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Health & Fitness

The Herndon Olympics

The Herndon Olympics was first organized in 1980 by Joe Smith, head coach of the Herndon High School swim team to evaluate potential and talent in Herndon’s young swimmers. The first teams that participated in the Olympics were Fox Mill Estates, Herndon Swim Club, Hunters Creek, Kingston Chase, Four Seasons, Reflection, and Hiddenbrook. Each year teams from the Herndon Swim League (HSL), the Colonial League and a few teams from the Northern Virginia Swim League (NVSL) come together to compete in the most elite meet of the Herndon Swim League swim season, this meet is called the Herndon Olympics. This year there were nine teams competing in the meet, Bradley Farm, Four Seasons, Herndon Swim Club, Herndon Community Center, Hiddenbrook, Hunters Creek, Kingston Chase, Kingstream and Reflections Each team is able to pick their top 2 swimmers from each age group in each individual event (Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Butterfly) as well as their top relay team for each age group to compete in the meet. Each year every time the fastest heat steps up to the pool to compete in their race there is usually always a close call to who won the race, because of how similar the swimmers times are to each other. That’s what makes the Herndon Olympics such a delight to watch, the fierce competition shown in each race, and this year’s batch of Olympians did not disappoint.

            Starting in the early morning of July 9th, 2013 teams came from around the town, in the drizzling rain to start their warm-ups for the Olympics. While swimmers were trickling into the Kingston Chase pool surroundings you could see volunteers from various teams setting up their team areas, concessions volunteers setting up the rows of tables for the food that would be sold during the meet, and you could hear the music being played to wake everyone up, to pump up the swimmers during their warm-ups and to make sure there was a positive and fun aura surrounding the Olympics.

            After the teams were done with their warm-ups, the swimmers were gearing up for their races by running around team areas and eating various goodies from the concessions area the carrying of the torch was started by a few Kingston Chase swimmers and lit at the end of the carrying. Then the Olympic parade was started with the coaches and a few members from each team following behind Josh Davis, the Olympian who had run a swim clinic for the swimmers a day before, carrying the American flag, and the mayor of Herndon, Lisa Merkel, carrying the flag of the state of Virginia. The Olympic ring bearers marched behind them and in procession each team marched around the pool deck carrying their respective team’s banners. After the procession Josh Davis was asked to share a few words of encouragement to the swimmers and he thanked the swimmers parents for always being there for the swimmers. Davis also mentioned that Herndon was one of the best places for a summer swim league while he was speaking. After Davis, State Delegate Tom Rust said a few words of encouragement for the swimmers as well. Then it was time to get the meet going.

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            As the coaches sat down in their viewing area and the parents lined up in the spectator area the 8 and under Freestyle swimmers were lining up for their first race of the day. Each event had 3 heats of swimmers descending from 1 to 3, 3 being the fastest heat of the day. As the swimmers finished up their race it was Chase Platt of the Kingston Chase Fighters (KC) who took home the first 1st place medal of the day. The girls 8 and under Freestyle race was won by Sophia Lee of the Herndon Community Center (HCC). When the 9-10 boys were racing their 50 meter freestyle it was a close race between Keegan Ball from the Herndon Swim Club (H) and Jack Cuppernull from Hiddenbrook (HB), with Ball pulling ahead in the 2nd 25 meters to win the race. In the girls race Georgia Cutrell from the Hunters Creek Stingrays (HC) pulled ahead with an early lead and kept the lead for the race with Susanna Adams from Four Seasons (FS) close behind. During the 11-12 boys race Josh Zhang (HCC) dove smoothly into the water to catch an early lead which he built onto throughout the race, pulling even farther ahead of the group after his stellar flip-turn and push off of the wall. Zhang would beat the Herndon Olympics record that had been held since 1997, the previous time was a 29.16 seconds and was held by Sam McCormally from Fox Mill. Zhang beat the record with a time of 28.36.  In the girls race it was Grace Cutrell (HC) pulling ahead in the first 25 with Holly Krynicki (HB) close at her heels for most of the race. In the 13-14 boys race Derek Urban (KC) and Kevin Salassi (HC) were so close to each other that the race came down to the last stroke with Salassi just out-touching Urban for the win. For the girls the race was close until the flip-turn when Meg Calhoun (HC) pulled ahead to clinch the win. In the 15-18 boys race it was a close competition between all the swimmers but especially between Devin McNulty (KC), Sean McCrone from Bradley Farms (BF) and Conor Cudahy (HC). The race was close down to the touch of each of the swimmers, with Devin McNulty getting first place out of the three. When asked about his race McNulty said it “Feels good [to get first]”. Bryan Nicgorski (KC) on his 4th place was “Surprised that I placed and proud of myself.” During the girls’ race it was a Kingston Chase team rivalry between Ryan Murphy and Karly Ginieczki, the race started out close for the first full lap with Ginieczki pulling ahead out of the flip-turn but Murphy was able to come back and out-touch her for the win.

