DeMatha Swimming & Diving Team Posts Best Two-year Stretch in School History

DeMatha has one of the top swimming and diving programs in the Washington, D.C., area. One successful season follows another, records continue to fall and its consecutive match winning streak has reached 74.

But never in the school’s swimming history has there been a splash of success like it has enjoyed the past two seasons. Over that period, the Stags have claimed all four major championship events it has entered. Here's a snapshot:

• Won the WCAC & WMPSSDL (2026) and finished second in 2025
• Won Metros & the National Catholic Championships (2025)
• Won the Robert Sawyer Invitational in Greensboro, N.C., both years
• Placed third in Metros (2026)
• Finished with two No. 1 rankings in Maryland
• 50-0 in regular-season matchups, including a school-record 30 victories in 2025-26

“It’s definitely the best two-year span we’ve ever had,” said Tom Krawczewicz ’81, who will enter his 35th year as head coach in 2026-27. “We won those four majors, which is really cool. These seniors, juniors and a few sophomores are the first to win all of those things.

“As their coach, it’s been fulfilling to lead these guys and help them achieve so much.”

DeMatha’s 2025-26 team went to the starting blocks without graduated All-Americans and first-team All-Mets Jayson Ross (Georgia) and Josh Lopez (Navy). But the Stags still had a lot of firepower with guys like Alexander Jungbluth, Jonathan Lombardo, Seamus Rooney, Jordan Vaughn and Jack Hamilton.

Rooney, who will be competing at Mount St. Mary’s University, won the 100 backstroke (50.81) to help the Stags win their first Washington Metropolitan Private School Swimming & Diving League (WMPSSDL) championship in 21 years.

DeMatha finished in the top three of all three relays at the early February meet to finish with 775 points to 734 for Gonzaga, which had won the crown the previous 14 years. Georgetown Prep was third (606).

Jungbluth added a victory in the 200 individual medley (IM) in 1:52.83. An All-American in the 100 butterfly in 2024-25, he, Vaughn and Selim Ericson placed in the top six of the 100 fly. It was a display of team’s deep pool of talent.

Vaughn, Hamilton, Jungbluth and Lombardo got the Stags off to a good start by winning the 200-yard medley relay in 1:32.30. Vaughn will compete at Howard University.

First WCAC Crown

At the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Championships a week earlier, Rooney captured the 100 freestyle (46.89) and 100 back (51.76). Hamilton, who plans to attend Loyola University Maryland, took the top podium spot in the 100 breaststroke (56.17) and 200 IM (1.53.25).

The meet concluded with the Stags and Coach K in the water celebrating their first WCAC swimming and diving title since the conference began sponsoring the sport in 2018. DeMatha raced past Gonzaga, 491-393, and was well ahead of St. John’s (299.5).

“Winning that was awesome because that’s the one that everybody in school recognizes,’ said Krawczewicz, who grew up swimming at nearby New Carrollton pool and is a two-time (2004, 2025) Washington Post Boys Swimming Coach of the Year. “They understand what that means, so it was so nice to get that.”

Coach K said the team didn’t need to score diving points to win the WCAC meet, but they were absolutely critical to capturing the private school event. The contributing divers were Colin Lappin, Ben Brown, Aidan Hamilton and Andrew Keplinger.

“We pulled some of those divers off the baseball team for a little while,” Krawczewicz said. “It was a lot of fun seeing them get the payoff.”