PVS Swimmers earn Scholastic All-American
By Reach for the Wall Staff
Congratulations goes out to these PVS athletes who were named by USA Swimming to its 2018-2019 Scholastic All America Team. The application process was open from June 1-August 15th, with awardees announced in early September. This year was the second year that 9th graders were eligible to apply for the recognition, SwimSwam reported that of the 1,634 (12 more than last year), 828 boys, 806 girls, 224 were freshmen!
USA Swimming 2018-2019 ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
- Grade completion requirement – applicant must have completed 9th, 10th 11th or 12th grade
- GPA Requirement – minimum 3.5 GPA for the current academic year
- A=4, B=3, C=2. If numerical grades are used, the following scale will be used unless the school’s letter grade conversion is given on the transcript: A=90-100; B=80-89; C=70-79. In calculating the GPA no rounding will be used – one decimal place only.
- Honors, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and dual credit college level academic courses will earn one half (.5) extra Grade Point. Grades for academic subjects only are calculated – history/social studies, English, mathematics, sciences, foreign languages, computer sciences, visual and performing arts if indicated as academic. A grade lower than a C in an academic subject will mean automatic rejection of the applicant. Grades for non-academic courses will NOT be calculated – art, band, choir, orchestra, health, driver education, physical education, and any other class marked non-academic on a transcript.
- There will be no special status designation for a 4.0 GPA other than for a national champion who also has a 4.0 GPA.
- Pool Requirements
- Applicants must have swum an individual pool time equal to a 2018 Winter Junior qualifying time in any individual event during the SAA qualifying period (August 16, 2018 – August 15, 2019) with qualifying times in SWIMS – list of times are posted on the USA Swimming website. A qualifying time will be available for selection from the SWIMS database during the application process. Only ONE time is necessary and only ONE application is necessary.
- Disability or Open Water Requirements (for athletes without pool requirements)
- Applicants must have competed in one of the following meets:
2018 Can-Am Open – December 15-17, 2017, Charlotte, NC
2019 World Para – April 19-21, 2018, Indianapolis, IN
2019 Open Water National Championships – May 11-13, 2018, Tempe, AZ
- Applicants must have competed in one of the following meets:
The Eastern Zone had 410 swimmers recognized (for the second year in a row!!), 73 (or 18%) of whom were PVS swimmers. NCAP had the most swimmers in the list with 39, followed by RMSC with 10, Machine with 8, The Fish with 5 and Occoquan with 4.
Here’s the list of 73 PVS swimmers
The National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) also recognizes athletes for their accomplishments in the school. Their award is limited to graduating seniors, with the following qualifications (more stringent on the academics, less restrictive on the swimming/diving):
Have a minimum GPA of 3.750 on a 4 point scale, or 93.7500% of the grade scale your school uses for 7 semesters/11 trimesters. GPA may not be rounded up. (Your school’s grade scale is determined by the point value awarded a regular, non-weighted “A”;
Be a graduating senior
Have lettered in your high school program (swimming, diving, or water polo) your senior year. A copy of your transcript is required.
