In the six seasons since Bethesda joined the Montgomery County Swim League‘s Division A, the team has handled the league’s top competition well enough to keep its spot, joining perennial powers Rockville and Tilden Woods as the only Division A teams to avoid a drop down during that time.
With help from 18-year-old Michael Center, Bethesda has gotten off to a fast start this summer. (Photo: Knut Tjonneland)
But for all their consistency, the Barracudas have not placed better than fourth out of six in the final standings or finished with a winning record in dual meets in that span.
Buoyed by a strong start to the summer, Bethesda hopes to change that this season. After battling Rockville close and beating an Upper County squad that finished ahead of them in 2010, the Barracudas enter Saturday’s matchup at Tilden Woods with plenty of confidence. The team has shown firepower across its lineup with swimmers ranked in the league’s top-10 in 26 different individual events.
“That win against Upper County really boosted our morale,” 18-year-old Matthew Kannan said. “The last few years our matchups with them have been a little up in the air, really close every time. Winning this year definitely gave us a boost of motivation. Coming into this weekend, we’re feeling pretty good.”
First-year coach Elizabeth Gutermann’s squad has been boosted by an infusion of new talent combined with an improving corps of returning swimmers. The program added more than 60 new swimmers for the summer, bumping enrollment up to 262. That total includes 72 eight-and-under swimmers.
A pair of newcomers, 12-year-old Xaviera Steele and 10-year-old Alexandre Labossiere, currently rank in the league’s top 10 in multiple events. Steele set a new team record in the girls’ 11-12 50 back in the opening meet and bettered it last week, finishing in 35.20 seconds.
Labossiere has recorded top-six league times in three different events (50 free, 25 fly, 25 back). He’ll have a stiff test on Saturday when he’ll match up against Tilden Woods’s Timmy Ellett, who is seeded slightly ahead in all three events.
The Barracudas’ remarkable depth, especially on the girls’ side, was on display on Saturday in the 416-375 win over the Dolphins — who finished one spot ahead of Bethesda in the division standings the past two seasons.
Bethesda’s Oana Mirestean, Amanda Liu, Dylan McAfee, Miranda Romberg were each separated by less than a second in the girls’ 9-10 50 free. Mirestean won the race in 33.63 seconds and all four swimmers’ times placed them among the top-17 for all MCSL competitors in the event this season.
Bethesda also has three swimmers ranked in the top 14 of the girls’ 11-12 50 fly, paced by 12-year-old Eleanore McGuire-Wein. (That group finished just behind Upper County’s Emily Wang in an exciting finish on Saturday.)
“I think that depth could make a big difference when it comes to the relay carnival later in the year,” Gutermann said. “I’ve been told that Bethesda usually hasn’t been very good when it comes to the relay carnival, and I’m hoping this season we can change that.”
Sisters Sarah, Hannah and Leah Kannan, ages 14, 11 and 8, respectively, have also won multiple events each of the first two weeks. Reia Tong, 17, set a team record in the girls’ 18-and-under 100 IM earlier this season.
On the boys’ side, 18-year-old Michael Center and 17-year-old Tyler Pham have stood out this season. Center has recorded three top-six MCSL times in boys’ 15-18 individual events. He’s ranked No. 3 in the 100 free (54.64 seconds). Pham set a team record in the boys’ 15-18 100 IM at the season-opening meet (1:01.81).
Gutermann, who competed at Potomac, Manor Woods and Seven Locks in her MCSL career, has tried to foster even more team spirit this season around the public pool that has long celebrated Barracuda pride.
One of her new initiatives to build cohesiveness was requiring swimmers to attend at least one team function during the week if they want to compete in the Saturday A meet. That means that if swimmers want to practice with their club teams during the week, they must show up to help with the B meet during the week or attend another team activity to earn weekend eligibility.
Bethesda hopes those factors can help deliver at least two wins in its final three meets to assure its best finish since winning Division B in 2005. But the team knows it won’t be easy to continue its strong start as the summer season kicks into high gear.
