Reach For The Wall

Good Counsel’s Jack Conger and Stone Ridge’s Katie Ledecky claimed All-Met swimmers of the year honors after setting national high school records in multiple events at Metros.

For Conger, it was his third-consecutive boys’ SOY honor. He was a first team selection his freshman year. Ledecky missed Metros last season as a freshman, but shined in the annual showdown between Montgomery County public schools and area private schools to capture the award. It was the third straight year that the reigning girls’ SOY was supplanted — Oakton junior Janet Hu won in 2011-2012. Next season will be the first time since the 2000-2001 season that two SOY winners will return to compete in the same season.

James Madison’s Andrew Foos (boys) and Wootton’s Jackie Emr (girls) were named coaches of the year.

Check out the full girls’ and boys’ first teams, second teams and honorable mention lists here: Girls’ All-Met / Boys’ All-Met

Former swim coach Noah Rucker convicted of having sexual contact with minor

Justin Jouvenal — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 23:11:42 +0000

A former Fairfax County swim coach has been convicted of a misdemeanor offense for having sexual contact with an underage girl more than a decade ago, according to attorneys.

Under a deal reached with prosecutors, Noah Rucker, 40, of Bristow, on Tuesday in Fairfax County Circuit Court entered an Alford plea to one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

In an Alford plea, a defendant admits there’s enough evidence for a conviction, but doesn’t admit

guilt.

Rucker is expected to be sentenced to six months in prison and is prohibited from coaching swimming and having contact with the woman who filed the complaint under the terms of the deal.

Rucker was arrested in June and was charged with three felony counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor after a woman came forward and claimed he had sexual contact with her when she was a 17-year-old student at Vienna’s James Madison High School in 2001.

Rucker, who was the swim coach there, was 29 at the time, police said.

At the time of his arrest, police said he coached swimmers throughout the region.

“Mr. Rucker denies any responsibility in the case,” said his attorney Thomas B. Walsh. “In light of the charges and in all fairness to the parties involved, an agreement was reached to reduce the charges to misdemeanors.”

Walter Johnson boys, Wootton girls claim Maryland 4A/3A swimming and diving titles

Bryan Flaherty — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 22:35:15 +0000

It was all smiles Saturday for the Walter Johnson boys at the Maryland 4A/3A swimming and diving championship meet, and none were bigger than the one on senior Barry Mangold’s face as he hoisted the championship trophy over his head with his left arm, his right arm resting gently in a sling.

Mangold led the Wildcats to their second consecutive boys’ title at the University of Maryland’s Eppley Recreation Center. Their 274 points easily outdistanced runner-up Blair (204). Wootton won the girls’ title with a dominating 329; Sherwood (255.5) was second..

Mangold, who injured his shoulder while helping set up for a school dance, entered the meet unsure whether he would be able to race.

“This was a really fun meet. Yesterday I dislocated my shoulder, so to be able to come back and go fast today was a lot of fun,” Mangold said. “To be able to continue the winning tradition [Walter Johnson] has and to go out with another state title means a lot.”

Mangold defended his state titles in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle in 21.33 and 47.73 seconds, respectively. Before each race Mangold swung his arm overhead, testing for tightness or pain. But once on the starting block, the Virginia-bound senior radiated confidence, which he converted into raw speed in the water with dominating performances that included a state record in the 50 freestyle.

Mangold’s victories were two of 22 state titles won by Montgomery County students, including both diving events. Northern junior Ben Lawless was the lone event winner from outside the county. He set the state record in the boys’ 200 freestyle (1 minute 40.59 seconds) and dominated the field in the 500 freestyle to win in an automatic all-American cut time of 4:30.55 — a personal best by six seconds.

“Coming from Calvert County, I sort of feel like an underdog,” Lawless said. “I wanted to show

everyone that there is some fast swimming in other parts of Maryland.”

