For the first time in 15 years and the first time in county history, the WJ swim team won both the boys’ and the girls’ 4A/3A state title in a dominant showing on Saturday, Feb. 22. 

The teams defeated the other 54 schools that competed as a part of the MPSSAA 3A/4A division at the Eppley Recreation Center at the University of Maryland. The result marked the first time the boys’ have won a state title since 2015 and the girls’ third title in the last four years.

“It was super cool,” sophomore Luc Dionne said. “Everything came together. It was fun to watch everyone swim fast and the energy was great.”

Emotions were on full display as the final scores were announced. The state championship marked the culmination of the team’s hard work and dedication throughout the season.

Throughout the day-long swimming competition, all the pieces came together with the boys’ team scoring 315 points and the girls’ team scoring 298 points.

“The key to success was our depth,” junior Taiyo Murphy said. “We have a lot of good swimmers. We won like nine to 10 different events and we placed in several as well. So definitely having a bunch of different people who are all really good helped us win.”

Along with depth across the roster, WJ’s leaders stepped up, helping four different relays win gold. The leader’s experience was necessary in settling the nerves of the underclassmen.

“It was really special for me to be a leader on the relay. The 400 free relay was especially special to anchor because I’ve been on it every year since I was a freshman,” Simmons said. “I was the only senior on the relay this year and I was the only freshman on it four years ago so it’s a full circle moment.”

Grimes accredits the win to the team’s relentlessness and spirit.

“It’s about the team,” Grimes said. “I put the lineup together, I cheer them on, but the kids are the ones doing the work. They are the ones putting everything together, all the time and dedication, swimming relays together, encouraging each other, and cheering for each other.”

The win at Eppley was the ninth consecutive win for the girls’ team this year, marking an undefeated season. The boys’ team was near perfection, plagued by one loss at the beginning of the season and a third place finish at Metros. Throughout the season, WJ proved their excellence, which has become a norm for the Bethesda-based team. 

“We’ve been really lucky with the swimmers we’ve had over the years and we keep getting replenishments in the freshman class, so on the girls’ side we were able to stay at the top even though everyone got a little bit hurt with graduation,” Grimes said. “We were able to kinda keep things together, the guys got a good freshman class too. It also just works in the area we are in with all the club teams around.”

For the seniors, the meet was the last time they would see the words Walter Johnson next to their name on a scorecard, marking the end of their WJ swim career.

“I had a good four years,” senior Maia Bingley said. “It’s a little upsetting. The team’s really close and then [the seniors] won’t ever get to see [the team] again in the way we did.”

The seniors left a legacy, not only in the form of a state title, but also through multiple top-10 school records in the state championship. Senior captain Noah Potter was able to break a county record in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 48.10.

“I didn’t really expect it,” Potter said. “It was really cool to break it because the guy who [held] it went on to swim at UNC-Chapel Hill.”