WJ swim and dive kicked off the 2018-19 season on Saturday, December 8 at the KSAC against Churchill. Both the boys and girls teams lost, but managed to perform much better the next week against Blair at the Olney Indoor Swim Center.

“We didn’t do as well as we could’ve against Churchill, but we really stepped it up last week against Blair,” senior captain Dermot O’Kelly said.

In diving, junior Julien Musel led the Wildcats with a score of 112. O’Kelly finished close behind with a score of 103.

Overall, the girls won comfortably over Blair, while the boys scraped by with a one point victory. Heavily favored coming into the meet, both teams were relieved to pick up their first wins of the campaign. Thanks to strong performances from sophomore Jorge Oteiza and senior Grace Burgett, both teams pulled off victories.

For the rest of the season, the team has set itself some lofty expectations.

“We want to close out the regular season strong and hopefully perform well at metros and states,” head coach James Grimes said.

Swim and dive meets next at 9:15 a.m. on January 5 at the Kennedy Shriver Aquatic Center in a rivalry match against B-CC.