Wootton’s girls completed a perfect season without winning an individual event in the meet. Kristina Li, Jessica Chen, Scarlett Sun, and Emily Zhang won the 200 medley relay for the Patriots in 1:49.70.

“We were pumped up for this meet and knew that if we came in and did what we were capable of that things would work out. And that’s what the girls did,” Wootton Coach Jackie Emr said.

Wootton returns almost its entire state and Metros championship squad next year.

Blair senior Jack Foster set the record in the boys’ 200 individual medley (1:53.16); Wootton senior Austin Dickey reset his own record in the boys’ 100 breaststroke (57.28); and Einstein sophomore Rory Lewis set the state mark in the boys’ 100 butterfly in 51.06. Foster also won the 100 backstroke in 53.27.

Seniors Charlotte Meyer (Whitman) and Anna Kolanowski (Sherwood) were also double event winners. Meyer, who has signed with Navy, claimed the 200 IM (2:07.66) and 500 freestyle (5:02.93). Kolanowski, who will swim for Georgia, captured the 100 (52.12) and 200 freestyle (1:53.21) crowns.

Alvin Wang, Jeremy Liu, Andrew Mann, and Jake Engel claimed the boys’ 200 medley for Quince Orchard with a new state mark of 1:37.94. The Churchill team of Steve Ge, Kevin Gu, Harrison Gu, and Austin Cole broke the state record in the boys’ 200 freestyle relay with a winning time of 1:27.51. The same four boys won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:13.92.

Churchill senior Michelle Illig won the girls’ 50 freestyle in 24.42; Sherwood freshman Morgan Hill captured the girls’ 100 butterfly title in 57.06; Walter Johnson junior Natsumi Horikawa won the girls’ 100 backstroke in 58.14; and Whitman senior Audrey Gould claimed the girls’ 100 breaststroke in 1:06.72.

Audrey Richter, Sophie El-Masry, Kelsy Song, and Michelle Nguyen of Richard Montgomery won the girls’ 200 freestyle relay in 1:39.86. Sherwood’s Hill, Megan Conrad, Kyle Sheapp, and Kolanowski won the girls’ 400 freestyle in 3:36.57.

TJ Shinholser of Paint Branch won the boys’ exhibition diving event with 468.35 points. Parker Rigaux of Bethesda–Chevy Chase finished second with 432.45 points. Churchill’s Mashal Hashem won the

girls’ event with 401.10 points. Northwest’s Mackenzie Cornell was second with 379.10. Churchill sophomore Kali Becker — the defending state champion and 2013 Metros champion — failed a dive, but still managed to finish third overall with 374.95 points.

Poolesville captured five of the six relay events and five individual state titles to sweep the Maryland 3A/2A/1A state swimming championships. It was their second consecutive boys’ crown and their first girls title.

Junior Xavier Laracuente lead the Falcon boys by capturing the titles in the 50 and 100 freestyle. For the girls, senior Diana Hanson won the girls’ 200 IM and sophomore Dorit Song won the girls’ 100 freestyle to lead Poolesville to the victory. Both swimmers placed second in their second individual events.

Ex-swim coach Rick Curl pleads guilty to sexually abusing girl in the 1980s

Amy Brittain — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 21:36:17 +0000

Former local swim coach Rick Curl, 63, center, leaves Montgomery County Circuit Court on Thursday after entering a guilty plea in a child sexual abuse case. (Astrid Riecken / For The Washington post)

Local ex-swim coach Rick Curl, whose namesake club became internationally renowned for its elite competitors, pleaded guilty today to one count of child sexual abuse involving his former swimmer, Kelley Currin, in the 1980s.

Sentencing is set for May 23. Curl, 63, faces a maximum of 15 years in prison.

Currin, now 43, traveled from Texas to attend the hearing this morning in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville. When she entered the courtroom, she walked to the front row, sat down and immediately stared to her left to face Curl. The former coach, now with graying hair, sat across the aisle flanked by his wife, Linda, and his three attorneys.

