Seahawks swimmers wrap up sixth straight undefeated season

Another swimming regular season in the books, another undefeated year for the Sussex Academy girls’ swim team following an 80-13 victory over Polytech Feb. 2.

While the 11-0 girls certainly earned their flowers, the boys’ 8-2 record following their 60-34 win over Polytech and 74-20 win over Dover isn’t too shabby either. Speaking of flowers, 10 seniors were given a bouquet during a Senior Night ceremony held during the break.

Kenner Carbajal-Cifuentes, Angel Figueroa, Doug Kleintop, Kieran Probert, Sebastian Scruggs and Christian Wright were the boys on the team from the 2026 class. Victoria Evans, Kimia Langourdi, Sarah Lester-Stranick and Emily Obertubbesing represented the senior class on the girls’ team.

Obertubbesing helped the medley team of Catherine Elder, Camila Figueroa and Claudia Warren to victory. The senior linked up with Lester-Stranick, Eliza Evans and Sam Petty to help the Seahawks take the 200 relay too. Individually, she captured the 50 free. Evans won the individual medley and butterfly before ending the meet on the winning 400 relay team of Anna Mumford, Caitlin Perchiniak and Gretchen Maughan. The Seahawks won every event in the meet.

On the boys’ side, Wright won the 50 free and 100 butterfly. He was also on the medley relay team of Figueroa, Michael Whitaker and Jackson Proctor that took first place. Wright lent his talents to the 400 relay team of Figueroa, Probert and Whitaker. Figueroa took first in the breaststroke, the second of three events in a row the senior swam.

Following the meet, everyone on the team, coaches included, hopped into the pool to celebrate another successful season for Sussex Academy swimming. The winning may have stayed the same this season, but one thing that really stood out was the leadership of the seniors.

Take for instance the way they embraced 12-year-old Nolan Furlong, an eighth-grader who ran cross country and decided to give swimming a whirl. Believe it or not, the young man found himself swimming in the longest race of the meets, the 500 free. Whether it was Wright holding the lap signs for Furlong or Figueroa hoisting the lad up on his shoulders, the youngest member of the team was lifted to new heights.

Figueroa and his sister, Camila, a junior, could frequently be heard encouraging their teammates, mostly through the former’s whistling and the latter’s megaphone encouragement.

Evans is a girl wise beyond her years, and she made sure to impart that wisdom on her teammates, including her little sister. 

While this senior class has accomplishments that could lead to a pinky-up attitude, the 10 of them instead chose to be inclusive with their gifts, hoping their example will inspire their younger teammates to continue the strong tradition of swimming that has been built by the Seahawks.