            To start off the Backstroke events there was a close race between the 8 and under boys, the race came down to the last touch with Jack Gattoni (HB) getting the win. The girls’ race was similarly close with Alexa Schoenefeldt (HC) getting the win with her last stroke. In the 9-10 boys race Keegan Ball (H) came out to an early lead in the race but John Frey (KC) was able to pull ahead to win the race. For the girls Theresa McNulty (KC) was out to an early lead which she was able to hold until the end to win. For the 11-12 boys it was no surprise that Ignat Miagkov from Kingstream (KS), with a seed time 3 seconds faster than the next swimmer, was able to have a big lead and win the race. In the girls race Allison Pritz (BF) got out to an early lead but after the flip turn Julia Salassi (HC) went out to an early lead and finished strong to get 1st place. In the 13-14 boys race Christian Ginieczki (KC) came out of his start with a huge lead and Dylan Cudahy (HC) made a good effort to catch up and almost get the read, but Christian was able to get first and set the record with a time of 29.74. The record had been held since 1999 by Will Tsombikos from Herndon Rec and he had a time of 29.95. For the girls, Natalie Pritz (BF) came out with an early lead and held it through the finish. The boys’ 15-18 race was a close race until the end with Conor Cudahy (HC) clinching the win in the end. One swimmer, Jacob Burch from Four Seasons, set his goal at being able to have a good race, when asked about his feelings on the race he said it “Feels pretty good. I haven’t been able to get the flip-turn until today and I think that’s why I got a best time.” In the girls race it was another chance rivalry for Karly Ginieczki and Ryan Murphy from KC, the race started off led by Murphy and she held the lead until the end.

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            In the 8 and under boys Breaststroke race Vivek Pothineni (HCC) came out of his start with the lead, Tommo Buckley (HC) tried to catch up to Pothineni but Pothineni was able to hold the lead. For the girls it was a close race down to the final touch with Alexa Shoenefeldt (HC) clinching the win. In the 9-10 boys 50 meter Breaststroke Siddharth Pothineni won the race with a 49.37, which was a great improvement from his seed time of a 1:06.15. For the girls Allie Baez (KC) pulled out for the lead and held it for the race with Theresa McNulty (KC) close behind. In the 11-12 boys race Josh Zhang swiftly pulled ahead of the pack increasing his lead as the race went on. Josh was able to beat the record from the Olympics which had been held since 1995 by Matt Lear who had a 38.81. For the girls 11-12 race Claudia Reverte (BF) was out with an early lead after her dive, she then pulled ahead to increase her lead in the second lap of the race. The 13-14 boys race was head-to-head between Dylan Cudahy (HC) and Alan Zhai (BF) with Cudahy winning by a stroke at the end of the race. In the girls race the pool was virtually at the same pace for the first and some of the second lap with Juhi Sharma (HCC) pulling away in the last 10 meters to clinch the win. In the 15-18 boys race Devin McNulty (KC) pulled ahead of the rest of the pool gliding in for the win.  For the girls race Elizabeth McNulty (KC) came out with an early lead with Samantha Kenis (HC) almost catching up to her but McNulty kept the lead and came away with the win. 

            To start off the events of Butterfly Bradley Bunch (HB) took the lead early on in the 25 and held it until the end of the race. For the girls race there was a finish that was as close as you can get, with Allie Baez (KC) just out-touching Georgia Cutrell (HC) for the win. In the 11-12 boys race there was a close finish between Ignat Miagkov (KS), Hugh McNulty (KC), and Aidan Deege (HB) with Hugh coming out with the win. For the girls Claudia Reverte (BF) beat her time by almost 5 seconds and came out with the win almost beating the record still held by Cynthia Roller (Reflection Woods) who had a 32.16 in 1995. In the boys 13-14 race Alan Zhai (BF), Christian Ginieczki (KC) and Kevin Salassi (HC) were all close to each other for the whole first 25 of the race, but Ginieczki pulled out in the second 25 to get first with Alan close Zhai him in second. In the 13-14 girls race it was close down to the last 5 meters when Saralyn Caldwell (HC) pulled ahead to get first. The 15-18 boys relay was as close as you can get with Jack Van Camp (KC), James Caldwell (HC) and Sean McCrone (BF) head-to-head for most of the race with Caldwell pulling out the win in the end. In the 15-18 girls race Elizabeth McNulty (KC) and Katie Degutis (BF) tied for first.

            With a break in between the last Butterfly event and the first relay the relay teams were gathered together and herded to their spots for lining up before the races. The 8 and under boys 100 meter Freestyle relay race was easily won by the Hiddenbrook relay team. For the girls the Herndon Community Center relay had an early lead with Hiddenbrook trying to and catching up to clinch first at the end. In the 9-10 boys 100 meter Medley relay the Hiddenbrook team won again with a commanding lead throughout the race. The girls’ race was closer with Kingston Chase and Hiddenbrook having the lead/catching up to one another which each 25 that passed, but Kingston Chase was able to out-touch Hiddenbrook in the end. For the 11-12 boys Kingston Chase came out to an early lead and held it to win the race, for the girls the Bradley Farm relay team won. For both 13-14 boys and girls relays the races were soundly won by the Hunters Creek relay teams. In the 15-18 boys 200 Medley relay Kingston Chase almost caught up to Hunters Creek (who had the early lead) but couldn’t quite catch them in the end. Even so the Kingston Chase relay set a new pool record for the 15-18 200 Medley Relay with a time of 2:00.83. When asked about how they felt Ryan McNulty said “Very good” and Devin McNulty said it felt “Pretty awesome”.  For the girls the Kingston Chase relay was able to clinch the win. In the mixed age 200 Freestyle relay for the boys Kingston Chase dominated the race; Hiddenbrook came in second even though they swam in the slower heat. In the mixed age 200 Freestyle relay for the girls Hunters Creek had a dominant lead throughout the race with the Bradley Farm relay behind them.

            After all the races were over and all the medals were handed out, the tents taken down over the concessions, the lane lines spun back onto their spool, the swimmers and coaches tired from the day-long meet of events, everyone was happy and relieved that the meet had gone so well, smoothly, and almost exactly on schedule as they had planned it in the days, weeks, and months prior to the event. A special thanks to the hosts, The Kingston Chase Swim Team and The Town of Herndon Parks and Recreation Department, and to Olympian Josh Davis, Mayor Lisa Merkel as well as Representative Rust for making this a special day for all of the swimmers, and to all of the volunteers who made this meet happen! 

 

 

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