Curl, dressed in a dark suit, red tie and wearing glasses, later answered a series of questions from judge Marielsa Bernard related to his guilty plea. He told the judge he had been considering pleading guilty since December.

Currin did not speak today but prosecutors said she plans to deliver a victim’s impact statement at the sentencing.

“I’ve told her over and over again that she’s a hero, a true hero,” Assistant State’s Attorney Debbie Feinstein said during a statement after the court proceedings.

Feinstein added, “This is not a happy day for her. This is a difficult day.”

More than a quarter of a century has passed since Curl initiated sexual contact with Currin.

In 1983, Curl, then 34, began kissing and fondling the 13-year-old swimmer, according to charging documents.

When Currin, formerly Kelley Davies, turned 15, the two began having sexual intercourse. The sexual

contact continued until 1987, when she left the Montgomery County area to swim at the University of Texas.

In 1989, Currin and her parents entered into a $150,000 confidentiality deal with Curl, agreeing not to discuss the coach’s sexual abuse.

Last summer, Currin came forward with the allegations against Curl, who was subsequently banned from USA Swimming and criminally charged.

In the decades after his sexual contact with Currin, Curl went on to coach several Olympic champions and world-record holders.

In the mid-2000s, he spent several years coaching at a swim club outside of Sydney, Australia.

His namesake organization, the Curl-Burke Swim Club, has since been renamed the Nation’s Capital Swim Club.

Chris Trevino contributed to this report.

Kylie Jordan, O'Connell impress at VISAA swimming & diving state championships

Bryan Flaherty — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 18:48:58 +0000

Bishop O’Connell’s boys’ teamed captured second place in the team competition and Madeira freshman Kylie Jordan set two meet records at Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association state swimming and diving championship meet over the weekend.

Complete meet results

Jordan proved herself more than up for the challenge of competing against Virginia’s best independent school swimmers in her first VISAA championship meet, setting the breaking the records in the 100-butterfly and 200-individual medley in the two day competition held at the new Collegiate School Aquatic Center in Richmond. Her individual and relay performances earned her female swimmer of the meet honors.

“[Jordan]‘s a very level headed kid. Sometimes freshman get a little wide-eyed coming to a big meet like this for the first time. She handled it all,” Madeira Coach Rod Montrie said. “She is a swimmer you can rally around.”

Jordan swam away from the field in the girls’ 100 butterfly to win in 54.50 seconds — achieving the an automatic all-American cut and breaking the previous record by nearly a second in the process. She also won the 200 IM title, going 1.34 seconds

under the old mark in a recording setting time of 2:04.21. Freshman Reni Moshos of Highland (Warrenton, Va.) finished third in 2:06.42. Moshos won the 100 backstroke in an all-American consideration cut time of 56.56.

Jordan also anchored Madeira’s 400 freestyle relay with a blazing 50.97 second split to bring Madeira from sixth to fourth. It was the fastest split by a freshman swimmer this season and the fourth fastest relay split of the year behind Oakton’s Janet Hu, Holton-Arms’ Caroline McTaggart, and Sherwood’s Anna Kolanowski. Farrin Saba, Maddie Alagia, and Michaela Saunders led off for the Snails. Madeira finished sixth overall as a team with 125 points — the highest place among northern Virginia girls’ teams. Flint Hill finished seventh (120), Bishop Ireton eighth (97), and O’Connell ninth (82.5).

“Coming into this meet, we talked about the tradition of our school at this meet,” Montrie said, referenceing Madeira’s five VISAA titles in six years from 2001-2006. “I told them that this is the time to get fired up and to swim fast. And they really bought in. It was exciting to watch.”

O’Connell’s boys finished second to Fork Union Military Academy in the boys’ competition, 275-242.5. Collegiate won the girls’ crown in front of their home crowd with 383 points.

O’Connell’s boys’ squad put together a team effort to climb into second place, taking second in all three relays, second in boys’ diving, and placing four swimmers in the top eight in seven events.

