by Colin Regan, Sports Information Coordinator and Upper School Faculty

A record-breaking season for Gilman's varsity swimming team ended on Saturday, February 1, with an outstanding performance at the MIAA A Championship. The Hounds finished second overall, the highest finish in program history — after a tightly contested battle with McDonogh — and left the meet with several new School records for the books.

The Hounds won six out of 11 events at the championship meet, finishing with 11 medalists on the podium.

Individual First-Place Medals

• Max Kunisaki '25: 200-yard freestyle with a personal best time of 1:40.40 (breaking his own previous School record time of 1:40.96).
• Jackson Heether '25: 50-yard freestyle with a personal best time of 20.64 (All-American consideration time) and the 100-yard freestyle with a personal best time of 46.26.
• Myles Koff '26: 200-yard individual medley with a personal best time of 1:49.05 (All-American time and new Gilman record).

Relay Team First-Place Medals

The Hounds' performances in both relays earned All-American consideration time.

• 200-yard freestyle (1:24.30, new Gilman record): Heether, Kunisaki, Bogdan Mystak '26, and Cooper Walters '26. New Gilman record with a time of 1:24.30.
• 400-yard freestyle (3:07.21): Heether, Koff, Kunisaki, and Kyan Siri '28.

Additional New Gilman Records

• 100-yard freestyle: Heether with a time of 46.16 in the preliminaries before breaking it again during his leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 46.01 in the lead-off.
• 100-yard breaststroke: Kunisaki with a time of 57.25 (breaking his own previous School record time of 57.29).
• 50-yard freestyle: Broken twice in the span of about one hour, with Heether breaking it in the 50-yard freestyle finals with a time of 20.64, only for Kunisaki to later top him swimming the lead-off leg of the 200-yard relay with a time of 20.61.

Other varsity swimmers to leave the championship meet with medals included Barret Emerson '26, with a second-place finish in the 100-backstroke and a third-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle, Siri with a third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle in addition to his contribution in the 400-yard freestyle relay, and Koff with a second-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle.

"For the varsity team, going from a 150- to 200-point gap between us and McDonogh and Loyola Blakefield in previous years to beating Loyola and coming up just 60 points shy of beating McDonogh this year is a huge accomplishment. I believe it has been close to 30 years since a Gilman swimmer took first in an individual event, and we had four golds on Saturday," said Aquatics Director and Head Varsity Swimming Coach Vaughan Smith. "Jackson Heether's four first-place finishes are unprecedented and will go down in Gilman swimming lore, while Max Kunisaki showed tremendous leadership in being willing to sacrifice and put the team before himself by swimming his secondary events to help fill holes in the lineup. Max ends the year holding five individual School records and having been on all three record-setting relays."

School records have fallen at various points throughout the team's 2024-2025 season, including at the annual rivalry meet with McDonogh in early January, where the Hounds took a win over the Eagles for the first time in 20 years.

Congratulations on an incredible season, swimmers and coaches!

Photos by Mike Spotte P'26, '28.

See More Photos from the 2025 MIAA Swimming Championship at michaelspotte.smugmug.com