VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — It was a quiet, modest celebration breakfast in the First Colonial High School band room on Thursday. That’s because the girls swim team already made plenty of noise last weekend.
The team took home its third consecutive VHSL Class 5 state title in Stafford, Virginia.
We caught up with seniors Maddy Hartley and Sophia Knapp.
“I remember just being so happy and the team throwing up the trophy,” said Sophia, who set a Class 5 state record in the 200-yard Freestyle with a time of 1:48.26.
“It was like a fever dream,” said Maddy, who won first place in the 100-yard Fly. “You don’t realize you’ve won states until you’re holding the trophy, and everyone is jumping all around. It’s crazy.”
For coach Cassondre Wilburn, it’s a dynasty status, having won three titles in a row. She has helped turn a small but scrappy program into a Virginia powerhouse in the last decade. Before 2019, the team had never won a girls state team title.
“Once we achieved that level, we didn’t want to let it go,” said Wilburn. “They’ve been striving hard, and one of my goals this year was to win again.”
The girls swim and dive program started as a varsity sport at First Colonial back in 1995. Twenty-seven years later, they’re swimming 20 hours a week with 5 a.m. start times in the morning and after-school swim practice six days a week.
“You have to have some level of craziness and dedication to do that,” said Maddy.
But they know it’s worth it because they now hold a place in high school swimming history in the Commonwealth.
Maddy and Sophia will both take their talents to the collegiate level this fall, where Maddy will swim for the University of Arkansas, and Sophia will compete for the University of Virginia.