By Duncan Nixon
The Lake Monticello Sharks competed this summer in Division 2 of the three-division Jefferson Swim League. Maria Arroyo and Austin Fairbanks served as co-head coaches.
Arroyo said the Sharks had more than 200 swimmers this season, an impressive number, and many improved their times throughout the team’s five regular-season meets.
The Sharks hosted the Forest Lakes Hurricanes on July 15. The meet began at 6 p.m. and continued well after dark, with the Hurricanes coming out on top, 557.5-477.5.
The Sharks won the opening 100-meter freestyle relay for boys 8 and under. The winning team consisted of Theo Gerling, Oliver Ward, Kemper Heath and Kingston Arencibia. Heath and Arencibia are only 6 years old and competed mostly against 8-year-olds.
In relay races, the winning team earns 10 points and the second-place team receives five. Individual races award seven points for first place, five for second, four for third and three for fourth. However, no team may score more than two swimmers in an individual event.
As the meet progressed, it became clear that the Hurricanes had more swimmers finishing near the top, despite the Sharks’ larger roster.
Norbu Barnett was the first Shark to win an individual event, taking the boys’ 11-12 individual medley by more than four seconds.
Gerling followed with a win in the boys’ 8-and-under 25-meter freestyle. Arencibia then won the boys’ 8-and-under 25-meter breaststroke by an impressive nine seconds against swimmers as old as 8.
In the girls’ 9-10 50-meter freestyle, Ava Powell won for the Sharks by about 1.5 seconds. Barnett added another victory in the boys’ 11-12 50-meter freestyle, winning by 2.5 seconds.
Sophie Pace won the girls’ 15-18 50-meter freestyle in an extremely close race, topping her Forest Lakes opponent by nine-hundredths of a second.
Brayden Arencibia won the boys’ 9-10 50-meter backstroke by seven seconds, while Barnett added another victory by more than six seconds.
Heath won the boys’ 8-and-under 25-meter backstroke by two seconds. Kingston Arencibia took the boys’ 8-and-under 25-meter butterfly by more than eight seconds, and Perry Provencher won the boys’ 11-12 50-meter backstroke by nearly three seconds.
The Sharks’ girls also stood out in the butterfly events. Stella Strickland won the girls’ 11-12 50-meter butterfly by more than four seconds. Lily Dugan took the girls’ 13-14 race by two-tenths of a second.
The meet concluded with another round of relays.
The Sharks won the boys’ 9-10 200-meter freestyle relay with a team of Brayden Arencibia, Kalen Heath, Michael Koerper and Henry Ward.
In the girls’ 11-12 200-meter freestyle relay, Strickland, Alexis Waksmunski, Piper Eves-Leopardi and Emily Grout won by nearly a minute. The large margin may have resulted from the disqualification of the Hurricanes’ A relay team.
The Sharks also won the girls’ 13-14 200-meter freestyle relay behind Isabella Koerper, Dorothy Dillon, Annelise Campbell and Dugan.
The Sharks will wrap up the summer July 24 and 25 at the Jefferson Swim League Championship Meet at the Brooks Family YMCA in Charlottesville.
[Sidebar]
Sharks close regular season with senior celebration
Submitted by Amy Williams
The Lake Monticello Sharks hosted the Forest Lakes Hurricanes on Wednesday, July 15, for the final meet of the summer swim season.
Before the meet, the team recognized this year’s senior swimmers: Audrey Harlow, Sophie Pace, Harrison Williams, James Johnson, Aaron Fairbanks and Andrew Mikesh.
Audrey has been a member of the Sharks since 2018 and served as one of the team’s coaches this season. After graduation, she plans to pursue her passion for photography, take classes at Piedmont Virginia Community College and apply to Virginia Commonwealth University for fall 2027.
Sophie has been with the Sharks for 10 years. During her time with the team, she served for two years as a shadow coach. She will attend James Madison University, where she plans to study kinesiology and exercise science as she works toward becoming an occupational therapist.
Harrison has been part of the team as both a swimmer and a coach. He first swam with LMST during the 2015 and 2016 seasons, then returned from 2023 through 2026. He has coached for the past two seasons. This fall, he will continue studying aviation while building the flight hours needed to earn his commercial pilot’s license.
James has been a Shark for the past five years, serving as a shadow coach for two of them. This fall, he will attend Stevenson University, where he plans to major in biomedical engineering, minor in graphic design and swim for the university’s team.
Aaron has swum for LMST for the past 11 years. Next February, he plans to attend an 11-week lineman training program in preparation for his career.
Andrew has been a Shark for 12 years, starting when he was 6 years old. He also has served as a coach for the past three seasons. He has been a volunteer firefighter with the Crozet Fire Department for the past year. In 2025, he logged 1,128 duty crew hours and was named Volunteer Firefighter of the Year. He plans to pursue a career as a firefighter.