“We’ve been working on finishing races to prepare us for tight meets,” Gutermann said. “It’s important to know how to find the wall and know where your opponents are without having to look. Hopefully that’s fresh in their minds and good practice to help us on Saturday.”
- Eric Detweiler, detweilere@washpost.com
Fairfax gears up for Lee Graham
Climbing the division ladder is often a bittersweet process for NVSL teams. On the one hand, growth and promotion are among every team’s fundamental goals. But on the other hand, teams accustomed to winning are, more often than not, faced with the harsh reality of multiple losses.
Poplar Tree hopes to improve to 2-0 in the NVSL's Division 6 when it hosts Pinecrest on Saturday.
The Fairfax Frogs, who moved up to Division 2 after earning a 4-1 record in Division 3 last year, are hoping to break the cycle this season. Even after an opening weekend defeat at the hands of Highlands Swim, the Frogs remain optimistic.
“We were missing several of our 9-10 boys for that meet,” said Fairfax head coach Brian Dufour. “We have been in the water a little more consistently now…and I see our season picking up.”
This weekend, Fairfax will look to right the ship, but will have its hands full with the Lee Graham Dolphins and longtime head coach Mike Cook. A USS coach, Cook is familiar with many of the Fairfax swimmers, who he says have been dishing out some friendly trash talk in the lead up to the meet.
“Some of the kids from Fairfax have already been calling me, telling me ‘Don’t forget to come on Saturday’ and things like that,” said Cook. “So it should be a fun meet for both teams.”
In a lighthearted response, Cook says his team “might cook up some frog legs” before practice on Friday.
The Dolphins were a middle-of-the-road Division 2 team in 2010, posting a 3-2 record and more than proving they belong.
Already this year, Lee Graham has gotten out to a fast start, dispatching the Hunter Mill Sharks 255-147 in week one. Daniel Reinfurt, 12, contributed one of the meet’s more dominant performances, running away with the 50 freestyle by more than five seconds (30.17). He also cruised to an easy victory in the 50 butterfly (33.77) and helped the 100 medley team of Justin Britton, David Temeles, Reinfurt, and Jack West edge the Sharks by .26 seconds (1:10.24).
The Dolphin boys ran into problems when they reached the breaststroke events, being swept in both the 8 & under and 9-10 races.
“Our breaststrokers were quite upset when I announced on Monday that the other team’s breaststrokers scored more points than us,” Cook said.
However, the Frog boys, too, struggled against Highlands Swim in breaststroke, not picking up a single victory. Thus, the boys breaststroke has potential to be this meet’s tipping point.
Lee Graham’s Natalie Leake, 18, who just finished her freshman season at Virginia Tech, will expect little resistance in the 50 breaststroke (35.87 against Hunter Mill) but will be challenged by Rachel Rogers should both girls swim the 50 backstroke again.
Keep an eye on the Fairfax 13-14 girls. Last weekend, the Frogs won each of the individual events for the age group (free, Rachel Ward, 29.42; back, Ward, 33.83; breast, Leah Rogers, 37.44; fly, Rogers, 31.05) as well as the 100 medley relay (1:04.85). Their strength should be a high point for Fairfax.
“[Ward and Rogers] are very strong in their respective events,” said Dufour.
With swimmers on both teams excited for the meet, it should be a good one this weekend.
PWSL showdown set
Four undefeated teams remain in the Prince William Swim League, but that number will be reduced by at least one after the conclusion of this weekend’s meets as the Braemar Blasters travel to Sudley.
Together, these teams are responsible for a number of the top times in the PWSL. Last weekend, Braemar’s Ian Tansill, 10, turned in the league’s best time in the 50 freestyle (34.44), just slightly faster than Sudley’s David Grinstead, 10, (35.65). It should be a must-see race.
The 11-12 boys 100 IM will also be hotly contested. The Seahorses’ Sam Pomajevich, 12, and Bobby Sherrill, 12, and the Blasters’ Brendan Murphy, 12, all swam within two seconds of one another in week two.
