Young swimmers from Potomac Station and Lanstowne prepare to hit the water for a butterfly race. Lansdowne beat Potomac Station 481.5 to 398.5. (Bill Oram/The Washington Post)
Meets across the Washington metro area Saturday were marked by fast times and close final scores. Nine meets were decided by fewer than 12 points.
A week after meets across the region were canceled, halted or just plain miserable during a tremendous thunder storm, weather was not a factor for meets on Saturday.
Here’s how some local teams fared when they were only competing against each other, and not Mother Nature.
Upper County 399, Bethesda 392 (MCSL)
A late relay disqualification hindered Bethesda’s chances of edging Upper County Saturday.
In the graduated girls’ 200-meter medley relay, Bethesda earned a win, but it was vacated after judges determined one swimmer only touched the wall with one hand on her turn. Coach Sofia Sokolove said the DQ resulted in a 12-point swing.
“With such a close meet that was disappointing,” she said.
Two races earlier, Upper County had a DQ of its own, in the boys’ butterfly, Upper County Coach Jenn Taylor said.
“In a close meet, everything counts,” she said.
The winningest Bethesda swimmer was Michael Sullivan, 12, who won four events, including the 100-meter IM with a time of 1:18.97. Peter Colevas, 8, Sarah Kannan, 12, Anais Menguy, 17 and Miranda Romberg, 8, all won three events for Bethesda.
Another Bethesda highlight came when Grace Swinnerton broke her own pool and team record in the 50-meter backstroke for 13-14 girls, finishing in 32.43 seconds. Swinnerton set the record two weeks ago during team time trials.
“That was exciting. I think she was happy to be in her own pool and break that record,” Sokolove said.
Upper County, which lost by 120 points to Tilden Woods the week before, was led by 13-year-old Eric Lin, who won four events: the 100-meter IM, 50-meter backstroke, 50-meter breaststroke and 50-meter butterfly. Nine-year-old Emily Wang had three wins for Upper County.
“Obviously, those two swimmers had some spectacular races,” Taylor said.
She said the tight meet made it more entertaining for observers and more fun for the swimmers.
“I think kids get so much more excited when they have a close meet,” she said.
Belair S&R 292, Whitehall 286 (PMSL)
The closest meet in the area Saturday was in Bowie, where Belair Swim and Racquet topped Whitehall 292 to 286.
Grace Kelly, Sarah Smith, Ethan Smith and Geordie Enoch were all three-event winners for Belair. Enoch, 13, set a pool and team record of 36.68 seconds in the 13-14 50-meter breaststroke, according to a posting on the team’s Reach For The Wall wiki page.
Whitehall also had four triple winners. 13-year-old Vincent Conti won in butterfly, freestyle and breaststroke. Trey Alexander, 11, won the breaststroke, backstroke and individual medley. Alexander’s IM time, 1:28.49 seconds, was nearly 7 seconds faster than his seed time.
Holly Sampson, 10, and Hannah VanDress, 8, also picked up three wins to aid Whitehall.
“It was a great meet,” Whitehall team representative Bryan Snyder said. “We knew we were going in as the underdog, we thought we had a chance to win and we gave it our best. And the score reflects that.”
Lansdowne 481.5, Potomac Station 398.5 (ODSL)
Coming off its win against Lifetime Fitness, its first since Erica Swanson became head coach last season, Potomac Station was looking for continued success against the Lansdowne Lightning in the Reach for the Wall rivalry of the week.
However the host Lightning was able to hold off the eager visitors 481.5-398.5, to earn its first win of the season after a rain-shortened meet with Franklin Park the weekend before and a loss at Broadlands last Wednesday.
“That was good and being at home, that was good,” Coach Martin Edwards said. He credited younger swimmers like Grayson Lentz, Chase Jackson, Jasmine Boswell — all in the 9-10 age groups for their improvement over the season.
Despite the loss, coach Erica Swanson said the meet was “fabulous” for Potomac Station.
Among the notable swimmers for Potomac Station, Swanson said was Margaret Huettner, who won backstroke among the 9- and 10-year-old girls. She also finished third in breaststroke after shaving three seconds off her personal best time, which she set just the weekend before.
Amanda Swanson won breaststroke, backstroke and individual medley. She also was the anchor leg for the mixed-age girls’ relays, which “went down to the wire,” Erica Swanson said.
Sudley 3001, Lakeridge 2268 (PWSL)
The Sudley Seahorses are undefeated since 2000, and that record wasn’t threatened this weekend as they outscored Lakeridge 3,001 to 2,268 in a Prince William Swim League matchup.
Coach Dennis Miller was thrilled that the team was able to extend the its rare winning streak.
“That’s kind of a significant thing here,” Miller said. “We’re trying to go a decade of being undefeated.”
For Sudley, 46 percent of girls recorded their best times of the season, as did more than half of the boys. Fifty-one percent of guys were at their season’s fastest.
Two Sudley swimmers recorded five first places. For the girls it was Emily Minick in the 13-14 age group. Reilly McGrory was the top boy, winning five firsts in 13-14 as well.
Five other Sudley swimmers placed in five events: Cora Bardwell, Morgan Kurst, Bridget Knowles, Anthony Notarantonio and Grant Minick.
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