Three weeks ago at the Independent School League championships, freshman Jasmine Hellmer stood behind the starting blocks watching her Flint Hill teammate, Mimi Baker, stroke through the third leg of the 400-yard freestyle. Behind the adjacent lanes, Olympian Katie Ledecky and All-Mets Caroline McTaggart and Kylie Jordan stood waiting for their own teammates to finish.
In the water, Baker was building a lead over Holton-Arms. Madeira’s relay was racing ahead, already out of reach, but the Panthers trailed by just 0.02 seconds when Baker dove in and they had the area’s best closer — the league’s record holder in the 50 and 100 freestyle — waiting on the blocks.
“I told her we’d do our best to get her a lead,” said junior captain Lauren Freeman, who swam the relay’s second leg. “She said, ‘Alright.’ … We knew she’d do her best.”
Hellmer took off; McTaggart dove in two seconds behind. Holton-Arms’ zombie-clad cheering section erupted as their three-time All-Met closed on Hellmer, so too did the significantly smaller group of Flint Hill swimmers behind their team’s lane. Fifty seconds later, the freshman touched 0.32 seconds ahead of the Holton-Arms’ UCLA-bound senior.
The Panthers won the meet, but Flint Hill proved themselves — and did so with a team comprised of mostly underclassmen. Those underclassmen could propel the Huskies onto the podium at Saturday’s Virginia Independent School Athletic Association swimming and diving championships in Richmond — and for years to come.
“I knew from the beginning that we had some really talented girls on this team,” said Amanda Ballingall, the Huskies’ first-year head coach. “I don’t think they believed how good they were for a lot of the season. Other teams really started to notice at the end of the season and were congratulating them on their success.”
The runner-up finish in the 400 freestyle relay at ISLs ensured Flint Hill second place in the team competition, its best finish in school history and just four points ahead of Madeira. A week later, the Huskies (12-3) finished fourth at the Washington Metro. Prep School Swim & Dive League championships, also a program-best. There, Hellmer won the 100 butterfly with the area’s fifth fastest time (55.10).
“You can put her in any event and she’s going to get after it,” Ballingall said. “She doesn’t care who she swims against, she always wants to win.”
Freeman, Baker and freshman sister Sisi Baker, who was also on the Huskies’ relay at ISLs, added top-five points at WMPSSDLs, as well. Freeman was also an individual winner at ISLs in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.19).
“Freeman has been such a great leader this season,” Ballingall said. “The younger girls really follow her example, and she’s been really great about making sure everyone is behind the lanes cheering.”
At states, Freeman, Hellmer and the Baker sisters will make up the Huskies’ third-ranked 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays and all four girls rank top 10 in their individual events entering Saturday morning’s prelims.
“They’ve been talking about what fast suits they’re going to wear,” Ballingall said. “Every time I see them they’re talking about states.”
Hellmer is seeded second overall in the 100 butterfly, behind two-time champion Jordan, who is fresh off a pair of victories at Washington Metro Interscholastic Swim & Dive Championships. The Madeira junior is also seeded fourth in the 200 freestyle with a pedestrian 1:55.69 — more than five seconds slower than her lifetime best.
Madeira freshman Maddie Heilbrun could also add huge points for the Snails, who are also in contention for a podium spot after a fifth-place finish in 2014. She is seeded second in the 200 individual medley (2:11.01) and 12th in the 100 backstroke (1:02.68) — also a slow entry time.
Other area swimmers to watch are: Bishop Ireton’s Anna Shumate, who is seeded first in the girls’ 50 freestyle (24.37) and 100 breaststroke (1:05.10), O’Connell’s Chris Outlaw, who is seeded first in the boys’ 50 freestyle (20.91) and 100 freestyle (47.09), Bishop Ireton’s Ben Gorski, who is seeded first in the boys’ 100 breaststroke (57.21), and Paul VI’s Siena Shannon, who is seeded first in the girls’ 100 freestyle ahead of Madeira’s Farrin Saba, 54.90 to 55.17. St. Stephen’s St. Agnes’ Ian Thompson is the top seed in the boys’ 100 backstroke (50.50) and the second seed in the 50 freestyle (21.29). O’Connell’s Sarah Cahill is seeded second in the girls’ 100 breaststroke (1:06.70).
Saturday, even if the Huskies fall short against Richmond-based private school powers Collegiate School, Trinity Episcopal and St. Catherine’s School, which finished 1-2-4 last year, Flint Hill knows this season was just a beginning of things to come.
“We’re all looking forward to next year. A few of our non-club swimmers are joining club swimming,” Mimi Baker said. “Seeing how well we did this year and knowing how well we could do next year, I think that motivated them to join.”
Hellmer added, “If we don’t accomplish times this year we know that we have more years in the future. We’re thinking, ‘Hey, maybe we’ll get first at ISLs next year.’ “
