St. John’s has had its share of success in the pool.

The 1979-80 squad finished third out of 30 teams in the Washington Metropolitan Athletic Conference. Along with their 7-3 record, the Cadets also posted a sixth place finish at the Villanova Invitational. Deryck Marks and Don Walton were recognized as All-Montgomery County Prep School Champions. 

During the 1984-85 season, St. John’s won a share of the Metropolitan Area Championship after a 7-1 record. In the next-to-last meet of the regular season, St. John’s had to defeat St. Albans to win at least a share of the conference title. The Cadets came through with a 98-74 win to win a share of their first conference title since 1971. St. John’s also placed fifth in the Washington Metropolitan Prep School Swimming and Diving League and 14th at the metro championships. 

St. John’s continued their success in 1985-86 with a 9-1 record. The Cadets finished second at the WMPSSL Relays and ninth in the National Catholic Championships. In addition, St. John’s finished second in the Independent High School Championships and fifth at metros. The freestyle relay team of Keith Duncan, Scott Shepard, Chuck Socarras and Sean Carey placed third at metros and set a new school record. Carey also set a school record in the 500 yard freestyle. Freshman Kris Yaggi placed first at metros while setting a new school diving record.

Yaggi helped lead St. John’s to a 9-1 record and a Washington Metropolitan Athletic Conference co-championship in 1986-87. In addition, the Cadets finished third out of 28 teams in the Atlantic Seaboard Tournament in Greenville, N.C. and second in the Independent High School Championships. For his efforts, Yaggi earned All-American honors. Yaggi and Sean Carey were named to the all-metro team.

Head Coach Peter Karl led St. John’s to first in the WMPSL Relay Meet and an 8-1 overall record for 1987-88. All-American Steve Mortimer was a double winner in the 200 yard individual medley and the 100 yard backstroke at the metro championships. Yaggi won his second straight diving championship, and Carey also achieved times that qualified him for All-American status. 

More records were broken during the 1987-88 season than any other previous season. The relay team of Mortimer, Cooper Pappas and David and Jeff Griesbauer broke a record that had stood since 1973. In addition, Mortimer broke school records in the 200 yard individual medley and the 100 yard backstroke. Carey broke his own record in the 600 yard freestyle, while Yaggi also broke his own record for six and 11 dives. 

Eight swimmers participated in the 53th Annual National Catholic Championships in February and more than half of the team qualified for the metro championships. St. John’s finished the season as one of the top three teams in the area. 

St. John’s was one of the top teams to compete for the Washington Metropolitan Private School Swimming Legue title during the 1988-89 season. The team was led by a pair of All-Americans in Carey and Yaggi. 

At the start of the season, the Cadets finished tied for first with Good Counsel at the league relay meet. However, Good Counsel defeated St. John’s later in the season to end the Cadets hope of a league title. One highlight of the season was when Yaggi broke a 15-year old record in the boys diving competition at the metro championships. His record 524 points allowed him to win his third metro championship. Yaggi would finish his St. John’s career with several All-American and all-metro recognitions. 

Jeff Kostoff took over the coaching reigns in 1991. Kostoff was an All-American swimmer at Stanford University who participated in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics in the 400 meter individual medley. 

In the first few years of co-education, girls swimmers faced some special challenges. For example, during the 1992-93 season, Marguerite Beckley, Mishelle Barbieri and Jessica Hardy scored points in the boys dual events since the girls did not have enough members to form their own team. 

In Tony Murray’s first season as head coach in 2001-02, two swimmers qualified for the 67th Annual National Catholic High School Swimming Championships at Villanova University. David Feliciano just missed qualifying for the 50 meter freestyle, while Jon Farrell was an alternate for the 100 meter breaststroke. 

Feliciano and Farrell also qualified for the National Catholic Championships in 2003. Feliciano finished 16th out of 65 swimmers in the 50 meter freestyle, while Farrell posted a sixth place finish in the 100 meter Breaststroke. 

Two years later at the 2005 National Catholic Championships, sophomore Cate Sheerin finished second in the 200 meter individual medley. Junior Christina Bowman placed eighth in the 200 meter freestyle. The boys relay team of seniors Rich Henry and David Jackson, junior Chris Schiefer and sophomore Timmy Roche qualified for the Metro Championships and National Catholic Championships in the 200 and 400 meter freestyle relays. 

St. John’s had a very successful season in 2006-07. Fourteen varsity swimmers, six boys and eight girls, participated in the National Catholic Swimming Championships. While the boys did not place at the championships, the squad set a school record in the 400 meter freestyle.
The girls 400 meter freestyle relay team also set a school record. In addition, Sheerin placed seventh in the 200 Individual Medley and fifth in the 100 meter butterfly. Bowman finished seventh in the 100 meter freestyle and ninth in the 200 meter freestyle. 

Diver Chris Hoppler finished second at the conference championships and set a school record while finishing third at metros. Chris Dunckel set school records in the 200 meter individual medley and the 100 meter breaststroke. 

On the girls team, freshman Amina Wilson broke the school record in the 50 meter freestyle.