Summer Leagues heat up in the DMV!

By Reach for the Wall Staff

June 11 marked the start of the summer league season for the PWSL with each division holding live dual meets (not virtual)! If you recall the league concluded last season with some virtual divisional meets and a lot of fast swimming, here’s an excerpt from the league last season: “The PWSL’s most unusual season yet ended with some nail biters across the league’s divisional meets. First place in the white division was decided by just 13 points, and Westridge won yellow division over Victory Lakes by 128 points. There were more close battles for second place, as Red, Blue, and Purple divisions all had less than 100 points separating second and third.”

Here’s a snapshot of the team records after 3 weeks, with only 3 teams maintaining an unblemished record: Piedmont, Sudley (both in the Blue Division) and Southbridge (Black Division). Piedmont and Sudley are scheduled to compete the weekend of July 16th, we’ll see if this will be a dual of the undefeated?

PWSL concluded their 3rd week of competition on 6/25 and will take a break from the dual meets this coming weekend to hold their annual ‘Stars and Stripes‘ meet on Saturday July 2. From the host Bridlewood, the description of the meet is as follows: “The Stars and Stripes Invitational is an exhibition All-Star style meet. The sole purpose of Stars and Stripes is to be a FUN event for all teams involved. It is held annually on July 4th (or at some point during the observed holiday) and is designed to be exciting, quick, and FUN.” Further: “Each team is allowed to bring one medley team for each age group and gender to swim in the relay and individual events. Swimmers will participate in their assigned discipline for both the relay and the individual event. For example, a swimmer competing in the backstroke event will also swim the backstroke leg of the medley relay. The crescendo relay will include one swimmer from each age group to swim freestyle regardless of their specified discipline.”

We look forward to seeing the pictures and results from this meet, have fun!

The MCSL completed its second week of dual meets on June 25th, with some fast swimming but no real surprises in the team standings. In the A division, only 3 teams remain from the 2021 season, with Rockville and Stonebridge winning their first two duals. Only one team will remain undefeated after this weekend as those two will face off Saturday. Division B had a full replacement of teams from 2021 as Bethesda and Wildwood dropped from A and Potomac from E, River Falls from D, Clarksburg Village and Old Georgetown from C. Potomac and Wildwood have won their first two meets and are set to compete in week 5, possibly to determine the division champ. Chevy Chase Recreation and Woodley Gardens are unblemished in Division C and will face each other this weekend! Darnestown and Franklin Knolls are at the top of Division D with 2 wins each. Franklin Knolls will travel to Darnestown Saturday to break the tie. Like Division B, Division E is composed of teams that came from other divisions in 2021…Woodcliffe had the largest jump as they dropped from Division A last year, Quince Orchard from B, Bannockburn, Merrimack, and Mill Creek Towne all came from D and King Farm from F. Sure enough, Woodcliffe and Mill Creek Towne will face off this weekend to see who remains undefeated. Manchester Farms is the only team in Division F that hasn’t incurred a loss or tie, yes, a tie…Calverton and Palisades were two of 4 teams in the league that tied their dual meets (see: closest dual meets) June 25th. Division G is the first with three teams undefeated, Seven Locks, Kenmont and Daleview all have 2 wins. At the conclusion of Saturday’s meets, North Chevy Chase or Forest Knolls will have 1 win and either Kenmont or Daleview will have their first loss. Division H had the other tie occur last week with Manor Woods and Cedarbrook. Hallowell is the lone undefeated team and will match up against Regency Estates. In Division I, Westleigh and Inverness have 2 wins and will match up against the 1 win teams Clopper Mill Kingsview and Lakelands respectively. The remaining teams in Division I, Somerset and Poolesville will compete to see who gets their first win. Olney Mill and Rock Creek sit atop Division J with two wins and will take on the winless Potomac Glen and Twin Farms teams. Potomac Woods, who dropped from Division G last year will take on Garrett Park to see if they can extend their win streak to two meets! Washingtonian Woods and Carderock Springs share the lead in Division K, both teams are poised to continue their winning ways as they match up against New Mark Commons and Whetstone. Eldwick and Norbeck Grove lead the way in Division L, but one will come away this weekend with a loss as they swim each other Saturday. Hillandale has a good chance at notching their 2nd win of the season against Fallsmead (Congratulations on your 50th season Fallsmead!). Division M is one of the two that have already competed their relay carnival meet, so the standings reflect those results. North Creek has two dual meet wins plus the relay carnival, thus are alone at the top of the division. In a tie for 2nd is Plantations (2 dual meets wins, 5th place relay carnival) and James Creek, (1 dual meet win 2nd place relay carnival). West Hillandale has an opportunity Saturday to hand North Creek their first loss and tighten up the race for the division title. Long Branch and Norbeck Hills share the lead with 2 wins atop Division N. Division O is lead by Middlebridge with 3 dual meet wins and the relay carnival.
We’re looking forward to the results from this Saturday as it is the last meet to post a qualifying time for the annual Coaches Invitational Long Course meet which is scheduled for July 12 (more to come on that meet next week).

