a 1.14 second PR and her 100 Free was a .07 second PR. 84 in 100 Free is pretty quick for an 8th grade girl. To put that time in perspective, the great Alex Doonis went 57.38 in 100 Free at States her 8th grade year.
- Paul Partridge (8) took two (2) individual silver medals and one (1) individual bronze medal in 100 IM, 100 Free, and 50 Fly, respectively. His 100 IM was a PR by 6.95 seconds, and his 50 Fly was a PR by 2.64 seconds.
- JJ Garvey (FR) won the silver medal in 50 Back with an excellent time of 32.23. His relay lead-off was an even faster 32.09 which was a PR for him by .14 seconds. He also took 4th in both 50 and 100 Free with PRs by .51 and 3.07 seconds, respectively.
- Clare Kay (8) did more than just score big in diving – she also scored big in swimming with a silver medal in 50 Free after a big 1.12 second PR. In 100 Free, she dropped 2.08 seconds to score in 6th. She had big PRs in 50 Back and 50 breast also, by 5.65 and 5.08 seconds, respectively.
- Joel Bookwalter (FR) took bronze medals in both 50 and 100 Free, showing he could very well be the future anchor for our “A” relays.
- Emma Magness (7) is a remarkable young athlete with the potential to be a future State Champion diving, and she is also a superior swimmer. She took two bronze medals in the 100 IM and 50 Fly. Her 50 Fly was a 3.13 second PR.
- Katie Cooley (SO) took the bronze medal in 50 Free after a .48 second PR. She also scored in 4th in 50 Back after a 6.31 second PR.
Here are the swimmers who scored in the top 12 on Saturday:
- Caroline Schroer (8) scored in 5th place for 50 Free and 50 Breast and in 9th place for 100 Free. Her 50 and 100 Free were both PRs, by .75 seconds and .45 seconds, respectively.
- James Nguyen (8) took 5th place in 50 Breaststroke, 6th in 50 Free, and 6th in 100 Free. His 50 Free was a .03 second PR.
- Luke Fifield (FR) dropped 1.33 seconds in 50 Free to jump up to a 5th place finish. He also finished 5th 100 IM and 7th in 100 Free. His 100 Free was a .30 second PR.
- Dominic Sciscilo (7) scored in 5th, 7th, and 8th in 50 Fly, 50 Breast, and 100 IM. All three (3) swims were huge PRs by 7.43 seconds, 7.89 seconds, and 14.05 seconds, respectively.
- Philip Nguyen (8) used his 1.04 second PR in 50 Back to score in 5th place, and he scored in 9th place in 50 Free after a .76 second PR. H also had a 9.26 second PR in 50 Breaststroke and a 1.48 second PR in 50 Back leading off a relay.
- Charlotte Meadows (FR) scored in 6th place once and 7th place twice. Her 6th place was in 50 Free with a .36 second PR. Her two (2) 7th place finishes were in 100 Free and 50 Breast with .26 second and .79 second PRs, respectively.
- Will Judge (7) scored in 6th for 50 Fly and 7th for 100 IM. His 50 Fly was a huge 9.49 second PR. He also had PRs in 50 Back by 5.50 seconds and 50 Free by .05 seconds.
- Charlotte Poullath (8) scored three (3) times. In 50 Breast she took 6th (with a 2.17 second PR), in 50 Free she took 7th, and in 100 Free she took 12th.
- James Reynolds (FR) scored in 6th place for 50 Back and in 8th place for both 50 Free and 50 Breaststroke. All three (3) swims were Personal Records by 4.43 seconds, .25 seconds, and 3.26 seconds, respectively.
- Sofia Reeves (7) made Coach Jerry Zadnik proud with her 6th place in 50 Fly after a massive 9.35 second PR. She also took 8th in her first attempt at 100 IM.
- Peter O’Malley (8) dropped .42 seconds in 50 Free and finished in 7th He also finished in 10th place in 50 Breaststroke.
- Maggie Mikkelson (8) scored in 7th place in 50 Fly with a 2.78 second PR swim.
- Maddie Henderson (7) rode her .93 second PR in 50 Back to an 8th place finish. She also scored in 11th place in 100 IM and swam a .73 second PR in 100 Free.
- CJ Pennefather (7) took 8th place in 50 Back and 11th place in 50 Free.
- Lucy Herwick (FR) scored in 8th place for 50 Free and 11th place for 100 Free. She also dropped 4.79 seconds in 50 Breaststroke.
- Grace Catabui (8) took 8th place in 50 Fly after a huge 9.18 second PR. She also had PRs in 50 Free and 50 Breast, by .21 seconds and by 6.28 seconds, respectively.
- Eamon Haggerty (FR) scored twice in 9th place and once in 12th He two (2) 9th place finishes were both PRs in 50 Fly and 50 Back, by 10.64 seconds and 3.92 seconds, respectively. His 12th place finish was in 100 IM which he swam for the first time.
