It took no time—just one meet, really—for the Belmont High School girls swim team to establish itself as a powerhouse this fall. By season’s end, the Marauders left no doubt about who runs the Middlesex League.
Eleven athletes boasted qualifying performances for Division 2 states in the first sectional meet. Nine more followed suit in the league championship meet, the final team competition of the year, where the Marauders captured their second straight conference crown.
But according to senior Chaivin Moon, a senior who swims the 100-meter fly and medley relay, it’s the team camaraderie and relationships that make the difference.
“It’s the small relationships that build into the big team culture,” Moon said. “Our cheering and support for one another. [In] Belmont, we really like to emphasize that because we’re such a big team it’s easy to think you’re not going to change how our team looks, but we emphasize how it’s really important to cheer each other on because what we do independently is important to how it looks.”
With a deep roster of more than 50 athletes in the program, Belmont went 6-1 in dual meets. They beat Stoneham, Acton-Boxborough, Arlington, Wakefield, Winchester, Woburn, and Burlington. Their one loss came in a narrow three-point defeat at Lexington.
For the first time in Lulu Emmons’ eight years on staff (head coach for four seasons), all three divers qualified for the state championships. Emmons credited new diving coach Kira Davidson, a 2024 graduate of Belmont High School who also coaches the boys’ diving squad, with elevating that part of the roster. Qualifying divers must get 185 points twice. Freshman Maggie Han accomplished the feat in a minimum of two meets. All three divers, Han, sophomore Grace Fagan and Cecilia Held, benefit from close coaching.
“Kira has a really great understanding of the sport and what goes into it, the technicalities and things I genuinely couldn’t help with,” Emmons said. “Mindset I can do, but diving is really different. The fact that there’s only three of them and she’s worked so closely with them has helped a ton.”
In addition to the individual swimmers and divers, all Belmont relay teams qualified for the sectional championships.
“Something that was really special is, I think, we were really able to dig deep and kind of out-touch the other person,” Moon said. “We had a lot of good people who were good at different things across the pool. Every event was pretty much filled, so that was great.”
MIAA North Sectionals took place last Sunday at MIT, and Belmont finished fourth. The Marauders won the 200 freestyle relay and placed second in the 400 freestyle relay. Senior Elizabeth Guevara, swimming in her first year with the high school team after competing exclusively on the club circuit, finished second in the 200 freestyle and 100 freestyle.
The state championships are this Sunday at Boston University. Fourteen Belmont athletes will compete in a total of 20 entries, including individual events and relays. Visit the MIAA’s website for the full list of entries.
Program culture isn’t exclusive to the pool. The team does dinners and spirit days to keep the vibes high.
“Just like in basketball or soccer, where you really have to trust your teammates to get plays done, it’s the same in the pool,” Emmons said. “Everybody has a job and you need to trust each other to get it done. I’m really big on that more positive mindset and feeling confident that we can handle anything that comes our way.”
