Best High School for swimming

[Anonymous]

We are moving to Virginia from southern California. We have a child that is a year round swimmer entering 8th grade.

I would like to get any opinions on how swimming is viewed as a high school sport in northern Virginia? Is it a respected sport or is it considered a minor sport with minimal interest?

The high school pyramids we are looking at are Robinson, McLean, Lake Braddock and maybe Chantilly. Is any one of these schools have a particularly good or bad for swimmers?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[Anonymous]

McLean is the closest to Yorktown, which has year round swimming team.

[Anonymous]

Stone Ridge in Montgomery County Maryland

[Anonymous]

Some more color on the original post, our child participated in both swimming and football however decided a few months ago to focus just on swimming. He's very tall for 7th grade, was the qb for his youth football team, over 6', but given all of the studies on concussions we convinced him to stop playing football this year.

Is northern Virginia like the south where football dominates the high school culture both athletically and socially or is northern Virginia high school sports more diversified?

[Anonymous]

Sports does not dominate HS in NoVa like football in Texas. The community does not stop for a football game. The big competitive sport around here is college admissions.

Big swimming occurs at the club level. Janet Hu is off to Stanford and she swam for Oakton HS. But her true training came from All Star Aquantics. Katie Ledecky also swims for All Star.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are moving to Virginia from southern California. We have a child that is a year round swimmer entering 8th grade.

I would like to get any opinions on how swimming is viewed as a high school sport in northern Virginia? Is it a respected sport or is it considered a minor sport with minimal interest?

The high school pyramids we are looking at are Robinson, McLean, Lake Braddock and maybe Chantilly. Is any one of these schools have a particularly good or bad for swimmers?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

I don't know if any school in NoVa really has a tradition as a swimming powerhouse. It's a respected sport, and many local swimmers and divers get college scholarships, but it doesn't get a lot of attention. Most recently, Robinson had the strongest swim/dive teams of the four schools you mentioned, followed by McLean, Chantilly and Lake Braddock. They all compete in the VHSL 6A league.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some more color on the original post, our child participated in both swimming and football however decided a few months ago to focus just on swimming. He's very tall for 7th grade, was the qb for his youth football team, over 6', but given all of the studies on concussions we convinced him to stop playing football this year.

Is northern Virginia like the south where football dominates the high school culture both athletically and socially or is northern Virginia high school sports more diversified?

More diversified. Football is kind of a big deal in western Fairfax and parts of Loudoun County, but not like it is in other parts of the country. Of the four schools you originally mentioned, it probably gets more attention at Chantilly than at the other schools. Chantilly has a strong baseball tradition as well, as do Lake Braddock and McLean.

[Anonymous]

I hesitate to mention this, because TJ is a lightning rod for controversy, but TJ (the math/science STEM magnet in Fairfax County) does have a fairly strong tradition in boys swimming, so it might be a perfect fit for your DS if he's both a strong swimmer and interested in a STEM magnet. The flip side is that TJ competes in a somewhat less competitive division (5A) than the schools that you mentioned in your first post.

[Anonymous]

Back in the day Burke Racqet and Swim had a good swim team based out of their pool. (robinson/Lake Braddock area) But, there was a problem with the coach and they renamed the program (or gor a new program) - they had some Olympic swimmer train from there in the 90s, but yeah, now maryland is better.

Swimming is more competitive here than football. More people swim year round on swim teams than other sports.

I second the comment that college acceptance is what the kids train for here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Back in the day Burke Racqet and Swim had a good swim team based out of their pool. (robinson/Lake Braddock area) But, there was a problem with the coach and they renamed the program (or gor a new program) - they had some Olympic swimmer train from there in the 90s, but yeah, now maryland is better.

Swimming is more competitive here than football. More people swim year round on swim teams than other sports.

I second the comment that college acceptance is what the kids train for here.

Just curious - are you suggesting "maryland is better" because there are at least two Olympians (Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky) from Maryland?

I don't know if that really speaks to area high school programs. Andrew Seliskar, who's from McLean and will graduate from TJ this spring, is one of the top 4-5 recruits in the nation and has a scholarship to Cal-Berkeley.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Back in the day Burke Racqet and Swim had a good swim team based out of their pool. (robinson/Lake Braddock area) But, there was a problem with the coach and they renamed the program (or gor a new program) - they had some Olympic swimmer train from there in the 90s, but yeah, now maryland is better.

Swimming is more competitive here than football. More people swim year round on swim teams than other sports.

I second the comment that college acceptance is what the kids train for here.

"Problem with the coach" is like saying Josh Duggar has a problem with his sisters!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back in the day Burke Racqet and Swim had a good swim team based out of their pool. (robinson/Lake Braddock area) But, there was a problem with the coach and they renamed the program (or gor a new program) - they had some Olympic swimmer train from there in the 90s, but yeah, now maryland is better.

Swimming is more competitive here than football. More people swim year round on swim teams than other sports.

I second the comment that college acceptance is what the kids train for here.

"Problem with the coach" is like saying Josh Duggar has a problem with his sisters!

Not the PP, but it was a sexual abuse case. Not a lot to laugh about. Club used to be called Curl-Burke; after Rick Curl resigned, was arrested and pled guilty to sex abuse charges, C-B was renamed Nation's Capital Swim Club.

[Anonymous]

OP,

It is my understanding that the kids on swim team who are truly competitive, also swim with club teams all year. The kids I know who were on a high school team (one that you mentioned as a possibility) have loved it. It is a great way for your son to meet other kids when you move here.

As far as football, certainly some of the Friday night social life revolves around the football team--but you do not have to be on the football team to participate in that. It is a good wholesome activity for the kids.

[Anonymous]

You can check USA swimming for the times of all the athletes in the area. Potomac Valley Swimming is the governing body for competitive swimming in the metropolitan Washington, DC area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McLean is the closest to Yorktown, which has year round swimming team.

Which schools have year round swimming? Is year round high school swimming cheaper than year round club swimming?