NVSL is also entering their 3rd week of competition and there is not much of a surprise who is leading the top 3 divisions. In each of the two weeks, NVSL records were broken by teams/individuals competing in the yards format. As detailed on the NVSL website:

Four NVSL Records Set in Dual Meet #1

Sun, 6-19-2022 | Jen Sayasithsena

The Kent Gardens pool was on FIRE yesterday as FOUR NVSL yards records were set!!

Congrats to the following swimmers:

Girls Mixed Age 200 Yard Relay from Hamlet! Erin Kass, Kennedy Masten, Morgan Kass, and Emma Flickinger set a new record with a time of 1:47.83. The previous record was 1:50.00 by Debby Bergman, Ingrid Hagen, Lisa Fallon, and Kathy Fallon of Wakefield Chapel in 1978!

Girls 9-10 50Y Backstroke record set by Kennedy Masten of Hamlet with a time of 31.53! The previous record was 32.68 by Zoe Dunn of Holmes Run Acres on 7/01/2017.

Girls 13-14 50Y Backstroke record set by Morgan Kass of Hamlet with a time of 27.43! The previous record was 27.94 by Sophie Fredericks of Kent Garden on 6/19/21.

Girls 8&U 25Y Freestyle record set by Sloane Nguyen of Kent Gardens with a time of 14.59! This equaled the time set by Janet Hu of Mosby Woods on 7/24/2004.

Girls 8&U 25Y Free broken by Sloane Nguyen of Kent Gardens with a time of 14.59! pic.twitter.com/OXPtp6K6YV

— Northern Virginia Swimming League (@swimNVSL) June 19, 2022

and the following week:

Three NVSL Records Set in Week #2!

Tue, 6-28-2022 | Jen Sayasithsena

Three more NVSL yards records were set in Week #2 of dual meets. 

The Boys 11-12 50 YARD Backstroke record was set by Max Thompson of Shouse Village with a time of 28.04

The previous record, set on July 23, 2005, was 28.36 by Freddy Crawford of Lee Graham.

The Boys 11-12 50 YARD Butterfly record was set by Max Thompson of Shouse Village with a time of 26.17

The previous record, set on July 19, 2014, was 26.31 by Max Cruz of Holmes Run Acres.

The Girls 9-10 25 YARD Butterfly record was set by Olive Dunn of Holmes Run Acres with a time of 13.91.

The previous record, set on July 14, 2018, was 13.98 by Sophie Fredericks of Kent Gardens.

Congratulations to Max and Olive and their teams!

In Division 1, Chesterbrook, Tuckahoe and Overlee occupy the top spot, each with 2 wins. at the conclusion of the 2021 season, Tuckahoe held the top spot, followed by Chesterbrook and Overlee. It will be an exciting 3 weekends to see how this plays out with the last dual meet on 7/16 with Chesterbrook and Tuckahoe potentially vying for the top spot. McLean and Kent Gardens are out to a fast start in Division 2, both notching wins in their first two weekends. They face each other this weekend, so only one team will remain undefeated. Old Keane Mill and Wakefield Chapel are at the top of Division 3 and they too will face each other Saturday to determine who remains undefeated. Division 4 leaders are Orange Hunt and Cardinal Hill. Cardinal Hill faces winless Oakton and Orange Hunt takes on 1 win Mantua to remain atop the division. Mount Vernon Park is the only undefeated team in Division 5 and will take on Hiddenbrook to see if they can remain unblemished. Based on last week’s results, the RFTW virtual meet has it really close! Dunn Loring and Sleepy Hollow Recreation have the top dual meet records in Division 6, but will face tough challenges from Pine Crest and Lakeview respectively. Division 7 leaders Lakevale Estates and Ravensworth Farm will face off Saturday in an epic showdown…only one team will remain undefeated! Likewise in Division 8, leaders Fairfax and Springboard will settle it in the pool, with one team remaining atop the leaderboard. Rolling Hills and Poplar Heights from Division 9 have two wins a piece, and will face formidable opponents this Saturday as Rolling Hills swims Arlington Forest while Poplar Heights takes on Highland Park. Camelot is the only team in Division 10 without a loss and will face winless Fairfax Club Estates who dropped their first 2 meets by a total of 12 points, we expect this one to be just as close! Parklawn has out swum their competition in Division 11 and goes into the weekend undefeated. They will face upset-minded Rutherford who has 1 win and a close loss to Stratford last weekend. Poplar Tree and Fox Hunt look to continue their win streaks in Division 12 as they take on Truro and Daventry in this weekend’s meets. In Division 13 Mansion House and Holmes Run Acres also look to extend their wins to 3 as they face Shouse Village and Fox Mill Estates. Division 14 leadership is up for grabs this weekend as Fox Mill Woods and Woodley take to the water as the two undefeated teams. Kings Ridge and Laurel Hill look to remain undefeated in Division 15 as they square off against Lincolnia Park and Annandale. In Division 16, Burke Station and Commonwealth have won their matchups and posted almost the same point totals. Ilda Community will visit Burke Station while Commonwealth travels to Broyhill Crest to keep their records in tact. Division 17 is a tale of two Springfield’s. Springfield and North Springfield lead the way with two wins each and should prevail in this weekend’s matchups.

Good luck to all the swimmers competing around the DMV this weekend!!