Swimmers/Divers from the DMV:
First | Last | School | City | State | Sport |
Sebastian | Borden | Battlefield High School | Haymarket | VA | Swim |
Ryan | Breedlove | James Madison High School | Vienna | VA | Swim |
Kyle | Brown | Harrisonburg High School | Harrisonburg | VA | Swim |
Justin | Clark | Wakefield High School | Arlington | VA | Dive |
William | Daniel | Harrisonburg High School | Harrisonburg | VA | Swim |
Samuel | Ellison | Yorktown High School | Arlington | VA | Swim |
Riley | Fletcher | Woodberry Forest School | Woodberry Forest | VA | Swim |
Michael | Keohane | Woodberry Forest School | Woodberry Forest | VA | Swim |
Patrick | Kuhlkin | James Madison High School | Vienna | VA | Swim |
Christopher | Lucian | DeMatha Catholic High School | Hyattsville | MD | Swim |
Jackson | McCummings | Riverside High School | Leesburg | VA | Swim |
Tyler | Michael | Battlefield High School | Haymarket | VA | Swim |
Charles | Moore | Woodberry Forest School | Woodberry Forest | VA | Swim |
Claire | Nguyen | Riverside High School | Leesburg | VA | Swim |
Matthew | Nowak | Osbourn High School | Manassas | VA | Swim |
Dhruv | Pillai | Flint Hill School | Oakton | VA | Swim |
Nicholas | Ruszkowski | James Madison High School | Vienna | VA | Dive |
Ali | Shama | Harrisonburg High School | Harrisonburg | VA | Swim |
Pawon | Silpacharn | Riverside High School | Leesburg | VA | Swim |
Ryan | Soh | Yorktown High School | Arlington | VA | Swim |
Jack | Tolar | Battlefield High School | Haymarket | VA | Swim |
Louis | Tucker | James Madison High School | Vienna | VA | Swim |
Luke | Wilson | James Madison High School | Vienna | VA | Swim |
Kyle | Wu | James Madison High School | Vienna | VA | Swim |
Cassidy | Young | Yorktown High School | Arlington | VA | Swim |
Noah | Zimmerman | James Madison High School | Vienna | VA | Swim |
Swimmers/Divers from the DMV:
First | Last | School | City | State | Sport |
Catherine | Barrett | Yorktown High School | Arlington | VA | Swim |
Caitlin | Blankenship | James Madison High School | Vienna | VA | Swim |
Lindsay | Brandt | Battlefield High School | Haymarket | VA | Swim |
Sarah | Carmen | James Madison High School | Vienna | VA | Swim |
Dayanna | Diaz | Laurel High School | Laurel | MD | Swim |
Megan | Dungan | Flint Hill School | Oakton | VA | Swim |
Athena | Gromada | Yorktown High School | Arlington | VA | Swim |
Peyton | Hope | Norfolk Acadmey | Norfolk | VA | Swim |
Kelsey | Isman | Yorktown High School | Arlington | VA | Swim |
Isabel | Kenna | St. Andrew’s Episcopal School | Potomac | MD | Swim |
Amanda | Kraemer | Battlefield High School | Haymarket | VA | Swim |
Peyton | Nassetta | Yorktown High School | Arlington | VA | Swim |
Haley | Pietras | Cambridge South Dorchester | Cambridge | MD | Swim |
Emily | Rehr | Yorktown High School | Arlington | VA | Swim |
Elise | Staiger | Princess Anne High School | Va Beach | VA | Swim |
Laine | Stoker | Yorktown High School | Arlington | VA | Dive |
Holly | Tillotson | Battlefield High School | Haymarket | VA | Swim |
Heather | Tuft | James Madison High School | Vienna | VA | Swim |
Reach for the Wall is proud to recognize these scholar-athletes and congratulates the swimmers on their achievement, as well as their coaches and parents for their outstanding support.
The list of girls who made Scholastic All-America appears to be incomplete or incorrect. I am not sure where the one on this site came from. But, it does not match the list put out by USA Swimming. For example, Victoria Huske (of the Arlington Aquatic Club in PVS) is listed on the USA Swimming list. However, she is omitted from the list here. There are likely other omissions as well. Congrats to all who made this achievement.
This post covers two scholastic awards, one sponsored by USA Swimming ( grades 9-12) and the other by NISCA (only grade 12). We did not list out all 73 swimmers that earned the USA Swimming award, rather provided a link to the PVS site with the list. The list we provided is the Seniors who earned the NISCA award.
Why are swimmers from Riverside HS (Leesburg) included in the DMV list, while swimmers from other high schools closer to the DMV — for example, Potomac Falls HS & Dominion HS in Sterling; Briar Woods in Ashburn; & numerous others — excluded from your published list? Without an explanation, the list as presently constituted is rather arbitrary.
Thanks for the feedback! USA Swimming and NISCA manage the application and award process for the Academic awards, we simply filter the lists for swimmers within the DMV. If swimmers did not submit their applications (but surely meet the qualification standard), they are not included. Full lists can be found here : NISCA: https://www.niscaonline.org/aalists/2019/academicaa2019.html USA Swimming: https://www.usaswimming.org/news-landing-page/2019/09/09/usa-swimming-names-scholastic-all-america-team