Like her mother before her, Abigail Hartman is following, and doing better in some cases, in those footsteps.
So far, the summertime swimmer for the Overlee Flying Fish and Washington Golf & Country Club Lightning has broken team and pool records in the girls 8-under age divisions for the Arlington squads, some marks that her mother previously held at one of the pools and at the same age group.
Hartman’s mother is Kate Alden Hartman, who also swam for both teams years ago under her maiden name, Kate Alden Gandy.
For Washington Golf this summer, Abigail Hartman set records in the 25 freestyle (15.79) and backstroke (19.19) that her mom previously set in 1990 in 16.08 and 19.38.
For Overlee this summer, Abigail Hartman set a new pool mark of 18.95 in the 8-under back.
“We don’t really keep track of records that much,” Kate Alden Hartman said. “Abigail is swimming and setting records because that makes her happy. Those are pretty special moments for her.”
The Hartman’s are a swimming family. Father and husband Andy Hartman swam at the U.S. Naval Academy. Before that he set records for High Point Pool of Falls Church during his youth in the Northern Virginia Swimming League.
Charlie Hartman, 11, is Abigail’s brother. He also swims for Washington Golf and Overlee. He holds a Washington Golf record in the age 9-10 boys 25 freestyle and an Overlee mark in the 9-10 boys 25 butterfly.
Both swim year-round, Abigail Hartman for the Machine Aquatics of Vienna and Charlie Hartman for the Nation's Capital Swim Club.