Jillian Fritsch (Sudley) and Madeleine Brant (Braemar) should offer a close race in the 11-12 backstroke as they posted the league’s top two times, respectively, in the event last weekend.
Other undefeated squads Piedmont and Old Bridge will face off against Wellington (1-1) and Ridgewood (1-1), respectively.
- Taylor Knight
Tags: Amanda Liu, Bethesda, Bobby Sherrill, Braemar Blasters, Brendan Murphy, Brian Dufour, Daniel Reinfurt, David Grinstead, David Temeles, Dylan McAfee, Eleanore McGuire-Wein, Elizabeth Gutermann, Fairfax Frogs, Highlands Swim, Hunter Mill Sharks, Ian Tansill, Jack West, Jillian Fritsch, Justin Britton, Leah Kannan, Leah Rogers, Lee Graham Dolphins, Madeleine Brant, Matthew Kannan, Michael Center, Mike Cook, Miranda Romberg, Natalie Leake, NVSL, Oana Mirestean, Old Bridge Breakers, Piedmont Tsunamis, PWSL, Rachel Rogers, Rachel Ward, Ridgewood Barracudas, Sam Pomajevich, Sarah Kannan, Sudley Seahorses, Tyler Pham, Wellington, Xaviera Steele
MoCo Recreation Department discriminates against Upper County (UC) and does not allow the Upper County Dolphins equal practice time, it is no wonder Bethesda beat UC. UC had to fight for practice time on Friday. UC is not allowed to practice 3 hours each morning Mon-Fri like the Bethesda team. The Rec Dept. has reduced Upper County’s Friday practice time, putting them at a constant disadvantage against teams that practice longer.
UC and other public pools certainly have some constraints they have to work around in regard to practice availability. But many of the public pools (Rockville, UC, and Bethesda) have also been the beneficiary of “an influx of new talent” every year. UC is not an exception. While I applaud the efforts of Bethesda’s coach to require the club swimmers to be a part of the overall summer program experience, let’s be honest – these pools have become club teams. It is very much against the spirit of this league to have these super powers. I’m sure that some of the new team members happened to move into the area, but unfortunately there are a number of swimmers that start at one pool and switch to Bethesda, UC and Rockville. Part of it I’m sure is the lower costs, but some of it is the draw of swimming on a team with club friends or swimming on a top division team. While this doesn’t necessarily bother me in terms of dual meets – divisions ensure that they will swim each other each year – it makes uneven playing fields at All Star Relays and MCSL Relay records are skewed because of these transfers.
Driving directions to Bethesda Outdoor Pool
Lake Marion Community Center
8821 East Village Avenue
Gaithersburg, MD 20877
1. Head northwest on E Village Ave toward Remsbury Pl
0.2 mi
2. Turn left onto Goshen Rd
0.2 mi
3. Take the 1st right onto Wightman Rd
0.4 mi
4. Turn left onto Montgomery Village Ave
3.6 mi
5. Merge onto I-270 S via the ramp to Washington
9.6 mi
6. Take exit 1 for Rockledge Dr toward MD-187/Georgetown Rd
0.3 mi
7. Keep left at the fork to continue toward MD-187 S/Old Georgetown Rd
417 ft
8. Keep right at the fork to continue toward MD-187 S/Old Georgetown Rd
0.2 mi
9. Turn right onto MD-187 S/Old Georgetown Rd
3.4 mi
10. Turn right onto Arlington Rd
1.0 mi
11. Turn left onto Little Falls Pkwy
236 ft
Bethesda Outdoor Pool
6300 Little Falls Parkway
Bethesda, MD 20816
Total Miles: 18.9 miles
Total Time: 35 minutes.
“Gutermann, who competed at Potomac, Manor Woods and Seven Locks in her MCSL career”
Should fit right in at Bethesda.
this article should focus some on some lesser known teams. Like Bannockburn. Last year their 11-12 year old boy set the team record in the 50 fly at age 11! no doubt that Bannockburn team record is going down.
