Press Release courtesy of Jennifer Coon
The high school swim season has begun, and the Oakton Swim/Dive team opened the season with two victories over Westfield High School. At Cub Run Recreation Center, the Cougars dominated the pool and came out on top over the Bulldogs. The Oakton boys scored a total of 237 points to Westfield’s 77 points; the Cougar ladies scored 195 points to Westfield’s 119 points.
With the graduation of 24 seniors (23 swimmers and one diver) last year, Oakton was forced to rebuild their team, but the class of 2021 has a significant amount of talent within Oakton’s walls. The Cougars added 18 swimmers and seven divers, a total of 25 new members, to the team in the beginning of November. Despite the number of new faces, the returners welcomed the newcomers with open arms, creating a sense of team unity immediately.
With their 195-119 point win, the Oakton girls had incredible swims and dives throughout the night. Senior Sarah DeLoach and sophomore Leaya Ma won first for both of their individual events, 200 IM and 500 freestyle victories for DeLoach and 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke victories for Ma respectively. The girl divers, senior Kyla Straker, sophomore Lily Chireix, freshman Ansley Robertson, and junior Amanda Macomber, swept diving. On the boys’ side, the Cougars swept in the 200 freestyle, 200 IM, 100 butterfly, 100 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, and all three relays (200 medley, 200 freestyle, and 400 freestyle), displaying the incredible depth of the team. Freshman Anthony Grimm placed first in both of his individual events (500 freestyle and 100 backstroke), as did junior Daniel Gyenis in the 200 IM and 100 butterfly. Sophomore Joe Wong started the season with a bang with a lifetime best in the 100 breaststroke. The boys’ divers, Josh Shipley, Wesley Kron, Pablo Galvez, and John DeFranco, all freshmen, also performed well, despite senior Liam Klopfenstein’s and junior Joe Perreault’s absences at the meet.
This win for Oakton is indicative of more incredible swims and dives to come, and the Cougars are looking forward to what the rest of this season has in store. Next Friday, December 8, the Cougars will be travelling to Spring Hill Recreation Center to take on the Langley Saxons at 6:30 pm. The following day, December 9, Oakton Swim/Dive will be competing in the Concorde Invitational at 6 pm at Oak Marr Recreation Center.