- Gianna Pillion (FR) dropped a massive 17.75 seconds in 50 Fly to jump up to a 9th place finish. She also had PRs in 50 Breast by 1.15 seconds and in 50 Back by .01 seconds. Her 50 Breast PR earned her a 10th place scoring finish.
- Clara Bauer (7) finished 9th in 50 Back and 10th in 100 IM, scoring a total of 7 points individually.
- Blaise Hallada (8) has improved so much this season that he was able to score in 10th and 11th place in 50 Free and 50 Breast. His 50 Free time was another 1.79 second PR.
- James Beltran (7) scored in 10th and 12th place in 50 Back and 50 Fly.
- Emma Beltran (8) took 10th in 50 Free. She also had a 1.78 second PR in 50 Back leading off a relay and a 4.06 second PR in 50 Breaststroke where she took 13th.
- Rebecca Kramer (8) finished 10th in 50 Fly, and she looked great in her first attempt at 100 IM.
- Siobhan Maher (8) dropped 5.45 seconds in 50 Back which was enough to jump her up to a 10th place scoring finish.
- Bethany Allen (7) used some huge PRs to jump into scoring position twice. In 50 Fly she scored in 11th after a 15.78 second PR, and in 100 IM she scored in 12th after a 14.08 second PR. She also dropped 2.90 second in 50 Breaststroke.
- Patrick Wise (7) has improved so much this season that he was able to score in 11th place in 100 Free with “long and strong” stroke. His time was a 2.54 second PR.
- Jane Vaughan (7) scored in 11th place in 50 Back. She also had a 18.53 second PR in 50 Breast and a 1.29 second PR in 50 Free.
- Addi Hadro (8) scored! She took 12th in 50 Back after a big 2.94 second PR. She also had a massive 21.03 second drop in 50 Fly where she finished in 14th.
- Charlie Hawley (7) took 12th place in 50 Breaststroke. He also had strong PRs in 50 Free, by 4.14 seconds, and in 50 Back, by 2.46 seconds.
- Joce Wilson (7) scored in 12th place in 50 Fly. Joce also won the award for the largest cheering contingent watching the livestream.
Gold Medal Relays:
In a championship meet, with Relays scoring double points, it is very important to perform well in those events. Given the final score, it is incredible to see that we only had one (1) relay take a gold medal:
- Our Girls 200 Breaststroke Relay of Gianna Pillion (FR), Therese Paradise (8), Caroline Schroer (8), and Charlotte Poullath (8) won gold by just over 2 seconds over a strong relay from Oakcrest.
150 New Personal Records – Just Under 1,000 for the Season:
With 150 Personal Records swum by Seton swimmers on Saturday, we 982 total PRs for the season!
In a meet where many swimmers were swimming events for the very first time at a high school meet (therefore no PR is possible), it was amazing to see that many Personal Records for the meet.
Here are the PRs that I haven’t already mentioned:
- Bella Vaughan (FR) dropped 5.21 seconds 100 IM and 3.93 seconds in 50 Fly.
- Daniel Schroer (6) cut 1.41 seconds from his 50 Free PR.
- Christopher Schroer (6) beat his previous best time in 50 Fly by 5.42 seconds.
- Therese Rehmann (6) had big PRs in 50 Back and 50 Free, by 3.16 seconds and 2.70 seconds, respectively.
- Alexis Reeves (6) dropped .77 seconds in 50 Free and .03 seconds in 50 Back.
- Kolbe Partridge (6) rocked his 50 Fly PR by 2.42 seconds and his 100 Free PR by 3.75 seconds.
- Maeve Mooney (6) beat her 50 Back PR by an amazing 8.57 seconds! Had she been eligible to score, she would have finished in 7th
- Caeli McCardell (6) broke the 1:00 barrier in 50 Back after a big 1.97 second PR. She also had a big 2.00 second PR in 50 Free.
- Aidan McCardell (SR) wrapped up his long career at Seton with a 1.35 second PR in 50 Breaststroke and a .31 second PR in 50 Free.
- Heidi Mayer (6) looked better than ever in 50 Back, swimming it 11.92 seconds faster than ever before. She also beat her previous best in 50 Free by 3.17 seconds.
- Evie Mayer (FR) concluded her season with a PR every time she hit the water. In 50 Free she cut .43 seconds, in 50 back she cut 4.29 seconds, and in 50 Breast she cut .15 seconds.
- Gabe Marm (SR) also swam a PR every time he hit the water. I was so pleased to see his 32.05 in 50 Free, a .15 second PR, his 1:16.00 in 100 Free, a 1.39 second PR, and his 43.76 in 50 Back, a 1.34 second PR.
- Julia Maranian (SO) smiled her way to a .01 second PR in 50 Fly.
- Cora Kramer (JR) cut 3.09 seconds in 100 IM, 1.77 seconds in 50 Breaststroke, and .51 seconds in 50 Fly.