Conor Chamness, Don Tucker, Michael Luciani, and Christian Tiernan of O’Connell finished second in the boys’ 200 medley relay in 1:35.07. The team of Tiernan, Chris Outlaw, Eric Mioduski, and Tucker finished second in the 200 free relay in 1:25.86, touching just after Fork Union Military Academy, who won in 1:25.18. Tiernan, Luciani, Outlaw, and Chamness combined for the second place finish in the 400 freestyle relay, again touching after FUMA, 3:08.61 to 3:11.75.

O’Connell earned dual state runner-ups on the 1-meter boards. Junior Jack Gigliotti finished second in the boys’ diving event after finishing with 354.55 points. Junior Alayna Kelly placed second with 273.65 points on the girls’ board. Seton’s Joe Duran finished third in the boys’ competition with 351.15 points.

Woodberry Forest senior Zach Switzer starred in the boys’ meet, capturing two titles in automatic all-American splits. He won the boys’ 200 IM title in 1:50.20 — easily going under his previous record by half a second. He also posted the fastest time in the state in the 100 backstroke with a winning time of 48.92. Switzer’s freshman brother Nick Switzer finished third in the 200 IM in 1:55.66. Bishop Ireton’s Ben Gorski was fourth in 1:55.84.

Other top area finishers: Flint Hill’s Rachel Swarts finished third in the girls’ 100 butterfly (57.31); St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes’ Ian Shackley finished third in boys’ 200 freestyle (1:45.10) and fourth in the boys’ 500 freestyle (4:43.33); Flint Hill senior Natalie Brendsal finished third in the girls’ 100 freestyle (53.96) and fourth in the girls’ 200 freestyle (1:56.93); O’Connell sophomore Outlaw finished fourth in boys’ 50 freestyle (21.82) and fifth in the boys’ 100 freestyle (48.47); O’Connell’s Tiernan finished fifth in boys’ 100 butterfly (52.59); O’Connell’s Sarah Cahill finished fifth in the girls’ 100 breaststroke (1:08.51).

USA Swimming bans Loudoun County swim coach for sexual misconduct

Liz Clarke — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 04:34:58 +0000

USA Swimming has placed a Washington area swim coach on its permanently banned list, citing four rules violations that relate to sexual misconduct between 2010 and 2012.

Michael Pliuskatis, formerly the head coach at Loudoun County-based Snow Swimming, initially was banned in early August and has been removed from the team’s coaching roster for some time. His appeal was denied, leading to an official ban that was issued by USA Swimming on Friday.

Pliuskatis is the region’s third local swim coach to be banned for life by USA Swimming in the last eight months for sexual improprieties with swimmers.

Riley Eaton, general chairman of Potomac Valley Swimming, confirmed Saturday that he had received a letter from USA Swimming on Friday

informing him of the ban. The ban, and the four code violations cited, were confirmed Saturday in an e-mail from a USA Swimming spokesperson.

As such, Pliuskatis may not coach any athlete who is a USA Swimming member nor interact with them on any direct or frequent basis.

Snow Swimming is well known in the sport, having produced Olympian Matt McLean. The club was founded by Pliuskatis but

now is owned by his ex-wife.

Hall of Fame coach Rick Curl, who ran one of the nation’s largest swim clubs (the former Curl-Burke), was banned for an improper relationship with a teenage swimmer in the 1980s that started when she was 13 and he was 33. Curl was charged in October with felony child abuse. The club has since changed its name to the Nation’s Capital Swim Club.

Last month, Noah Rucker, a former coach at Vienna’s Madison High, was convicted of a misdemeanor offense for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old female member of the high school’s varsity swim team. Rucker was suspended by USA Swimming in July.

In a telephone interview, Eaton said that the three recent bans, although all related to sexual misconduct, were not connected in any other way.

“They are totally separate — not only by location but by age, when they occurred and other factors,” Eaton said. “It’s not like some cabal that three guys got together and were preying on young women. They are very separate.”

