What a way to cap off the season! The Stingrays finished 11th out of 28 teams this weekend, totaling 373.5 points, a massive jump from our projected 320 off the scored-out psych sheet, and an enormous climb from 314.5 last year and 280.5 in 2024. After finishing 17th two years running, this was the leap forward this program has been building toward.

The Stingrays crushed the regular-season point-category awards for Division II, with 1st place in Advanced Relays, 1st place in Senior Varsity Relays, 1st place in Senior Varsity points, and 2nd place in Varsity points.

Team records were, of course, a huge part of our historic weekend. Carter Rettig put together one of the great individual single-meet performances in recent team history, rewriting three separate records: she broke her own 50 Yard Freestyle record from last year (26.10) with a 25.20, took down Addison Mannion's 2021 100 Yard Freestyle record (58.90) with a 57.26, and dropped Lindsey Winston's 2009 50 Yard Backstroke record (29.84) with a 29.22. On the relay side, the 13-14 200 Yard Medley Relay of Carter Rettig, Parker Nystrom, Andrew Austin, and Rebecca Crady broke the 2025 record held by Maren Minor, Diego Salinas, Nate Doran, and Carter Rettig herself.

The following breaks down our overall team results, highlighted by our scoring/medaling swims (Top 8 finishes):

3 - New Individual Team Records 1 - New Mixed Relay Record

1st Place - Tucker Barnes (JV 50 Fly, JV 100 Fly), Rebecca Crady (V 50 Fly), Edison Crenshaw (V 25 Fly), Avery Roberts (V 50 Breast), Cecilia Thorne (V 100 Free), Paolo Tique (JV 100 Breast), Mixed 9-10 V 200 Medley Relay (Aiden Montgomery, Fleet Nystrom, Cecilia Thorne, Oliver Merritt), Mixed 13-14 V 200 Medley Relay (Carter Rettig, Parker Nystrom, Andrew Austin, Rebecca Crady), Mixed 13-14 V 200 Freestyle Relay (Carter Rettig, Rebecca Crady, Tucker Barnes, Avery Roberts)

2nd Place - Eliana Carr (V 100 IM), Rebecca Crady (V 50 Free), Maren Minor (JV 100 Free), Carter Nielsen (JV 50 Back), Carter Rettig (SV 50 Back, SV 50 Free, SV 100 Free), Avery Roberts (V 100 Breast), Cecilia Thorne (SV 50 BR, V 50 Free), Mixed 11-12 JV 200 Medley Relay (Carter Nielsen, Madeline Fogg, Quinn Holt, Kennedy Crenshaw)

3rd Place - Rebecca Crady (V 50 Back, SV 100 Fly), Maren Minor (V 50 Breast), Aiden Montgomery (SV 50 Free), Fleet Nystrom (V 50 Fly), Carter Rettig (SV 100 Back), Cecilia Thorne (SV 50 Back), Paolo Tique (JV 50 Breast, V 100 Back), Mixed 15-18 JV 200 Freestyle Relay (William Fogg, Maren Minor, Paolo Tique, Sean Rettig)

4th Place - Madeline Fogg (JV 50 Breast), Maren Minor (JV 100 IM), Avery Roberts (JV 50 Back), Mixed 9-10 V 200 Freestyle Relay (Aiden Montgomery, Cecilia Thorne, Fleet Nystrom, Oliver Merritt)

5th Place - Carter Nielsen (JV 50 Breast), Fleet Nystrom (V 100 IM), Mixed 11-12 JV 200 Freestyle Relay (Carter Nielsen, Quinn Holt, Kennedy Crenshaw, Madeline Fogg)

6th Place - Quinn Holt (V 100 Free), Aiden Montgomery (SV 100 Free), Sean Rettig (V 50 Free)

7th Place - Andrew Austin (JV 50 Free), Addie James (JV 50 Free), Maren Minor (V 100 Back), Sean Rettig (V 100 Free), Paolo Tique (V 50 Back), Mixed 8&U JV 100 Freestyle Relay (Edison Crenshaw, John Grayson Ballou, Eliana Carr, Addie James)

8th Place - Andrew Austin (JV 50 Breast), Aiden Montgomery (SV 50 Fly), Mixed 8&U JV 100 Medley Relay (Molly Windle, Wyatt Hardin, Addie James, Robbie Jones), Mixed 8&U V 100 Medley Relay (John Grayson Ballou, Lizzy Thorne, Edison Crenshaw, Eliana Carr)

Stellar Stingray Swims

Andrew Austin split a massive 31.09 50 Fly to swim way under his 34.46 from the regular season, helping the 13-14 medley relay win the varsity division in team record fashion.

Tucker Barnes destroyed the 13-14 boys fly events in the JV division, winning both while dropping 10.19 seconds in his second 100 Fly ever, and 1.95 in the 50. Kids, you don't need to be scared of this event!

Eliana Carr dropped an incredible 1.98 seconds in the one-length 25 Backstroke to place third in JV, then took off a whopping 9.84 in the 8&U Varsity 100 IM to place second.

