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The final weekend of team competition came to a close this Saturday as the Nessies traveled across the county to Calverton for the Divisional Championship meet. Every team tries to peak at divisionals and the Nessies came through with flying colors. Out of a total of 96 swims on Saturday, Nessie swimmers achieved 54 best times, with a number of truly big time drops throughout the day. The meet got off to a rousing start with Alexa Popera establishing a new team record in winning the 12&Under Girls IM. And at the end of the day, the Nessie Boys Graduated Freestyle relay team of Colin Smyth, Jake Kirschner, Austin Cole, and John Popera set a new team record of their own. In between, Nessies won nine other races. Division H champions included the Girls Open Medley Relay team of Laura Garcia, Alexa Popera, Emily Hall, and Ashleigh Popera, along with individual champions Madeline Schupak, Laura Garcia (2 wins), Alexa Popera (2 wins), and Natalya Ares, who won all four of her individual events. The Nessie’s 4^th place finish in the Divisional meet locked up a 3^rd place finish for Division H, which means a trophy come All-Star weekend.

After resting up, over 120 Nessies and their families attended our annual awards banquet at the Bolger Center for plenty of good food, good music and big trophies. The evening featured a fabulous slide show documenting the season, and a special tribute to graduating senior Meg Conroy. Natalya Ares and Daniel Sologuren won the overall high point scorer trophies, while special coaches’ awards went to Leah Pitman and Daniel Garcia (Most Improved Girl and Boy), Hailey Rooney and Austin Cole (Most Dedicated Girl and Boy), and Emily Hall, a shoo-in for the Team Spirit Award. Thanks to Sandy Smyth for organizing a great party.

And then, the next day, the Nessies learned of our placement for 2009. We will remain in Division H, moving up from the 6^th seed to the 2^nd seed, and will be joined again by Chevy Chase Rec, along with our B League friends Eldwick. We will also compete against former opponents Palisades and Norbeck Hills, as well as a relatively new team to MCSL, Division H’s top seed for 2009, Woodcliffe. These teams are all good and the competition will be strong next year, so consider winter swimming programs to maintain fitness and strokes. The coaches can offer advice to anyone interested. Remember, it’s only about 45 weeks ‘til practices begin again.

This weekend, the final events of the MCSL season take place at the Rockville pool as a number of Nessie individuals and relay teams will be swimming in the All-Star Meet. Check the MCSL website for schedule and come out to see the Nessies take on the very best in the county.

The B Meet season ended on Sunday with the B Relay Carnival at Tally Ho. As always, this was a fun meet that allowed many Nessies to compete in Relay Races. Now that we have a full B League with a full schedule, the opportunities for swimmers in B Meets is greatly expanded. And it should only get better in the coming years as the charter members of the league build on this early success. Special thanks to B Rep Kathy Katz for running such a successful season. As of this writing, the B League is still unnamed – so any suggestions out there would be appreciated.

Since they have been the strength of the team all season it’s not surprising that three Nessie girls swam very well in last week’s Coaches Long Course All Star meet. The girls either maintained their seeds or improved on them in this elite competition featuring the top 8 MCSL swimmers in each event. Laura Garcia finished 4^th in Backstroke, while Alexa Popera made an amazing jump from 6^th seed to finish second in Breaststroke. And Natalya Ares finished 2^nd in Backstroke and won a thrilling Butterfly race to establish herself as the top 13/14 Girl Butterflier in the league. A number of Nessie teammates were there to cheer the girls on.

And in case you are wondering how Natalya, Laura, and Alexa can swim so fast, part of it is due to the fact that they, along with many other Nessies, swim year round with local club teams. We are fortunate to have some of the best club programs in the country in the Metro DC area. There are teams offering a wide range of programs for swimmers of all ages and level of commitment. Coaches can offer guidance on what program might be right for you, so please talk to them if you are interested. You’ll be amazed how much your child will improve even with a limited program of Winter swimming. And with the improvement comes better fitness and a love of swimming that can last a lifetime.

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The Nessies compete in Division H of the Montgomery County Swim League (MCSL).