The Swanson Admirals had smooth sailing in the 2026 Arlington middle-school swimming championships, held April 16 at Wakefield High School’s pool.
With 1,219.5 total points, Swanson edged out Dorothy Hamm Middle School (1,190.5) in the overall standings, counting both girls and boys competition.
It won’t be completed until about 2030, but a pedestrian/bicyclist bridge over the Potomac River could bring more people to the Long Bridge Aquatics & Fitness Center in Crystal City.
“It’s going to be a huge boost,” predicted Hamilton Humes of the Arlington Sports Commission, speaking at the body’s Dec. 18 meeting.
A planned redevelopment project at the Arlington YMCA appears to have stalled, leaving some patrons concerned about maintenance issues with no sign of getting fixed.
The most recent site plans for the Virginia Square facility — calling for an 88,000-square-foot recreation center alongside a seven-story, 374-unit apartment building — were filed in August 2022.
The schedules and division assignments are set for Arlington’s two teams in the upcoming 2025 summertime’s Colonial Swimming League.
The Arlington Knights of Columbus Holy Mackerels will compete again in the highest Red Division of the 24-team, four-division league.
When it comes to home swimming and diving meets during the summertime’s Northern Virginia Swimming League seasons, Arlington will be a busy place for a little over a month starting in mid-June.
The four Arlington pools in the league each have both swim and dive teams. Those squads will combine to host 22 home meets, starting Saturday morning, June 14 with swimming competition.
Led by one swimmer who won three races and another with two victories, the Swanson Admirals won this year’s Arlington County middle-school team swimming championship.
Swanson finished first with 1,397 points in the six-team event at Wakefield High School, followed by eight-time defending champion Dorothy Hamm with 1,210 then Williamsburg with 932.
Torey Ortmayer, who has led the Yorktown Patriots to numerous team championships, recently stepped down after eight seasons as the head coach of the high school’s swimming and diving teams.
Ortmayer is leaving to start a new year-round club swimming organization named Hydra Aquatics. It will be located at the Tuckahoe Recreation Club pool in McLean, and will open this fall.
Add another type of gold medal to Torri Huske’s swimming accomplishments.
The Arlington resident and 2021 Yorktown High School graduate recently won her initial individual first-place medal in the NCAA women’s national championships in this year’s Division I meet.
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.
The Marymount University Saints made the best of a roster of just 11 during the winter swimming season.
After finishing 5-0 to win the regular-season title, the squad placed second in the Division III Atlantic East Conference postseason championships.
Of the four Arlington teams participating in the Northern Virginia Swimming League, only the Dominion Hills Thunder Ducks will change divisions for the upcoming summer season.
Dominion Hills will be in Division 8 this summer, down from Division 7, where the Thunder Ducks finished 1-4 last summer.
Led by five first-place relays and individuals winning six races, the Marymount University Saints won a third straight Atlantic East Conference men’s swimming championship.
The Division III team was first with 917 points, nearly 100 more than runner-up St. Mary’s College of Virginia.
