The defending GMC champions were defeated on Saturday, Feb. 4 by the Mason Comets at the championship meet. Despite the loss, there was still a lot to celebrate about the weekend, including three GMC champions across four events.

The team started behind after diving occured the night of February 3 but saw early success when Luke Tenbarge, 11, placed first in the 200 IM with a time of 2:01.39, 2.95 seconds faster than his seeded time.

“I was really happy with the wins, which were really satisfying after such a long season of training. I could’t have done it without the support of my teammates and coaches,” Tenbarge said.

The meet was relatively uneventful, though exciting, until the 500 freestyle. During the 500, two swimmers stayed very close, but Elliot Carl, 10, slowly pulled away and finished first with a time of 4:59.53, 6.12 seconds faster than his seed time.

“It felt great to win, and I had a really great race. It meant a lot to me to have the team supporting me and cheering me on throughout the race,” Carl said.

Shortly after, the team saw two victories in a row: JiHo Choi, 12, in the 100 backstroke and Tenbarge again in the 100 breaststroke.

Choi was seeded third going into the race with a time of 55.32 but stayed focused and came through at the end with a time of 54.63. Tenbarge followed in the next race, throwing down a 59.51, a new personal best, and winning the race.

“It felt amazing to win my senior year and see all of my training paying off. I really hope that we can keep this momentum going into the next few weeks,” Choi said.