60 new swimmers this year for Bethesda!! I had a feeling that it was a matter of time this would happen, being that the pool is located in such an old neighborhood with zero new housing area’s around.
Winning “A” division
Phase 1: Have pool located at RMSC training site/or employ RMSC coach as head coach
Phase 2: ???????????
Phase 3: Profit
some of Rockville’s relay records are so impressive. Like this one for instance:
14 Boys 9-10 100M Medley 1:08.92
Andrew Gibson, Harrison Gu, Nickos Tragotsis, Hugo Menguy RV 06
Rockville is gonna have a great set of 15-18′s when those guys all get older.
Does anyone have the number for Eldwick pool? I want my son to swim for their team, but I need to ask their president how much it is to join their pool so my son will be eligible to compete for their team.
what was more impressive about our last win was the fact that there was a huge accident on 270 that caused a ton of traffic. our swimmers from Gaithersburg and Germantown barely made it to the meet on time.
I typed in “directions to MCSL “A” division pools” into google and this was my first result:
http://www.rockvillemd.gov/swimcenter/rmsc/practice.html
I certainly hope that the MCSL Competition Committee starts to enforce the rules that were originally set in place by the league to promote fairness and neighborhood pools. It would be a shame if a pool like Bethesda took down some of our Rays neighborhood records.
“Influx of new talent” is the biggest use of doublespeak I think I’ve ever seen. I think what it means to say is “RMSC coaches are hired to coach a summer swim team at a public pool (or private pool – Stonegate) and create a situation with wild transfers and competitive inbalance so out of control that the MCSL Board decides that they can’t even handle it anymore and rather than try to enforce the transfer rules, eliminate them all together.” Seriously, I think anybody who has been around MCSL for 15+ years knows how much more fun the league was before we had to deal with these “superpowers” that completely fly in the face of why the league was formed – to allow neighborhood pools and neighborhood kids to compete alongside and against each other. I agree that so long as the teams are segregated up in A Division it doesn’t make much difference aside from relay records that have gone completely out of whack the past few years. But I’ll say this – if I’m Woodley or somebody else in B, I’m praying like hell that I avoid being PROMOTED to A so that I don’t get the reward of getting pummeled by 300 points by Rockville next season. The MCSL Board should either enforce transfer rules or create a separate RMSC summer league. Right now the situation is a complete joke.
Public pools/club teams should be in a separate division. Their teams are not made up of members of their local community. The consistent, true community pool champion in MCSL is Tilden Woods. Just sayin’ . . .
Ah, nice to see Tyler Pham swimming for his neighborhood pool……oh wait……
From April 14, 2011 MCSL Meeting Minutes provides the following update to MCSL rules, upholding a swimmer’s right to join the team of his/her (or more generally, parents’) choice, at will, but forbidding recruiting by coaches. Kindly note that this rule change most certainly impacted many swimmers’ decisions this year. There are numerous transfers across the league, in nearly every division. The numbers could be a reflection of pent up demand.
Rules
(1) Please review page 46 of the 2010 MCSL Handbook for pool membership information
(a) Swim team members must be a pool member
(b) No special “Swim Team” memberships – any memberships available to swim team members must also be available to non swim team members
(c) Swimmers do not need to request permission to transfer to a new team, but the expectation is that all will honor sportsmanship and the spirit of league. No recruiting.
(d) For questions or clarification regarding membership rules, please contact Robbye at rules@mcsl.org
I think we have to not be so harsh on some of these big teams and realize that cost can be a consideration in selecting where you swim. When you consider the cost to join a local club, the annual membership fee, the swim fee, and the potential to have to be on a waiting list, sometimes the larger public pools are the best option.
Also, I don’t think knowing that there are powerhouses in Division A detracts from those of us in lower divisions having fun and being competitive. No need to break off the A division or change MCSL rules for changing pools.
It’s the same special guy posting under 7 different aliases in under 1 hour talking to himself. And for some reason he is absolutely infatuated with this Pham kid and an 11 year old boy.