Eaton said that USA Swimming and local officials were doing all they could to ensure athletes are safe in the future.

“Everybody is a little more aware now,” Eaton said. “We want to make sure our kids are safe. And we’re working really hard at it so we don’t just discount things on face value anymore. That is something we’re doing a better job of.

“The ills of the past are hopefully just that. They are the past, and we are moving forward enough to make sure that we do a better job.”

Oakton girls, Robinson boys claim Virginia AAA swimming and diving championships

Bryan Flaherty — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 04:30:15 +0000

Swimmers dive from the starting blocks during the Virginia AAA swimming championships at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, Saturday, February 16, 2013. (Photo by Doug Kapustin/The Washington Post)

As Janet Hu took her final strokes into the wall in the girls’ 400-yard freestyle relay, her Oakton teammates on deck exploded into a fit of joy, hugging each other as they celebrated the team’s fifth state record at Saturday’s Virginia AAA state swimming and diving championship meet.

Oakton claimed its second consecutive girls’ state title, doubling up second-place Yorktown, 275-128. The Cougars did it in dominating fashion by capturing four individual titles and winning all three relays at George Mason University’s McKay Natatorium.

The Robinson boys topped Madison (218.50-192.50) to take home their first state title since 2009.

Complete results available here

“These girls chose to go out in a big way,” Oakton Coach Parker Ramsdell said. “Setting two relay records and missing the third by about four-tenths of a second shows just how much of a team effort this win was. We aren’t just a couple great swimmers, we’re a team.”

Oakton fans go wild after a relay race win. (Photo by Doug Kapustin/The Washington Post)

No swimmer was more impressive for the Cougars than Hu, the 2012 All-Met Swimmer of the Year, who was in a class of her own all night. The junior provided jaw-dropping splits in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays, both of which set new state marks.

Individually, she reset her own state and pool records in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. She touched in 52.84 seconds in the butterfly and 53.27 in the backstroke, finishing with open water between herself and second place in both races.

Hu’s freshman teammate, Megan Byrnes also set a state record for the Cougars in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:49.75 — ~~more than~~ nearly 10 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Oakton sophomore Laura Branton won the 100 freestyle (50.79), narrowly upsetting 50 free winner Abi Speers of Langley (50.82). Speers set the 50 freestyle record with a 23.18.

In the boys’ meet, Robinson flipped the script from the Northern Region meet two weeks ago, where the Rams finished second behind Madison.

“Last year we weren’t even top 10 at this meet. We had some talented freshmen come in, but this was about more than just a few swimmers,” Robinson Coach Philip Caslavka said. “Not one swimmer from our medley relay scored individually, but their sixth-place finish was the difference in the meet.”

Freshman James Murphy shined for the Rams by winning the 100 freestyle in 45.70 and providing anchor legs in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays which finished second. Murphy also took second in the 200 freestyle, falling to Chantilly senior Chris Grimmett-Norris, who swam a near perfect final 100 yards to out-touch Murphy, 1:39.16 to 1:39.31. Both swimmers went under the previous state mark.

“I’m looking forward to the next three years with these freshman,” Caslavka said. “I don’t see why we couldn’t win three more state titles.”

Jefferson sophomore Andrew Seliskar posted another impressive state meet with two state records and a pool record. He won the 200 individual medley, breaking the state and pool marks with a time of 1:46.09. He also shattered his own 100 butterfly record with a time of 47.92, less than a second off the national public high school record held by Madison’s Sean Fletcher, set at the 2009 state meet.

[Correction: Seliskar did not break the state record in the 100 butterfly. Sean Fletcher, as mentioned, owns both the state and national public high school records in the event.]

“I felt fast tonight,” Seliskar said. “I was glad to come out and get my team the points they needed. Setting records is just a bonus.”

Madison’s Grayson Campbell won the boys’ diving title with 497.30 points. McLean’s Caroline McCleary won the girls’ competition with 393.65 points.