Top Colonial Swim League swimmers converged on the Commons Pool in Burke Centre for the third straight year today and -- to the surprise of no one -- swimmers, parents, and spectators enjoyed a well run and successful meet for the third straight year.

This year's meet featured seven triple winners and five double winners. Leading the way were 12-year old Christopher Crapco of Hayden Village (Free, Breast, IM) and 10-year old John Shebat of Franklin Farm (Free, Fly, IM), both of whom were triple winners for the second consecutive year -- in John's case, for the third consecutive year -- and both of whom had league record swims today. John's time of 31.59 in the Boys 9-10 50M Freestyle tied the 1991 record by Chris Drake of Fort Myer, while Christopher's Boys 11-12 100M Individual Medley swim of 1:08.75 edged out the previous standard of 1:08.81 set by Patrick Patterson of Cascades in 1998.

John and Chris were joined by triple winners 10-year old Jamie Bayne of Chase Club (Free, Back, Fly), 12-year old Apolonia Pollock of Ashburn Farm (Free, Back, IM), 14-year old Hannah Walden of the Burke Centre Penguins (Free, Breast, IM), 16-year old Sarah Lynch of the Burke Centre Penguins (Breast, Fly, IM), and 14-year old Geoffrey Wright of Broadlands (Free, Fly, IM).

Today's double winners were 8-year old Mallory Walsh of Barrington (Breast, IM), 8-year old Katelyn Leidy of Ashburn Village (Free, Fly), 10-year old Catherine Vu of Ashburn Village (breast, IM), 13-year old Alli Haufler of Broadlands (Free, Fly), and 17-year old Derek Bui of Hayden Village (Breast, IM). Derek's Boys 15-18 100M Individual Medley time of 1:01.47 also set a league record, bettering the week-old mark of 1:01.58 set at the 2007 White Divisional meet by Robert Grimmett-Norris of Chantilly Highlands.

There were numerous other strong individual performances today, including the following swimmers who finished in the top three in all three of their events . Fort Myer's 17-year old AJ Dunn took 2nd in Breast and IM, and 1st in Free. The Burke Centre Stingers' 16-year old Molly Emery took 3rd in Free, 2nd in IM, and 1st in Back. Chantilly Highland's 12-year old Brenna Ferris took 2nd in Free and IM and 1st in Fly. Chase Club's 8-year old Raymond Huang took 2nd in Fly and IM, and 1st in Free. The Burke Centre Penguins' Luke Jones took 3rd in Free and IM and 1st in Breast. Chase Club's 12-year old John Kim took 3rd in Free, 2nd in Fly, and 1st in Back. Ashburn Village's Michael Kopecky took 2nd in Fly and IM, and 1st in Back. Broadlands' Mal McGann took 3rd in Free and Back, and 1st in IM. The Burke Centre Stingers' Matthew Osiecki took 3rd in IM, 2nd in Free, and 1st in Back, while setting a new league record in Boys 13-14 50M Backstroke with a time of 29.90, eclipsing the previous mark of 30.13 set by Oliver Stroeh, also of the Stingers, in 1994.

And just for good measure, we'll mention 12-year old Jacob Leidy of Ashburn Village, whose times today would have won two or three 1st places either of the last two years, and which today earned him three silver medals while swimming next to Chris Crapco in all three of his events, and 14-year old Kurtis Ratcliff of Chantilly National who had a similar experience battling Geoffrey Wright and Matthew Osiecki and came away with two 2nds and one 3rd.

For additional details, please check out these printable meet results.

Thanks go out to Stuart Walden and the countless other volunteers from Burke Centre and the rest of the league for putting on another great All-Star meet. It was a great finish to a great season, and well worthy of Colonial League's best.

Computer volunteers from the teams will want to download the meet results in Hy-Tek format or the Hy-Tek Meet Manager backup and run some reports for your swimmers and parents.

Preparations are underway for the 2007 All Star Meet. Penguins and Stingers are hard at work readying the Burke Centre Commons Pool, and speedy swimmers are polishing their strokes for a great meet. Information you will need is posted on the website at the links below. Please note the parking restrictions due to VRE construction. Alternate parking and a shuttle bus are scheduled -- check details posted in 'driving and parking directions' below and allow extra time.

• Google Map
• Driving and parking directions
• VRE Station lot parking map
• Target and Wal-Mart parking map
• Warm up times and lane assignments
• Spectator seating and timer assignments
• Pool deck map

Divisional meets brought out strong competition across the board, but two athletes stood out from the crowd and turned in exceptional performances, breaking League Records in the process. Chase Club standout swimmer Ellyn Baumgardner had been stalking the 15-18 Girls 50-meter Breaststroke record all season, and she was at her peak in the Blue Divisional Meet. She came through with a time of 33.63 to blow away the old record of 34.65 previously held by Countryside great Jenny Basel. Great swim, Ellyn!

Chantilly Highlands had a Top Dog of their own in the White Divisional meet. Champion Robert Grimmett-Norris took Gold in the Boys 15-18 100-meter Individual Medley. His winning time of 1:01.58 eclipsed the 9 year old record of 1:01.75 owned by Cascades star Gregg Long. Congratulations, Robert!

Many other swimmers set team records and personal bests at Divisional meets. The best of the best will appear next week in the All Star meet that is eagerly anticipated at Burke Centre. We look forward to more great swims from all involved.

The Colonial Swim League Dual meet season came to a close today with surprisingly easy wins by the new Division champions. In the Red Division, the Burke Centre Penguins streched their Dual meet winning streak to twenty with a comfortable victory over Broadlands. The Pens took home the Red Division trophy for the third consecutive year, while Franklin Farm settled into second place with a home win over Ashburn Farm. The Chantilly Highlands Dolphins ran their record to 5 - 0 in the ultra-competitive White Division with a win over South Riding. They edge out second place Hayden Village -- winners today over Chantilly National -- by virtue of last week's nail-biter home win against the Villains.

In the Blue Division, the Barrington Blue Fins easily won their showdown with undefeated Chase Club to earn the title. The Sharks finish their fine season in the second spot. And finally, in the Gold Division, the Fort Myer Squids handled Sugarland Run to claim the prize, with Arlington Knights of Columbus defeating Saratoga to take a strong second place.

Meet results for all week 5 meets have now been posted. Get a sneak preview of what the Divisionals meets might look like in the popular-beyond-anyone's-expectations League Leaders facility. Printable CSL-wide ladders for both individual and relay events for both yard and meter pools can be viewed or downloaded from the links below.

Individual Meters, Individual Yards, Relay Meters, Relay Yards