“Cost can be a considertion in selecting where you swim”? Please. The vast majority swimming for public pools have no issue spending thousands for year round swim . . .
Public pools should be in a separate division where they can continue to pull in swimmers from around the county and add scores of swimmers each year to help them gain a competitive advantage. The rest of the true community pools can compete on a fair basis without going up against a pool that adds 60 new swimmers in an off season. Just sayin . . .
I see your point on year-round swimmers and the money they spend on winter training (let alone the swim suit and google costs). I seriously looked at Bethesda though because it would have saved me $1000 over my current summer costs. We’d have been on the list of swimmers to be bashed though if we had made that move. We do live in Bethesda at least so no one would have made commuting jokes about us.
Maybe they could form a new “Uber” league of Division One teams from around the entire metro area, since having only a separate MCSL A division would get really boring after the first couple of years. Set it up the the model the have for area soccer leagues.
Go water wizards. If the current trends continue with the public pools purchasing swimmers, then we should be in division A by 2016.
Oh, and go Glenmont too.
Swim Dad – very well stated. I agree wholeheartedly.
“Rules
(1) Please review page 46 of the 2010 MCSL Handbook for pool membership information
(a) Swim team members must be a pool member
(b) No special “Swim Team” memberships – any memberships available to swim team members must also be available to non swim team members
(c) Swimmers do not need to request permission to transfer to a new team, but the expectation is that all will honor sportsmanship and the spirit of league. No recruiting.
(d) For questions or clarification regarding membership rules, please contact Robbye at rules@mcsl.org”
Freedom to Associate: It’s unfortunate that the committee decided to change the rules to actually make it EASIER for kids to switch teams at will. there was nothing wrong with the original rules that were set in place to promote a culture of fairness. If those rules had actually been enforced, then we wouldn’t all be having this discussion. Unfortunately the committee lacked the spine to actually enforce those rules.
It’s also interesting to point out that many on the committee have ties to Rockville Montgomery Swim Club, as do the teams like Bethesda, Rockville, and Stonegate. One could argue that this creates a conflict of interest.
@David Schwimmer:
The WORST rule change ever for MCSL was removing the geographical limitations on where swimmers could compete. Seems strange that Tyler Pham, who has been on Lake Marion for the past years, would now be on Bethesda. Since his family lives in Montgomery Village, the only cost involved here is about $100 to join the team.
And another very interesting trend, the MCSL teams that have local club coaches as head coaches have a MUCH higher percentage of swimmers on their A rosters who have another MCSL pool much closer to where those swimmers live than those teams who are coached by a traditional summer only coach.
This is not the same MCSL that I swam in for 14 years. The uber-emphasis on competition is not why the league was established. Truely sad.
The sentiment and nostalgia are understandable.
It’s this dude’s absolute ‘swimfan’esque obsession with this Pham person and a freaking 10 year old that is not normal.
There are at least 8 swimmers in the 15-18 age group (boys and girls) who moved to other teams all over the league and yet my son is being singled out. If area swim coach/alum (I am 99% sure I know who you are) and a swim fan (I know who you are also) are so bothered by this, why don’t you talk to me or Tyler himself instead of continuing to bring this up on RFTW. There is a reason for the move and it has nothing to do with the cost, the need to swim in A division, or being with RMSC friends. Definitely nobody recruited Tyler since the decision Is made was in December 2010 when I stepped down as a co A representative. Please feel free to talk to me in person since you both know where to find me “A division coach” and “LM parent”.
Hey Rays,
LET’S GET READY TO RUMMMMMMMMMBLLLLLLLLLLLLLE
People are just jealous that Tyler Pham kicks everyone’s butt! Let them be jealous – Keep it up Tyler!
@ Swimmer12says. I guess you are one of Tyler’s friends and you felt the need of defending him but I’m afraid by doing so you had created more tension. It’s a privilege of having friends like you. But please just let the sleeping dogs lie.
@ Coach Kent Williams. Thank you so much for your kind words for Tyler in another article; even though, you had never coached him.