Sussex Academy had another stellar outing at the aquatic center on its own campus on Saturday. The Seahawks played host to the 2026 Henlopen Conference Swimming Championships and used the advantage of competing in their home pool to put on a show for the other 10 conference teams, breaking seven school records along the way.

When it was all said and done, the girls claimed the 2026 Henlopen Conference Championship, topping rival Cape Henlopen and bringing the hardware back to Georgetown. The girls’ team tallied 412 points, besting the Vikings by 11. While Cape Henlopen (401 points) led more than midway through the meet, the Seahawks used their technical prowess to amass points in the backstroke and breaststroke events late in the competition.

Each team is capped at three entries per individual event, and Sussex Academy had all of theirs in the top heat of both events, pulling away from Cape to claim the title. Cape Henlopen won the final relay of the day and set a conference record, but the point differential was too much to overcome as Sussex Academy secured its third Henlopen overall title in the last four years.

The team accepted gold medals for a first-place finish and also claimed the Henlopen Conference trophy, capping off another undefeated season. Sussex Academy girls have won either the division, dual-meet conference, or both, for ten straight years. They haven’t lost a dual meet since January of 2020.

The boys picked up their Henlopen Southern Division trophy as well and finished third overall behind northern foes Cape Henlopen and Caesar Rodney, the only two teams to defeat the Seahawks this season. Cape Henlopen dominated the field with 461 points, while Caesar Rodney (313) edged out Sussex Academy (307) for second place. “The boys were very proud to once again win the Henlopen South,” said Head Coach Tom Martiner.

The girls claimed gold in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events, with junior Anna Mumford blistering a 1:53.12 in the 200 and an impressive 4:56.76 in the 500.

Martiner preaches team swimming and depth, and that philosophy was on full display Saturday. Every Seahawk girl entered in the meet scored points to help produce the championship total. While Mumford was the lone individual gold medalist for Sussex Academy, a bevy of Seahawks found their way to the podium. “The conference meet is always close for the girls, and our depth allowed for the narrow win,” said Martiner.

The 200-medley relay team of Victoria Evans, Gretchen Maughan, Mumford, and Samantha Petty took silver, as did Maughan in both the 200 Individual Medley and the 100 Breaststroke. Evans claimed silver in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:00.53. In the final event of the day, the Seahawks—needing only a top-three finish to secure the title—earned silver behind Cape Henlopen’s conference record-setting swim. Mumford, Caitlin Perchiniak, Maughan, and Evans added to their medal haul.

The 200-freestyle relay team of Petty, Camila Figueroa, Emi Obertubbesing, and Perchiniak captured bronze, touching nearly three seconds faster than their seed time with a 1:49.50.

Perchiniak, Petty, Figueroa, Evans, Obertubbesing, Kendall Rhoades, and Eliza Evans all added additional top-five finishes for the Seahawks.

On the boys’ side, there was also no shortage of hardware. The 200-medley relay team of Michael Whitaker, Reed Knowlton, Angel Figueroa, and Christian Wright took silver with a school-record time of 1:42.21. Wright added two more silvers in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events. Figueroa posted a personal-best 53.36 in the 100-yard butterfly to claim silver, then added bronze in the 200 Individual Medley with another personal best of 2:05.00.

Whitaker added a silver in the 100 Backstroke (56.29) and a bronze in the 100 Freestyle, while Knowlton earned bronze in the 100 Breaststroke.

In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Figueroa, Whitaker, and Wright joined senior Kieran Probert to take silver and set another school record with a time of 3:24.47.

Sussex Academy also received solid point contributions from Edward Hale, Cale Argo, and the 200-freestyle relay team of Probert, Hale, Sebastian Scruggs, and Jackson Proctor, all of whom recorded top-five finishes.

Jacob Madden of Polytech and Payton Garnsey of Cesar Rodney were named as Vince Morris Outstanding Performers of the meet while Cape Henlopen’s Bill Geppert and Cesar Rodney’s Brendan Smith were named Coach of the Year for the girls and boys respectively.

Sussex Academy’s season isn’t over yet, as eight boys and 10 girls who earned state-qualifying times will head to the University of Delaware later this month for the DIAA State Championships, scheduled for February 25–28.