Their margins of victories were a bit slighter compared to last season, but the Washington Golf & Country Club Lightning still again finished with an undefeated summer swimming season.
Washington Golf went 4-0 in regular-season dual meets, next won the A Division relay title, then the divisional meet, followed by the league-wide overall championship competition of the Country Club Swimming and Diving Association.
It was the ninth straight summer Washington Golf has won the overall title. The team hasn’t lost a dual meet since 2013.
“It was still kind of a continuation of the machine,” Washington Golf director of aquatics and co-coach head coach Matt Wolff said. “The kids worked hard and had fun.”
At the overall championship meet, which consisted of some 15 teams at Congressional Country Club in Maryland, Washington Golf totaled 1367.5 points with runner-up Army Navy Country Club of Arlington a distant second with 1102.5.
“We figured coming into the season it would be between us and Army Navy again. They have become our big rivals in this league,” Wolff said.
For Washington Golf, with Ryan Baker as the other co-head coach, at the championship meet, double race-winners were Lucas Zidlicky, Will Walters, McKinley Nielsen and Whit Kouhestani. Single winners were Charlie Hartman, Maddie Nielsen, William Lepre, Emory Haynes, Tommy Tramonte and Claire Cocker.
Hartman was second in another race.
Washington Golf had a long list of other top finishers at the championship meet ,including Madeline Steves, Josie Gieseman, Michael Steves and Annie Buczek.
Others were Arya Bhargava, Mikey Maloney, Lilly Darcey, Jack Perlish, Ryan Tramonte, Aiden Nolan, Michael Maria, George Cocker, Maren Schwarz, Grace Loper, Cate Sheridan, Sabine Barbee, Abigail Hartman, Timothy Friend, Grant Nielsen, Phinn BonSalle, Paige Burns, Hayden Hill, Joshua Friend, Evie Maloney, Rae Ella Beckner and Reagan Nguyen.
In relay races, Washington Golf won three, was second in two and third in another.
Also at the championship meet, team records were broken by Lepre in the 14- and-under boys freestyle and Schwarz in the 18-and-under girls breaststroke. Tommy Tramonte and Madeleine Steves also secured big wins for the team and broke Congressional pool records.
Double race-winners from Army Navy at the championship meet were Amelia Maclvor, McKinley Busen, Timmy Abbott and Kate Douglas. Ainsley Lehman was a single winner along with Frederick Papadopoulos, who also was second in another race.
Finishing second in two races were Haley Lehman, Henry Levi and Tyler Hong. Katie McDonald was second in one and also had a third.
Also third for Army Navy were Madison Hassan and Ainsley Lehman
Army Navy was first in one relay, second in three others and third in two.
NOTES: At the five-team A Division championships this summer, Washington Golf won with 400.5 points, with Army Navy second (295.5). In the Division A relays, host Washington Golf won 12 races and was second in five others. Army Navy won four relays, had 10 seconds and five thirds . . . Late in the season, the Washington Golf team welcomed assistant coach Jack Carman back to meets. He missed some earlier meets with an injury . . . Washington Golf finished second in the overall championships by a half point to Kenwood in 2013. Since then, the team hasn’t lost the meet. “Our swimmers didn’t like that back then, and that kind of motivated and sparked us for the next few seasons,” Wolff said.
