Counting swimmers, a diver and a relay team, there were four champions from local schools at the recent private school state meet in Stafford.
In swimming, juniors Kate Douglas from Potomac School and Elizabeth Bryan from Oakcrest School each won two races in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association girls’ competition, held at the Jeff Rouse Swim and Sport Center last Saturday (Feb. 15).
Douglas was first in the 50 freestyle in 23.74 seconds and the 100 backstroke in 55.18.
She also swam on the second-place medley relay and fifth-place 400 free relay, helping the Potomac School team place seventh.
Bryan won the 200 individual medley (1:59.9) and 100 breaststroke (1:02.25) and anchored two relays, helping Oakcrest finish 11th. She was chosen the meet’s and the season’s outstanding girls private-school swimmer.
Douglas and Bryan won multiple events in other meets this season, and have been standouts throughout their high school careers. They’ve each won four races in state meets.
In a previous conference championship meet, Bryan won the individual medley and breast stroke in meet-record times of 2:04.75 and 1:05.06, respectively.
Between them, both swimmers lost only one race this season: Douglas in a conference-championship meet when she finished second in the 50-meter freestyle in 23.69 seconds and the winner swam 23.68.
“She can swim every stroke and just keeps getting faster in all of them,” Potomac School coach Doug Burns told FFXnow. “She really started getting fast between her eighth- and ninth-grade years. She is a racer now, and such a humble person.”
Douglas also is a standout year-round swimmer for the Arlington Aquatic Club and for the Army Navy Country Club team during the summer, helping that squad win a top-division league championship in 2024.
Bryan swims during the summer in the Northern Virginia Swimming League for Ilda Pool in Annandale. She didn’t lose a race last summer. She swims year-round for the Machine Aquatics program.
“Elizabeth is very talented and fun to watch, and she is a great kid and a good teammate. She is always cheering the loudest,” Oakcrest coach Caroline Heeter said.
The only Oakcrest team records Bryan doesn’t yet hold are in the backstroke and butterfly.
“She’ll get those next season,” Heeter predicted.
The Madeira School Snails’ 200 free relay won a state championship in 1:35.83. The members of the relay were Kayla Smith, Lydia Foster, Sunny Chen and Coleen Desmond. All had top finishes in individual races, helping the team place fourth at the state meet.
Diya Redburn and Kylee Smith were other top swimmers for Madeira, which placed third in the 400 free relay.
Also for the Potomac School girls in the state meet, Cecelia Russell had two top-10 finishes, Maren Schwarz was sixth in the breast, and Madeleine Steves placed 14th and 15th in races.
Oakcrest diver Mary Abela came in third in the girls’ diving contest.
In the boys’ state meet, Flint Hill diver Cristiano Garcia won the competition with a 586.2 point total. The Oakton-based private school also had swimmers Todd Landwehr, Beckett Cummings and Lucas Bermudez placing in races.
For the Potomac School boys, Henry Rossman was fifth in the 500 free and sixth in the 200 free, and Luka Beslic finished seventh in the breast stroke event and 11th in the 100 butterfly.
