By Nelson Coffin
nelson@iaamsports.com

Four years after starting the swimming program at her alma mater fueled by a donation from the family of then-freshman Kenley Hewitt, Maryvale coach Maria Linz O’Brien helped guide the Lions to their first B Conference championship.

It wasn’t easy, although it was undoubtedly rewarding and a lot of fun, too.

Her first task was to gauge interest from the prospective team members, some of whom had never swum competitively.

Then, talking about basics, she had to find a pool.

Fortunately for the Lions, everything fell into place, and O’Brien went from teaching fledgling swimmers proper stroke technique to hoisting a trophy in a relatively short time.

“This year, we had such a great group of girls,” she said. “It was a total team effort helped by lots of depth.”

O’Brien is not just trying to just be gracious when she notes that her colleague, Jared Welsh, was a major factor in the team’s success while she was named IAAM swimming Coach of the Year.

After all, of the Lions’ five weekly practices, four at Brick Bodies and one at Calvert Hall, O’Brien coached two solo sessions and Welsh did the same the other two days.

The duo split coaching the fifth practice, so it was definitely a cooperative effort, she said.

Regardless, it was the swimmers who shined in the championship meet by edging St. Mary’s, 331-308, at Loyola University of Maryland to triumph without winning either an individual or relay event.

Second-place showings by freshman Min Joo Kim in the 100-yard backstroke (59.91), sophomore Chelsea Elliott in the 100 freestyle (57.47) and junior Peyton O’Brien (no relation) in the 100 breaststroke (1:13.54) helped secure the win.

The coach, who swam collegiately at Loyola, said she was happy for Hewitt and the other seniors, Kat Delorenzo and Abbe Brant, who were members of that first team in 2017.

“Finally getting that title was icing on the cake,” she said. “There was definitely a learning curve, and every year we developed new strategies.

Maryvale athletic director Terri Moeser said that O’Brien is always striving to get the most out of the team.

“Her commitment to the program is evident,” Moeser added. “She brings her enthusiasm for swimming to the program and instills this into the girls that she coaches. The success of the program over the past four years is solely on her and Jared and all their hard work and energy (they bring) to the swimming program.”

O’Brien said that she hopes the championship will bring a higher profile to an up-and-coming program.

“Now that we’ve made a name, hopefully we can run with it,” she said.