Prince-Mont swimmers prepare to make a splash

When the hundreds of swimmers from across Charles County dive into the pools this weekend for the opening dual meets of the annual Prince-Mont Swim League, many of them will be looking to eclipse personal, team and meet records and perhaps earn a berth in the all-star meet that caps their summer on July 27 at Temple Hills in Prince George’s County.

This Saturday morning swimmers from Hawthorne Country Club, Smallwood Village, Indian Head, Westlake Village and Bannister will all dive into the pool at various locations throughout the Prince-Mont Swim League. Interestingly, only Indian Head and Smallwood Village have been classified into the same division this summer and those teams will face one another on June 22 at Smallwood.

Hawthorne, which went 4-1 in Division A meets last summer and finished second to Kingfish in the Division A championships, will open the season at home on Saturday against Whitehall Pool and Tennis. Fittingly, the two squads will get reacquainted later this summer when Whitehall hosts the Division A championship meet on July 20, one week before the all-star meet at Temple Hills.

Among the swimmers expected to earn a spot in events at the Prince-Mont All-Star meet later this summer is Hawtorne swimmer and recent La Plata High School graduate Addy Donnick. Having completed her high school career unbeaten in individual events and already signed to attend the University of North Carolina-Wilmington this fall, Donnick is looking to finish the summer in similar fashion.

“I was really focused on finishing my high school career undefeated in individual events,” Donnick said. “I’m going to miss my high school teammates and coach [Mary Jane] Cupples. A lot of us have been swimming together for a long time at Hawthonre.”

Two Charles County squads have both been designated as Division C teams and they will face one another soon. This Saturday Smallwood Village will host Greenbelt Municipal while Indian Head will host Accoceek. In week two on June 22, Indian Head will travel to Smallwood Village in a dual meet for early bragging rights before the Division C championships that Smallwood will also host on July 20.

Westlake Village will open its Division D schedule at home against Northridge on Saturday, while the Bannister Neighborhood Swim team will kick off its Division F slate at home against Takoma Park. The Waves of Westlake will later contend for Division D honors at Brandywine, while Bannister will host the Division F championships that weekend.