FORT WASHINGTON – Earlier this week, Germantown Academy Head Swimming Coach Jeff Thompson said that he felt his teams were ready for action. After a few weeks of tapering down, the Patriots were eager to get back into a competition, and it showed on the first night of Easterns Interscholastic Swimming & Diving Championships at Franklin & Marshall College. Thanks to some record-breaking times, the Girls find themselves in first place with 290 points, while the boys sit in third behind Andover and Mercersburg with 255.

The Patriots took first in both the girls and boys 200 Freestyle, with Emily Hamill ’25 touching first for the girls and JJ Freeman ’23 getting first for the boys. Hamill’s time of 1:47.91 qualifies her for All-American consideration. Freeman went 1:38.03 for a Jr. Long Course standard. Sarah Freeman ’25 swam the event in 1:50.10, earning her second place for the girls. Andy Zhou ’24 took third for the boys in 1:39.53.

Taylor Grimley ’24 set Franklin & Marshall pool records, as well as an Easterns record in the girls 100 Butterfly. After going 53.56 in prelims, the junior recorded a time of 52.98 to win the event. The time was also a Jr. Long Course standard. Grimley finished almost three seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Grimley, Sarah Freeman, Karly Boles ’25, and Hamill took first in the girls 200 Freestyle Relay, setting a new pool and Easterns record in the process. Their time of 1:32.66 also qualifies them for All-American consideration. 

Landon D’Ariano ’24 swam the boys 200 IM in 1:47.13, nearly two seconds faster than his preliminary time, to take first. The junior finished three seconds before the second place finisher, and earned Jr. Long Course honors. 

The group of Brandon Fleck ’25, D’Ariano, Zhou, and JJ Freeman finished third in the boys 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:31.59, qualifying for All-American consideration in the process. Fleck also placed fourth in the boys 50 Freestyle in a time of 20.79. Boles took third in the girls 50 Freestyle, swimming 23.66.

While the swimmers were dominating in Lancaster, the boys divers were racking up points in Fort Washington. GA had two divers finish in the top eight thanks to Brendan Hodgens ’24 and Asher Sasson ’23. After 11 dives, Hodgens finished in second place with 483.75 points, and Sasson took fifth with 356.05.

Competition continues Feb. 17 as the girl divers get things started at GA at 10am. Swimmers will begin prelims at 9am in Lancaster. 

FULL RESULTS