“A” Divisionals – Memories at the Top of the MCSL (PHOTOS)

This weekend I left the early morning sunflower fields in Poolesville to the crowds gathering there and headed a few miles eastward to the Germantown Pool near Kingsview Middle School to briefly capture the top league swim teams – to find the pool and pool area packed.

Germantown MD, July 21, 2017:
(Photo by Phil Fabrizio)

There are many great rising talent swimmers across MoCo but swimmers know that those 2017 teams at the top include Germantown, Rockville, Country Glen (Potomac), Stonegate (Colesville), Tallyho (Potomac) and Bethesda because they have a larger proportion of the best.  What makes Divisionals exciting is that each of the 15 leagues gather based on swim times and stroke(s) their best swimmers to compete for one last moment as a team this summer.  Best of the best.  So I went to Germantown, the site of the “A” Division meet to see their best.

Now, I did not single out any particular individual swimmer but I know, and they know, who they are – so today it did not matter because it was all about swimming fast for the team.  I will catch up with the best of best next weekend at All-Stars in Rockville and put the lens and cameras to work trying to capture the splash fest that makes Montgomery County Swim League (MCSL) swimming such great summer fun for the participating youth of the county.

Blogger Sidebar (Thanks for the memories):  I have a very good friend in Bob Jennings (The Mayor), who is an American World Class distance masters swimmer, I believe much of his success and enjoyment emanated from his early years (in the late 60’s early 70’s) spent in MCSL swimming.  He has coached county youth as a high school swim coach, been inducted in the MCSL Hall of Fame, coached MCSL swimmers for many years and now does the same in Florida (The Villages) as a Head Swim Coach for the Villages (VISTA) Team.  The Mayor can hardly go anywhere in the USA to a masters meet without running (swimming) into someone who experienced MCSL swimming as a youth or as a parent of a swimmer.  Certainly this has been a life sport for him – a passion, rather than a job.  I write all this because at some point the MCSL swimming experience ends – for some it’s at an earlier age, for others it goes down to the very last swimming event at age 18, that could be at Divisionals or if they are gifted it ends at the very last meet – All-Stars.  It’s always a poignant/confusing time for me (me?) – because I don’t know whether to point the camera at them swimming or just standing solo on the swim deck waiting to jump into the pool.  As a parent of two swimmers who are now trying to pass on that experience to their children – we get it.  Thanks for the memories.  I know someday you’ll cross paths with The Mayor – and relive all that this summer sport, orchestrated by the Montgomery County Recreation Department, provided you.

So for those at this past Saturday’s “A” Divisionals in Germantown check out these next 20 photos to see if you can pick out someone you know – for it was an attempt to display those last fleeting moments in the wet morning sun – sort of like those sunflowers in Poolesville.

All Photos copyrighted

2017 © Phil Fabrizio | Photoloaf for MCM

About Phil Fabrizio

Phil Fabrizio is an event, news and sports photographer in the Washington D.C. Metro area. He lives in North Potomac and has operated Sugarloaf Photography since 1985. He is a member of the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce and serves on the board of the Glen Echo Partnership for Arts and Culture, Inc in Glen Echo. Stop by Phil's PhotoLoaf site or follow him on Twitter @Photoloaf. Find Phil's blog on MyMCMedia here.

View all posts by Phil Fabrizio