Rebecca Crady had six swims, all six third place or better, but her 50 Fly Varsity win of 30.38 took the cake. She ended up the fourth fastest 13-14 girl regardless of division, and she's only 13.

Madeline Fogg stepped up big time in the 11-12 JV 200 Freestyle Relay, splitting a 35.33, miles under her 39.41 from the regular season.

William Fogg continued the reputation he built at last year's Champs meet as someone who locks in when the moment matters most. He was a key piece of our 15-18 JV relays, hitting 37.19 in the 50 Back on the medley relay to well undercut his regular season time, then swimming his heart out to a 30.85 50 Free leadoff on the freestyle relay, a crazy drop from his 33.33 in the regular season.

Quinn Holt jumped fourteen seeds in the 100 Free, going from 20th of 20 seeds in the Varsity division of the 11-12 boys to sixth place, an unsung hero of our team's rise.

Oliver Merritt put in the work at Champs practices with one goal in mind: two amazing 50 Freestyles on our 9-10 varsity relays. For context, Oliver's best 50 Free time coming in was a 41.97 from Champs last year. On the medley relay, he anchored the team to a win with a mind-boggling 36.37 split, then went another 36 on the freestyle relay that same afternoon. Way to go, Oliver, and we all loved the new flip turn.

Maren Minor had elite swims all day long, dropping time in every single event, but the standout was her first-ever SV time, a 34.65 in the 50 Breaststroke for third in a ridiculously fast V division.

Aiden Montgomery has always been a racer, stepping up against stiff competition time and again. In his first summer as an all SV swimmer, he leaned into the challenge, finishing top 8 in every event, capped by a lightning fast 50 Free of 32.25, nearly a second off an existing elite time.

Ellie Montgomery crushed a 34.51 50 Free to anchor our 13-14 JV free relay, sizably under her 36.38 from the regular season. Watch out, GRAL, Ellie is on the rise, and this feels like just the beginning.

Carter Nielsen set the tone for day two of Champs, cutting 1.88 off his 50 Back seed time to place second in the JV 50 Back for 11-12 boys.

Fleet Nystrom broke the 40-second barrier in the 50 Butterfly, taking third for 9-10 girls varsity. Breaking 40 in fly is something most swimmers don't achieve until 13 or older, so this was very impressive at age 10.

Parker Nystrom couldn't let Fleet have all the fun. After being part of a 13-14 200 Medley Relay record two weeks earlier in the summer, only to narrowly have it broken, he made the most of his shot at a longer-standing record. His clutch 38.86 50 Breaststroke split on the 13-14 V medley relay was well under his 39.92 from the regular season. Congratulations, Parker, you're a record holder for a while now, until next summer at the earliest!

Carter Rettig, as you've seen above, is an absolute star for our Stingrays. She etched her name into three new individual team records, helped both 13-14 varsity relays to the win in their division in record fashion, and every swim she had this weekend was under her regular season seed time, a rare all-PB meet, especially across six swims.

Sean Rettig, one of CORA's most successful athletes ever, dropped time in all six of his final races for our team. Most memorably, he ended his career anchoring a heat win as part of a 15-18 Medley Relay seeded tenth in JV that climbed all the way to third, splitting a 22.65 50 Freestyle on the final leg. He joins swimmers like Alex Wicks, Drake Wielar, and Brogan VanLesser to pull off this feat. A storybook ending for Sean, and hopefully a moment he and his teammates will never forget.

Avery Roberts had a stellar meet, winning the 50 Breaststroke in the Sunday morning session before backing it up with a PB for second in the 100 Breaststroke that afternoon. Avery also earned the honor of being the last Stingray in the pool for the 2026 season, and made the absolute most of it, anchoring the 13-14 V 200 Medley Relay win with a 28.60, breaking through her 30.18 and clearing straight past the 30-second barrier and the 29 mark entirely.

Cecilia Thorne was a major power player in our Saturday success at SwimRVA. She hit huge PBs across every event, and my personal favorite was her 50 Fly split on the winning 9-10 V 200 Medley Relay: a 38.97, down from 43.13, showing she now has four league-class strokes.

Paolo Tique, also a rare 6 for 6 on season bests at the championship meet, crushed a 4-plus second drop in the 100 Breaststroke with a 1:10.35 to win the JV 15-18 boys division, nearly an SV time.

A final shoutout to our amazing CORA relays. Every swimmer stepped up on these swims, and that's in large part why all 28 of our swimmers contributed points to our team score. As a coach, I can tell you this never happens, and I am in utter amazement at how well our team performed this weekend. I could not be more proud to be your coach. 

Regardless of what the future holds for my tenure as head coach of Chestnut Oaks, I will always be proud to say I got to be part of this community. Thank you for taking me in two summers ago and trusting me to develop your kids and execute my vision, all with the support of the best assistant coaches in the league by far, and my great friends and team presidents, Leah and Meredith.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, and congratulations on a season to remember!

• Coach Paul