Northern Virginia Swim League
Encyclopedia
The Northern Virginia Swim League, or NVSL, is a summer swim
league and a separate dive
league in Northern Virginia
in the United States
. The stated goal of both NVSL and NVSL-Dive is "...to develop in the children participating in this program--a love for the sport, advanced aquatic skills, and the principles of good sportsmanship."
While most NVSL meets are focused on team competition, All Stars is more oriented toward the league's best individual swimmers. There are All Star races for the top relays of each division as well, which is held in a separate meet known as the Division Relay Carnival. This meet is held earlier in the season on a Wednesday night.
The NVSL Individual All Stars meet is the only Saturday meet during the season that is not scored. However, the NVSL All Star Relay Carnival is scored, and a winner is determined by total points at the end of the meet. This meet is not limited to just Division 1 teams, as teams from lower divisions have the opportunity to win the NVSL if they qualify enough fast relays.
Divers are divided by gender into four age categories: Freshmen (10 & under - 3 dives), Juniors (11-12 - 4 dives), Intermediates (13-14 - 5 dives), and Seniors (15 and older - 6 dives). The category is determined by the diver's age on June 1 of each year. Divers are allowed to compete through the summer following their graduation from high school
Since its beginning in 1987, more than 9,000 divers have competed at Crackerjack. NVSL-Dive sponsors an annual 3-meter meet. Col. Wallace R. Martin arranged for the meet to be held at his home pool, Tuckahoe, in 1968 and then again every year thereafter for the rest of his life. Martin died in 1977, and in 1978 the NVSL 3-Meter Meet was renamed the Wally Martin 3-Meter Championship in his memory.
The MacDuff Scholarship, created in 1991, is awarded annually to two NVSL swimmers or divers in honor of George MacDuff. The President's Scholarship, created in 1994, was named to honor all those volunteers who have served the youth of Northern Virginia. The Olivia Aull Spirit Scholarship was created in 2008 to honor Olivia Aull, and recognizes spirited swimmers and divers. The Swim Ninja Scholarship was created in 2010 and is sponsored by Swim Ninja LLC. It is awarded annually to an NVSL swimmer who serves his or her community as a leader both in and out of the water.
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
league and a separate dive
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
league in Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The stated goal of both NVSL and NVSL-Dive is "...to develop in the children participating in this program--a love for the sport, advanced aquatic skills, and the principles of good sportsmanship."
NVSL-Swim
The NVSL swim league currently consists of 17 divisions, with six teams in each division. Among the 17 divisions and 102 teams, there are approximately 14,000 swimmers who participate in the NVSL every summer. The league's motto is to promote "A love for the sport, advanced aquatic skills, teamwork, and the principles of good sportsmanship." The Northern Virginia Swimming League was founded in 1956. Swimmers compete in the 8&U, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, and 15-18 age groups.NVSL-Swim All Stars
The NVSL Individual All Stars swim meet is a competition between select swimmers in each age group and event. The races consist of swimmers with the top 18 Divisionals times, with two alternate swimmers in case one or more scheduled swimmers are not present. Cards are pulled for additional swimmers in case either of the alternates or multiple scratches are made.While most NVSL meets are focused on team competition, All Stars is more oriented toward the league's best individual swimmers. There are All Star races for the top relays of each division as well, which is held in a separate meet known as the Division Relay Carnival. This meet is held earlier in the season on a Wednesday night.
The NVSL Individual All Stars meet is the only Saturday meet during the season that is not scored. However, the NVSL All Star Relay Carnival is scored, and a winner is determined by total points at the end of the meet. This meet is not limited to just Division 1 teams, as teams from lower divisions have the opportunity to win the NVSL if they qualify enough fast relays.
NVSL-Dive
Beginning in 1957, NVSL-Dive began sponsoring dive competition in Northern Virginia. The teams are sponsored by local community pools with diving boards. NVSL-Dive is currently composed of 47 teams that are divided into 8 divisions. The teams compete weekly over the course of a 5 week season, and a team is named the division champion. Meets are held on Tuesday evenings from late June through late July. In a dual meet, each team is allowed a total of 32 divers. Following the conclusion of the regular season, each division holds an Individual Division Championship, which is used to qualify for the League's Individual All-Star Championship Meet, which is typically held the first Sunday in August.Divers are divided by gender into four age categories: Freshmen (10 & under - 3 dives), Juniors (11-12 - 4 dives), Intermediates (13-14 - 5 dives), and Seniors (15 and older - 6 dives). The category is determined by the diver's age on June 1 of each year. Divers are allowed to compete through the summer following their graduation from high school
NVSL-Dive championships
NVSL-Dive hosts the annual Cracker Jack Invitational. This meet is the world's largest one-day diving competition. At the 2009 meet, which was hosted by Truro in Annandale, Virginia, 354 divers (218 girls and 136 boys) competed. Established in 1987 to provide a skill-appropriate championship for beginning divers. The first Cracker Jack Invitational was held at Freedom Park and attracted approximately 600 divers. For many years, this meet was hosted by Overlee pool in Arlington, Virginia, and moved to Cardinal Hill in Vienna for 2007 and 2008.Since its beginning in 1987, more than 9,000 divers have competed at Crackerjack. NVSL-Dive sponsors an annual 3-meter meet. Col. Wallace R. Martin arranged for the meet to be held at his home pool, Tuckahoe, in 1968 and then again every year thereafter for the rest of his life. Martin died in 1977, and in 1978 the NVSL 3-Meter Meet was renamed the Wally Martin 3-Meter Championship in his memory.
NVSL Hall of Fame
The NVSL and NVSL-Dive recognize graduating high school seniors who is an NVSL diver and/or swimmer.The MacDuff Scholarship, created in 1991, is awarded annually to two NVSL swimmers or divers in honor of George MacDuff. The President's Scholarship, created in 1994, was named to honor all those volunteers who have served the youth of Northern Virginia. The Olivia Aull Spirit Scholarship was created in 2008 to honor Olivia Aull, and recognizes spirited swimmers and divers. The Swim Ninja Scholarship was created in 2010 and is sponsored by Swim Ninja LLC. It is awarded annually to an NVSL swimmer who serves his or her community as a leader both in and out of the water.