It’s a great time to be a Nessie. After some tough competition this weekend, the Nessies emerged undefeated and Division I Relay Champions. On Saturday, injuries and absences threatened the unblemished record, but a number of swimmers stepped up big time and helped the Nessies claim victory over North Chevy Chase 422-367. Dalya Arik and Kate Goldberg both swam up to help out. Zhenya Lutterman dropped an astonishing 16 seconds off his seed time in Fly. And as they have done all year, the 15/18 Girls and the 8&U Boys were dominant. Karl Simon, Jerry Johnston, Remi Folch, Joseph Ibrahim, and Daniel Garcia combined to capture all but two points possible for the 8&U Boys, while Natalya Ares, Emily Hall, Natalie Kronfli, Laura Garcia, Ashleigh Popera, and Alexa Popera teamed up to sweep every 15/18 Girls race. The Nessies also took 3 out 4 relays, with Daniel Garcia’s thrilling come-from-behind victory in the Graduated Freestyle really revving up the crowd.

Individual event winners included Karl Simon, John Popera, Madeline Schupak, Natalie Kronfli, Max Tyson, Eric Eig, Ada Lopaczynski (2 wins), Anna Gordon (3 wins), Nicole Kronfli (3 wins), Daniel Garcia (3 wins), Nick Tondravi (4 wins), and Natalya Ares (4 wins). 

For the 1^st time this season, no records fell on Saturday. But they sure did on Sunday.

The Nessies welcomed the rest of Division I to the Jungle on Sunday for the Division I Relay Carnival. The Nessies turned in their most complete performance in anyone’s memory, winning 11 out of 22 races to win the meet by more than 40 points over the second place team.   As a result of the meet, the Nessies qualified eight teams for All Star Relays at the end of the season, and have five other teams in excellent position to go as well. Congratulations to Natalya Ares, Eric Eig, Bridget Dromerick, Austin Cole, Karl Simon, Anna Huang, Anna Gordon, Daniel Garcia, Maya Tondravi, Madeline Schupak, Ada Lopaczynski, Remi Folch, Jerry Johnston, Stephanie Zoltick, Elisa Zoltick, Catherine Gordon, Nicole Kronfli, Emily Sologuren, Natalie Kronfli, and Judy Johnston for their automatic qualifications. Mario Belledonne, Brian Xiao, and Laura Garcia were also on winning teams and are most likely to qualify. And Nick Tondravi, Max Tyson, and John Popera were on very close 2^nd place finishers and have a good chance of getting in as alternates. In all, that’s 26 Nessies either in or almost in: a remarkable achievement. Again the oldest and youngest age groups led the way, sweeping all their races. But showing the Nessie depth, the 9/10 Girls and all three Girls Graduated teams won as well. Bridget and Austin both returned from injuries that kept them out of competition on Saturday to help break team records in both Open Medley Relays. Brian, Mario, Eric, Laura, Natalie and Natalya were also on those record-breaking teams. Other highlights included Emily Sologuren’s whisker thin anchor leg victory over two other teams in the 9/10 Medley, and the amazing 8&U Boys taking their 100 Meter Medley by more than 16 seconds! And if you’re looking for a swimmer of the meet, look no farther than Anna Gordon – five races, five victories.

The schedule remains packed this week. On Tuesday, Daniel, Natalie, Natalya and Maya will take part in the prestigious Coaches Long Course All Star Meet in Rockville. The next night we have our final B Meet (and final home Meet) of the season against Wildwood Manor. And Saturday is the final dual Meet against a strong Ashton team who will be jockeying for position to try and catch the Nessies for the I Division title. This is when the fun really starts.