By Ishita Singh

Rockville 463, Hallowell 327 (MCSL)
The holiday spirit was on display at Rockville Municipal Pool as the Rockville Rays and Hallowell Hurricanes faced off on Saturday morning. Rockville swimmers painted their faces and bodies red, white and blue just before the meet, and then hopped in the pool and swam their way to a 463-327 victory. Our Rivalry of the Week featured top breaststrokers Harrison Gu, 13, and Sean McCleary, 14, who went head-to-head in a showdown in the Boys’ 13-14 50-meter breast. The boys tied for first at 34.18, a personal best for both.

The rest of the meet was not nearly that close. Rockville won the first eight races of the meet, finishing at least one-two in six of them. Emmanuel Katsigiannakis, 12, won four races for the Rays in the 11-12 age group: the 50 individual medley, the 50 freestyle, the 50 breaststroke and the 50 butterfly. Cara Chuang added four in the 15-18 age group: 50 fly, 100 free, 100 back and 100 IM. Hallowell’s Brandon Loiacono, 14, won four races in the 13-14 age group: the 50 free, the 100 IM, the 50 back, and the 50 fly. Hurricane Anna Kolanowski, 13, won three races in the 13-14 girls’ group: the 50 free, the 100 IM, and the 50 fly; and Brady Fox won a trio in the 15-18 age group: the 100 free, 100 IM and 50 fly.

But it wasn’t enough. Claudia Gibson added three victories in the 25 back, 25 breast and 25 fly for the Rays. Rockville head coach Christine Chuang was all smiles after the meet. “We had a lot of really great races, and it went really well for us,” she said.

Woodley Gardens 399.5, Westleigh 392.5 (MCSL)
With one race left, Woodley Gardens and Westleigh were neck-and-neck. More than 50 people crowded around the pool cheering the swimmers on as the Woodley Gardens girls’ 175-meter graduated relay team of Melanie Osborne, 9, Stephanie Washington, 12, Bridget Finnell, 14, and Julianne Greenville, 8, out-touched Westleigh to come away with the win.

Head coach Clay Miller lauded the team’s tenacity after the meet. Though Woodley was down by 11 at halftime, its athletes swam hard in the second half and never got discouraged, he said.

“They learned today that they can win close races if they never give up,” he said. “We lost a close one last week, so it’s nice to come out on top this week.”

Westleigh was buoyed by the fast-swimming Gibson brothers, Andrew, 12, and Matt, 14, who won four races each. In the 11-12 age group, Andrew Gibson won the 100 individual medley, 50 freestyle, 50 backstroke and 50 butterfly. Matt Gibson won the 50 free, 100 IM, 50 back and 50 fly in the 13-14 age group.

Woodley Gardens’ older swimmers each won three individual races. Sean Stewart, 18, won the 100 free, 100 back and the 50 fly in the boys’ 15-18 group, while Ashleigh Ferguson, 15, won the 100 free, 100 back and 100 breaststroke in the girls’ 15-18 age group.

Temple Hills 318, Prince George’s Pool 241 (PMSL)
Though the Fourth of July party was raging at Prince George’s Pool, Temple Hills stole the show with an impressive win over the home team. Temple Hills’ swimmers won 34 of the 49 events in the meet, including some very close finishes. Ariel Myers, 12, finished the 12-and-under 100 individual medley in 2:00.53, less than two-tenths of a second before PGP’s Natalie Dalton, 11, who finished in 2:00.72. In the girls’ 13-14 50 backstroke, Temple Hills’ Rachel Harris, 14, finished in 47.72 seconds, just ahead of PGP’s Anne Doyle, 13, who finished in 47.84. Harris also just out-touched Hannah Russell, 13, in the 13-14 50 free, finishing in 36.12 seconds, ahead of Russell’s 36.73.

Prince George’s Pool’s head coach Caroline Casey was encouraged by the close finishes for her team. “It was really exciting to watch the kids racing to the wall.”

She also said that though her team didn’t win, she liked that they were challenging themselves to swim fast.

PGP team members and family were in a celebratory mood, regardless of the meet’s outcome. People dressed up in red, white and blue and handed out Mardi Gras-style beads in patriotic colors.

“We had the music going, everyone was dancing and celebrating the Fourth of July,” Casey said.

Westlake 313, Belair Swim and Racquet 263 (PMSL)
Though both teams came to Westlake undefeated, the Waves of Westlake came out on top in a strong meet against Belair Swim and Racquet. Westlake dominated the relays, winning four of the five races by significant margins. Matthew Cooke, 15, Zachary Stephens, 15, Trey Lutich, 18, and Jamie Hibbert, 18, finished the first race of the meet, the boys’ 18-and-under 200 medley relay, almost 17 seconds ahead of their Belair competitors, setting the tone for the rest of the meet.

Belair posed a bit of a comeback in the breaststroke races, winning 6 events. Emily Martin, 8, won the girls’ 8-and-under 25 breast, Natalie Leinbach, 10, won the girls’ 9-10 25, Mary Wenzel, 12, won the 11-12 50 breast, Geordie Enoch, 13, won the girls’ 13-14 50, Adam Enoch, 15, won the boy’s 15-18 50 and Nandi Ross, 16, won the girls’ 15-18 50.

But Westlake was too strong for Belair. Brothers Anthony, 7, Andrew, 10, and Alexander Nguyen, 12, won three races each to bolster the Waves. Anthony won the 8-and-under 25 freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke races, Andrew won the 10-and-under 25 fly, 9-10 50 free and 9-10 25 breast, and Alexander won the 11-12 50 fly and back, and the 12-and-under 100 individual medley.

Belair’s loss means that Westlake and Whitehall Pool and Tennis are is the only undefeated teams in PMSL’s B division. (Many thanks to Tim Husson who correctly points out that Whitehall Pool and Tennis lost last week to Belair Swim and Racquet.)

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