Bowie area swim teams participate in Prince-Mont divisional meets

By Mike Rauck

July 28, 2023

Six Prince-Mont Swim League (PMSL) divisional meets were held on Saturday to determine the final 2023 standings within each of the league’s divisions, and four of those meets took place in Bowie.

The Prince-Mont Division A championships were held at Whitehall Pool & Tennis Club, the Division C championships were held at Belair Swim & Racquet Club, the Division D championships were held at the Northridge Community Pool, and the Pointer Ridge Swim & Racquet Club hosted the Division E championships.

DIVISION A

The Kingfish Swim Club (KSC) was victorious in Division A, winning all five of their dual meets and soundly beating all other teams during Saturday’s divisional meet.  Kingfish remains the top team in the league, and they have not lost a meet since 2021.

Although the Kingfish Swim Club hosts swim meets in Upper Marlboro, many of the team’s swimmers live in or near Bowie.

Also in Division A, the Belair Bath & Tennis (BBT) swim team came out one point ahead of Whitehall Pool & Tennis (WPT) on Saturday, tying Whitehall and BBT for 5th place in Division A points. The league uses dual meet results to break ties in the standings.  Since Whitehall beat BBT when the two teams met on July 8th, Whitehall finished 5th in Division A and BBT finished in 6th place.

Eight swimmers won all three of their individual events including Trent Badrak of the Adelphi Dolphins (AR), Landon Abelende and Addy Donnick of the Hawthorne Country Club Gators (HCC), Layla Davy-Brown, Ginny Smith, and Zuri Wilson of Kingfish, Wesley Moncton of the Prince George's Pool Killer Whales (PGP), and Ethan Zurowski of the BBT Dolphins.

Five swimmers won two of their individual events including Emma Henchcliffe from BBT, Gavin Abelende from Hawthorne, Alysa Bailey from Kingfish, Dmitry Mikhailov-Bakker from PGP, and Cecilia Saarinen from Whitehall.

Addy Donnick from Hawthorne broke a Whitehall pool record by swimming 59.51 in the Girls 15-18 100 Meter Freestyle.  The previous record had been in place since 2014.

Two Kingfish team records were set, including Sophie Koroma’s 29.82 time in the Girls 15-18 50 Meter Butterfly and Alysa Bailey’s 37.33 time in the Girls 13-14 50 Meter Breaststroke.

Levi Vars broke a BBT team record by swimming 32.07 in the Boys 15-18 50 Meter Breaststroke. The previous record had been in place since 2012.


DIVISION C

Belair Swim & Racquet (BSR) became the 2023 PMSL Division C Champions after finishing second behind the West Arundel Swim Team in Saturday’s Division C divisional meet. BSR was undefeated this season heading into Saturday’s meet, and the Bowie team finished the meet tied with West Arundel in division points. The tie was broken in favor of BSR because West Arundel lost to BSR by three points in a dual meet one week earlier.

Six swimmers won all three of their individual events including Carlos Idol and Kazuki Reeves of the Montpelier Marlins (MC), Jacob Campbell and Sydney Campbell of the Russett Sharks (RST), Michael Venit from the West Arundel Ducks (WA), and BSR’s Camille Smith.  Smith also helped the Barracudas to a first-place finish in the Girls 9-18 200 Meter Freestyle Relay.

Nine swimmers won two of their individual events including Zoe Adams, Christopher Perkins, and DJ Theodore from BSR, Mia Moore from Greenbelt Municipal Swim Team (GM), Kaley Markovitz and Kylie Ritter from Russett, Yusuf Islam and Kitana Marroquin from West Arundel, and Maarja McCall from the West Laurel Swim Club (WLS).

Kyle Smith tied a BSR team record set in 2011 by swimming a 32.07 in the Boys 15-18 50 Meter Breaststroke.

Only 0.18 seconds separated DJ Theodore and Kyle Smith in an exciting finish as the pair took first and second place respectively for the Barracudas in the Boys 15-18 50 Meter Butterfly.

Sydney Campbell from the Russett Sharks Swim Team broke a PMSL league record by swimming a 28.12 in the Girls 11-12 50 Meter Freestyle, and she broke a BSR pool record by swimming a 30.70 in the Girls 11-12 50 Meter Butterfly.  Campbell teamed up with Julianna Rios, Kylie Ritter, and Kaley Markovitz to break a BSR pool record for the Sharks in the Girls 18 & Under 200 Meter Medley Relay with a time of 2:10.71.

Michael Venit from the West Arundel Ducks broke a PMSL league record by swimming a 58.47 in the Boys 15-18 100 Meter IM, and he broke a BSR pool record by swimming a 29.18 in the Boys 15-18 50 Meter Breaststroke.


DIVISION D

The Accokeek Gator’s (AST) edged out the Indian Head Torpedoes (IH) to win first place in Division D for the 2023 season, despite the Torpedoes coming in first place in Saturday’s divisionals meet held at the Northridge Community Pool in Bowie.

The Northridge Neptunes finished the season in fourth place in Division D.

Five swimmers won all three of their individual events in the Division D Championships meet including Ashley Gruwell from Accokeek, Jason Johnson from the Fort Washington Sharks (FW), Naomi Dugan from Indian Head, and Cole Gilbert and Gianna San Juan from Northridge.

Cole Gilbert broke three Northridge team records during his individual event swims, and Naomi Dugan and Jason Johnson both broke two Northridge pool records.

Five swimmers won two of their individual events including Gambrell Bennett and Johannes Shotwell from Accokeek, Alexa Ampela from Fort Washington, Alexander Byrd from Northridge, and Rafa Borders from the Westlake Village Waves (WOW).


DIVISION E

The Prince George's Parks and Recreation Sharks Swim Team (PPR) were big winners in Division E, winning all five dual meets and coming in first in last Saturday’s divisionals meet held at Pointer Ridge Swim & Racquet in Bowie.

The Pointer Ridge Porpoises finished the season in third place in Division E.

This summer saw the return of the Takoma Park D.C. Swim Team (TP) to the league. Takoma Park didn’t have access to a pool for two years due to concerns about Covid, and the team was not able to regroup for the 2022 season. Takoma Park had been a solid Division A team for years prior to 2020.

Six swimmers won all three of their individual events in the Division E Championships meet including Nicholas Karis, Bridget Kelly, and Jocelyn Turner of the Brandywine Blue Waves, and Allen Bui, An Bui, and Ari Jenkins of the Laurel City Kingfish.

Three swimmers won two of their individual events including Azurah Coppock-Bey from Prince George’s Park and Rec, Aiden Morgan from the Takoma Park Allstars, and Anthony Davis of the Pointer Ridge Porpoises.

Data on records broken for the Division E meet was not provided with the meet results.