As the winter season for most JR sports comes to an end, the swim team’s season has barely begun. The Tiger Sharks had four meets scheduled in December and January, and all were canceled by DCIAA for opaque reasons that confused many swimmers and families.
Assistant Athletic Director Nadira Ricks said that the school was prepared for swimmers to start their season on time but DCIAA canceled the first meets because they had not yet hired the proper officials to staff them.
A January 14 meet was canceled with just two days notice. The DCIAA championship was scheduled for January 21, but the date passed with no competition. All DCPS schools with swim teams were affected, since all season meets and championships are against all other DCPS schools. An unofficial mock meet was held just for JR swimmers on January 23, but it did not count on JR’s record.
DCIAA communication around these cancellations caused immense confusion among swimmers and families. They said that DCIAA first blamed cancellations on an unspecified technical issue. “We didn’t get any proper reason,” senior JR swimmer Sophie Flaherty said. “We were only told the meets were canceled.”
Other swimmers were also frustrated. “The team practices really hard, and it’s really frustrating as a senior to have your season cut short,” Claire Yoder, a team captain, said. Senior Zara Ackil also noted issues with team morale. “It was frustrating because they weren’t saying when we were having meets, so no one wanted to come to practice,” she said.
DCIAA did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.
The boys and girls swimmers have been practicing three mornings a week since early November. Of the team’s 40 to 50 members, swimming levels vary, and many participate in club swimming or play another sport.
Finally, at the end of January, DCIAA announced a makeup meet schedule. The JR and School Without Walls swim teams participated in a charter school meet on February 1 at Howard University, but no other DCPS schools participated and the meet did not count towards either team’s records. Another meet took place on February 4.
Swimmers and families also were upset about the cancellations because swimmers were required to have competed in two meets by the end of January in order to qualify for METROS, a meet with teams participating from across the DMV.
Tiger Sharks parent coordinator Shelley Vanneman said that JR coach Jim Crampton was able to secure a waiver for JR swimmers to swim in METROS even though they had swum in only one meet. This was conditional upon the swimmers having qualifying times from METROS in 2025.
“METROS went well and the 200 freestyle relay got to finals, which was very fun for seniors,” sophomore Leah Fletcher said.
Vanneman shouted out Coach Campton for his efforts to help swimmers compete. “He has been working around the clock for JRHS since November and is a real treasure,” she said. “He deserves props for all he’s done for the team.”
JR swimmers were scheduled to attend DCSAA state championships on Wednesday. That was to be followed by a regular season DCIAA meet on January 19, with the JR season ending with the DCIAA championships on February 23.
That upends the usual order of the season, which in past years has ended with the DCSAA championships. “I’m very happy that at least we’re having a season,” Flaherty said. “Better something late than nothing at all.” •