- Colette Kramer (SR) looked great in the final swims of her career. It was great to see her swim PRs in 100 IM, by 6.80 seconds, and 50 Back, by 1.10 seconds.
- Marian Kay (6) dropped .11 seconds in 50 Free to go 33.38, an excellent time for a 6th She also dropped .92 seconds in 50 Back.
- Jane Judge (SO) had a strong meet and earned her way onto the Varsity team as a result. Her .42 second PR in 50 Free earned her the 4th scoring position on the Varsity team for the VISAA D-II Invitational for Seton. She also dropped 55.01 seconds in a time trial for 200 Free, 2.35 seconds in 50 Back leading off a relay, .05 seconds in 100 Free, and 4.41 seconds in 50 Breaststroke.
- Emma Jolly (6) joined our team and was rewarded with a 4.32 second PR in 50 Free.
- Monica Irving (SO) cut 3.19 seconds from her 50 Breast PR, 3.49 seconds from her 50 Back PR, and .69 seconds from her 100 Free PR.
- Natalia Hercules dropped .74 seconds in 50 Free.
- Dominic Henry (SO) dropped a big 7.73 seconds in 50 Breast and 3.88 seconds in 100 Free.
- Mark Hartung (7) beat his previous best in 50 Free by 2.76 seconds.
- John Paul Hartung (FR) lowered his 50 Free PR by .98 seconds.
- Camile Hallada (6) had a massive 21.86 second drop in 50 Back and a big 6.20 second drop in 50 Free.
- Gus Halisky (7) cut .36 seconds from his 50 Free PR.
- Oisin Haggerty (7) lowered his 50 Free PR by another .86 seconds.
- Thomas Goodman (8) had three (3) huge PRs. In 50 Back by 7.22 seconds, in 50 Free by 2.19 seconds, and in 50 Breast by 1.55 seconds.
- Gigi Gibaldi (JR) beat her previous best time in 50 Breast by 4.23 seconds.
- Rose Ellis (SR) had to be excited about her final swims. They were excellent, particularly her 100 IM where she dropped 3.88 seconds and her 50 Breast where she dropped 5.84 seconds.
- Mary Elder (6) cut 3.97 seconds in 50 Fly.
- Charlie Dusek (SR) finished her career in style with a massive 16.46 second PR in 100 IM and a huge 9.52 second PR in 50 Breaststroke.
- Rafael De Micoli (SO) dropped 2.69 seconds in 50 Back and .74 seconds in 50 Free.
- Lucas de Brey (7) lowered his 50 Free PR by another .67 seconds.
- Anselm Clune (7) cut a big 6.63 seconds from his 50 Back PR.
- Michael Brand (SR) made his final 50 Free worth the effort with a .84 second PR.
- Angela Andreu (SO) beat her previous PR in 100 Free by 1.45 seconds.
- Noami Allen (6) dropped 1.14 seconds in 50 Back.
Other Strong Swimming
With so many swims where PRs were not possible, let me highlight some of the other great swims that I saw. I wish I had some previous times for these swimmers, because I know that almost all of them would have shown big improvement:
- Camila Quispe (FR) attempted 100 IM for the first time and swam an outstanding time of 1:35.80
- Colette Mikkelson (6) had a strong swim in her first attempt at 50 Back this season.
- Annabelle Mikkelson (FR) came very close to scoring in 50 Free and 50 Breaststroke where she finished in 13th and 14th place, respectively.
- Connor Kay (6) is going to be a good one. His 1:32.86 in 100 IM is a truly outstanding time for a kid his age.
- Leah Fifield (FR) looked great in 100 IM with a great time for a girl of her age. She went 1:39.93.
- John Cooley (SO) had a great first-time swim in 100 IM where he went 1:26.64.
Final Notes
Let’s wrap it up with some final notes:
- For the Varsity swimmers, it’s time to start to get serious about some championship level swimming. Since New Year’s, you have seen our attention shift from giving you a wide range of different types of swims to lining you up to be as competitive as possible.
- I also expect both our Boys and Girls to be very competitive at the VISAA Division II Invitational Championship.
- Let’s take both those traveling trophies back to Seton!
- Our Girls need to take the VCAC Championship Meet from Trinity Christian, and our Boys need to take the VCAC Championship Meet from Immanuel Christian.
- The, I expect both our Boys and Girls to be competitive the VISAA State Championship.
- Looking at SwimCloud, if our girls swim their best, I think we can win another State Championship! But Anne’s Belfield and Cape Henry Collegiate are going to have a say in that.
- Can the boys overcome Will Charleton and the boys at The Covenant School? It is certainly possible!
- I also expect both our Boys and Girls to be very competitive at the VISAA Division II Invitational Championship.
Save the Date for the Seton Swimming Awards Banquet: Sunday, March 1, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. at Renaissance Montessori School
So, let’s make the most of our training for the rest of January. This is when championships are won!
Coach Jim Koehr