Your friend may be disappointed with the pool/swim team situation in the DC metro area.

In my hometown (a mid-sized city in the US), every public high school has its own pool on its campus. The school swim teams are very competitive and robust.

Here in the DC area, there are very few indoor pools relative to the dense population. It was a true shock to me when I moved here 10 years ago, but people who are from here seem to just accept it as normal. Maybe land is so expensive that it's not possible to build more indoor pools.

Surprisingly, several of the private high schools have swim teams, but a lot of them don't have a pool on their campus.

Most of the public high schools have swim and dive teams, and they are probably a bit more competitive than the private school swim teams, but most of them (to my knowledge) swim at rec centers and not at pools on their own campuses.

So the club swim teams are where it all happens. Too bad there is not a more robust set of swim teams in the DC area. But your friends kids can do NCAP, which is very robust and competitive (just not associated with a school). I prefer the robust school-affiliated swim teams myself, but I don't see a lot of that in the DC area.

Anonymous wrote:Madeira. Swim team this year was great.

For the girl, obviously, and only beginning in grade 9.

Madeira. Swim team this year was great.

St Albans and NCS are a boys school, and girls school that share the Cathedral close. Have lots of coed classes in high school and sports and music together in upper and lower grades too one of which is swimming. Their swim teams do very very well. My son is at STA and swims on team but it's not his primary sport. He is therefore one of the weaker swimmers although a very strong swimmer. Kids at "top" of the STA/NCS swim team are year round competitive swimmers on different club teams.

All that said, these are two of the absolute most difficult schools to get into in the area. Their academics are the best and only for kids who are willing to work very hard. STA/NCS and Sidwell are the best schools in the area.

Holton and Landon are another pair of Suster/brother school with strong swimming program. They are further apart and have less coed activity but still a great option. Not quite as rigorous academically but still offer as good an education to top students.

Bullis, a coed school with much lighter academics, although the still strong offerings for the more motivated student, may have an on campus pool. Not sure. Other coeds like Sidwell, GDS, Maret, and Potomac do not have on site pools but some still have swim teams (Sidwell and Potomac do).

Maret is co-ed and has a swim team, though the pool they use is off-campus.

St Albans and NCS are across the street from each other - STA is boys and Cathedral is girls - and they have a great indoor pool that they share on the St Albans side. They also have a newly built outdoor pool.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the real competitive swimming in this area is done through the private swim clubs. See Nations Capital Swim Club, Fish, Machine.

Many schools have swim teams. NCS, Flint Hill, St. Albans, Potomac, SSSAS, Stone Ridge, Georgetown Prep, Bullis.

She wants in house all done at school kind of thing. That's what she has now. Oh, and she needs a coed school, she won't have her kids in different schools. Do all these schools have a pool on campus? What's NCS and SSAS? Are they Coed? I know Georgetown Prep is a boy school

She can want all she wants- but the reality is that the real swimming is done through the clubs, as PP said. New location has different set ups.

Ironically most co-ed schools do not have good teams for both sexes. The all girls schools seem to dominate swim for the girls. Not sure about the boys.

Anonymous wrote:Most of the real competitive swimming in this area is done through the private swim clubs. See Nations Capital Swim Club, Fish, Machine.

Many schools have swim teams. NCS, Flint Hill, St. Albans, Potomac, SSSAS, Stone Ridge, Georgetown Prep, Bullis.

She wants in house all done at school kind of thing. That's what she has now. Oh, and she needs a coed school, she won't have her kids in different schools. Do all these schools have a pool on campus? What's NCS and SSAS? Are they Coed? I know Georgetown Prep is a boy school

Most of the real competitive swimming in this area is done through the private swim clubs. See Nations Capital Swim Club, Fish, Machine.

Many schools have swim teams. NCS, Flint Hill, St. Albans, Potomac, SSSAS, Stone Ridge, Georgetown Prep, Bullis.

Come north! McDonogh (coed k-12) and Gilman (all boys k-12) are both excellent schools in Baltimore.

St. Albums for boys/NCS for girls. Pool is at St. Albans.

St. Albums for boys/NCS for girls. Pool is at St. Albans.

Stone Ridge for girls.

Holton for girls. Landon for boys practices there.

My BFF is moving back to the states after 20 something years abroad, YAY!!! She has asked me to help her research schools with a swim team and a pool. She will move back here next summer (2017). They are well off and are ok with moving to DC or NoVA. She wants to find a good school first because she doesn't want a long drive to the school (she's a SAHM). Her two kids (5th and 6th grader) are both competitive swimmers and she wants a school with a strong swim team and a pool at the school. I did a bit of a search and found a Georgetown Prep, but it is a school for only boys. She has a boy and a girl. Can you recommend a good private school that has a pool and a competitive team? Thanks!