Small but Mighty.

That has been the story of the second season for the Eagle Swim Team. Numbering only 9 swimmers with 5 girls and 4 boys, the Eagle Swim Team, especially on the girls side, packs a wallop. After a very successful meet last weekend at Norfolk Academy where 6 team members had top 5 swim finishes in fields of 40-45 swimmers, the team headed up to Warrenton, VA Saturday to the VISAA JV Invitational. The JV event is hosted by the Seton School, and had 17 participating schools.

The story on Saturday would be the same as it has been all season. The ‘Fab 4’ combo of Kaitlyn Sullivan, Lainey Flanagan, Delaney Gibbons and Mary Nice combined for all but 2 of the teams 154 points, which was good enough for a 3rd overall place for the girls.

Sullivan had two first place finishes in the 50 yard breaststroke and 50 yard backstroke, and very close second place finish in the 100 yard individual medley to secure the highest girls point total in the meet, with her 50 Breaststroke time setting a new meet record in the event’s 11th year history. The record was previously held by Reni Moshos, who would eventually set the VISAA all-time record in the varsity 100 yard breaststroke, and is now swimming collegiately for the North Carolina Tarheel swim team.

Sullivan was flanked for points by freshman Lainey Flanagan who placed 5th, 7th and 9th in the 100Yard Rreestyle, 100Yard Individual Medley and 50Yard Breaststroke respectively, and on the other side by 6th grade phenom Delaney Gibbons, who chased Sullivan for 2nd in the 50Yard Backstroke, to go with a 4th in the 100Yard Individual Medley, and 6th in the 50Yard Freestyle. Breaststroke specialist Mary Nice added points with an 8th place in the 50Yard Breaststroke, and was an integral piece of both the 2nd place 200Yard Medley and 3rd place 200 Freestyle relay teams.

Sullivan, Flanagan and Gibbons all swim competitively year round with 757Swim in Williamsburg. Flanagan has only been swimming competitively for a year, and has risen quickly to become a part of what team organizer Jeff Sullivan believes might be WCA’s next big sports dynasty. “With Delaney, Kaitlyn, Lainey and Mary all freshman year or younger, this group will be knocking on the door to the top of the VISAA Championship picture for at least two years. And if we add some more swimmers and our phenomenal coach Anne (Anderson) continued to develop our younger kids like Cheyenne Silverio, there’s no limit to where this team could end up, especially on that girls side. With that a reality, we hope that in combination with our excellent Christ-centered college preparatory education here at the school, the program will draw a lot of students that would like to be a part of something special like that.”

The boys side of the team is still somewhat of a work in progress, with just one upperclassman, and two younger middle school students, but all have made big strides this season. First year sophomore Zane Eckols had limited summer team experience, yet improved enough over the course of the season to place 11th in the backstroke in a very strong boys field at the VISAA JV meet. The team is also graduating its first senior this year, Aaron Copland.

The VISAA JV meet marked the end of the team’s regular meet schedule, but Kaitlyn Sullivan will continue on to swim at the VISAA Championship Meet on February 17th and 18th.

View the meet results here.