Two of four Arlington teams competing in the Northern Virginia Swimming League will compete in new divisions this summer.
The biggest change involves the Donaldson Run Thunderbolts. After competing in the league’s highest Division 1 the past six years, the team drops to Division 3 for the upcoming summer campaign after finishing 0-5 in Division 1 last year.
The Thunderbolts climbed to Division 1 for the 2020 season after winning the Division 3 championship with a 5-0 mark in 2019.
The second Arlington team changing divisions for 2026 will be the Dominion Hills Thunder Ducks.
Dominion Hills climbs one spot to Division 7 after winning the 2025 Division 8 crown with a 5-0 mark. The division championship was the 15th in program history.
The Arlington Forest Tigers and the longtime Division 1 participant Overlee Flying Fish will not change divisions for the upcoming season.
Overlee will swim in Division 1 again for the 64th straight season, having won that championship 29 times, the last in 2015. The Flying Fish tied for second last summer in Division 1 with a 3-2 record.
The league annually realigns its 17 divisions after each season.
Overlee’s 29 division titles are an NVSL record, as is the team’s 64 straight years in the same division. The Flying Fish last had a losing record in 2003, going winless at 0-5.
Arlington Forest returns to Division 9 this summer after finishing tied for third with a 2-3 record at that level in 2025. The Tigers last won a division crown in 2009 in Division 11 with a 5-0 mark.
The five-week regular season with all meets on Saturdays opens for each NVSL team on Saturday, June 20 at 9 a.m., with practices beginning in late May.
In the first week of competition, Overlee visits the Oakton Otters, Donaldson Run hosts the Mantua Marlins, Dominion Hills hosts the Springboard Barracudas and Arlington Forest hosts the Hollin Meadows Barracudas. Action begins at 9 a.m.
After the regular-season meets, the 17 divisional championship meets are Saturday, July 25, followed by the season-ending NVSL individual all-star meet Saturday, Aug. 1 at Vienna Woods pool in Vienna.
Division changes announced in diving competition: In Northern Virginia Swimming League diving news, that organization opens with Tuesday night meets on Tuesday, June 23.
Overlee is in Division III this summer, falling from Division I after finishing 0-5. Arlington Forest won Division VI last summer at 5-0 and climbs to Division IV. Dominion Hills also is in Division IV this summer after going 1-4 in Division III a year ago.
Donaldson Run remains in Division I after placing third in that division at 3-2 last summer.
In those June 23 openers, Donaldson Run is at Highlands Swim, Overlee is at Hayfield Farm, Dominion Hills visits Chesterbrook and Arlington Forest is at Great Falls.
Arlington Forest and Dominion Hills meet July 7 in an all-Arlington clash.
The season-ending NVSL individual all-star diving meet is Sunday, Aug. 2 at 8 a.m. in Fairfax County.
