NOVA News
October 16th, 2023
Wednesday, November 13th, NOVA celebrated our high school Seniors who have made their official commitment to a college or university. These athletes may have verbally committed during their junior year, but signing made it official. This is a national day where athletes from many sports commit to continue their athletic and academic pursuits. NOVA congratulates the following seniors -
Allison Bischoff - University of Virginia
Cooper Dillman - Oakland University
Mary Stuart Hawkins - Georgetown University
Kate Hotem - University of Notre Dame
Abby Jessup - Rollins College
Ava Mckinney - Towson University
Cassidy Miklos - Northern Iowa University
Katelyn Morrow - Seton Hall University
Spencer Ridge - Lehigh University
Matthew Rivas - LaSalle University
Nathan Szobota - University of Virginia
Christian Thornton - Virginia Military Institute
There will be a second commitment day in the Spring for athletes who may still be in the process of making a decision.
USA Swimming announced on October 30th, that NOVA was named as a Gold Medal Club and a Podium Club member for the 24/25 swim season. NOVA has achieved Gold Medal status 22 times out of the last 25 years. NOVA is ranked 14th in USA Swimming the 2024-2025 season.
Gold Medal Status is a prestigious designation awarded by USA Swimming to recognize the top-performing clubs in the nation. This status is earned through USA Swimming’s Club Excellence Program, which ranks teams based on their athletes’ achievements and team development. Clubs that reach Gold Medal Status have demonstrated consistent excellence in training, support, and overall success at the highest levels of competitive swimming.
To achieve Gold Medal Status, clubs must accumulate points through their swimmers’ performances in top-level national and international competitions. Points are awarded based on factors such as placement, time standards, and competition level, making this status a reflection of both team depth and athlete progression. Teams must meet one of these two requisites: Be a top-20 point-scoring USA Swimming member clubs in 2025 and a minimum of one 18 & Under athlete from the club must achieve a Gold time standard. Or, a member clubs must have a 2024 Olympic Games 18 & Under qualifying athlete for Team USA
Additionally, Gold Medal clubs are eligible for the Podium Club, an exclusive group that USA Swimming honors for sustained excellence and impact on the sport. The Podium Club celebrates clubs that continue to inspire through their contributions, setting a high standard for commitment to athlete development and community engagement. To be a podium club, a team must have achieved gold medal status for four consecutive years. Doing so demonstrates a club’s unwavering dedication to excellence and its role in fostering the next generation of swimming champions.
- Coach Alex
Join Lori Haas to hear about the Phase Two Expansion of the Regency Facility and how it will benefit NOVA families, our outreach partners and the greater Henrico community. After a brief presentation, take a tour “behind the walls” and check out the unfinished space on the second floor. There will be time for Q&A and information on how to pledge or donate as we all work together to ELEVATE NOVA. All groups will be invited, no need to sign up.
Sunday November 17th 5-6pm or 6-7pm - Senior Development Gold, Senior Bronze, Senior Silver, Senior Gold, National
Sunday November 24th 3-4 pm or 4-5pm - Novice Gold, Age Group Bronze, Senior Development Bronze, Senior Development Silver
Middle Atlantic Age Group Showdown, better known as MAAGS, took place in Manassas VA November 1-3. This 4 team meet brings some of the country’s top teams together for head to head competition. Each team selects their 4 fastest swimmers in each single age group event with swimmers from age 8 to age 14 participating. NOVA finished in second place after a long weekend of fast racing, many best times and standards and even a state record. Congratulations to all NOVA swimmers and coaches.
Age Group Dev Silver, Age Group Dev Gold, Age Group Silver, Age Group Gold, Senior Dev. Silver, Senior Dev. Gold
NOVA Senior Classic took place at Regency November 1-3. This was a great 5 session meet where NOVA raced with top teams from up and down the east coast. This “in training” meet was a great way for our senior swimmers to gauge where they are in their training cycle and to push their bodies to race hard. NOVA swimmers picked up many new best times and new cuts. Great job swimmers!
Senior Dev Gold, Senior Silver, Senior Gold, National
The Power of Levity
As a young swimmer, I had a huge green Speedo duffle bag. My mom bought it for me as we waited in a long line to meet my favorite swimmer, Amy Van Dyken, and it stayed with me throughout my swimming career. As a new swimmer at NOVA, Coach Geoff took notice of that unnecessarily large bag (sometimes holding just a towel) and often gave me a hard time. I would walk through the doors at Gayton for practice and be greeted with “I swear that bag is so big you could fit in it”, or hear “go ahead and get in it, we’ll carry you around the pool” on my way out. You can only imagine how pleased I was when I showed up to practice one day and demonstrated that I could, in fact, fit in that big, kelly green bag. You can also imagine my surprise when I was recognized for this unusual feat at the end of the year banquet, alongside those receiving praise for their extraordinary swimming accomplishments. This moment of levity was not lost on me then, and is something I’ve thought about many times over my time as an athlete and a coach.
I tell this story to help show that a little humor can go a long way, especially in the sport of swimming. Our swimmers work hard, have huge goals, and dedicate so much of themselves to the sport that it can be easy to get lost in all of the seriousness (especially as parents). That is why it is so important to lean into the moments of frivolity and the lifetime memories that are made in their wake. Find a way to laugh about your goggles falling off during a race, or a silly mistake that led to a DQ in a meet. Embrace your coaches lovingly booing you when you accidentally leave on a rest and the new nickname you may have acquired from doing something silly. Coach Mike touched on toughness last week, and David connections the week before. It takes a strong individual to find levity when faced with challenges or adversity and through humor we build connections and memories that outlast most things, cherished swim bags included.
-Coach Laurel
WAC Fall Invite 11/16-11/17
NOVA Cranberry Contender 11/16-11/17
ELEVATE "behind the walls" Tour-11/17 Regency 5pm SDG, SB, SS, SG, NAT
Senior Media Day 11/24 More information HERE
ELEVATE "behind the walls" Tour-11/24 Regency 5pm NG, AGB, SDB, SDS
NOVA's 2024-2025 Short Course meet schedule is posted to the NOVA website HERE!
NOVA's 13&Over OrthoVirginia PPOW is Gabe Schwabe, from Senior Silver. Gabe has brought a consistency of effort to each challenge he has been presented with. His hard work and consistency has been showing itself in meets as well as practice! Congrats Gabe!
This weeks OrthoVirginia Practice Performer of the Week on the 12&Under side is Porter Anderson, from Age Group Development Silver! Porter has been an awesome leader in the group in many ways. He is always super engaged when the coaches are talking, he helps out his teammates when they don’t understand certain drills, and he brings a positive and enthusiastic attitude to each practice. He has also been working hard to improve some of his former weaknesses, such as underwater kicks and butterfly technique. This hard work has been paying off in meets and the coaches are so excited about his progress. Great job, Porter!
