Two swimmers from Arlington high school enjoyed standout junior seasons for the Division I University of Delaware’s men’s and women’s teams during the winter season.
Yorktown High School graduate Lauren Hartel swam on the winning 800 freestyle relay for the Blue Hens in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) women’s championships.
Individually in the meet, Hartel, a team captain, was second in the 200 freestyle race, third in the 1,650 free and fourth in the 500 free.
Hartel was the team’s top point-scorer in the meet. She helped the Blue Hens finish third in the CAA meet.
Hartel has been a top swimmer for Delaware during her two seasons with the team. She attended Ohio University as a freshman.
In addition to swimming at Yorktown while growing up in Arlington, Hartel swam during the summer for the Overlee Flying Fish for many years, along with a couple of her sisters. Her younger sister, Olivia, will be an Overlee coach this summer.
Lauren Hartel was a Yorktown captain her senior season and a major contributor in the team’s postseason success.
Wakefield High School graduate Matvei Namakonov (Class of 2022) won the CAA men’s championships in the 50 and 100 free races. He qualified for the NCAA meet in those same two races, along with the 100 breaststroke.
Namakonov helped the men’s team finish second in the CAA championships.
He said this season was special qualifying for the NCAAs, which was a goal. There, he found the competition to be an exciting, stressful and humbling experience because of the high level of talent.
“I deserved to be there and was excited to race,” Namakonov said. “The more the meet went on, it was more humbling and humbling. The best swimmers in the world are there. It’s the best of the best.”
Namakonov aims to return to the NCAAs next season.
Namakonov and his mother immigrated to the U.S. in 2019 from Kyrgyzstan. Namakonov immediately became a top swimmer for Wakefield, breaking multiple team records.
He finished second in the state meet in the 50 and 100 freestyle races his senior year.
Next for Namakonov this year? He is hoping to swim for his home country during the next world swimming championships in July. He first must qualify in various races at an event in Florida at the end of this month.
NOTE: Namakonov and Hartel met in Arlington when they were each members of the year-round Arlington Aquatic Club team.
