Swim & Dive - Girls

Varsity Swim & Dive Schedule

Jude DeSando Lozupone bio continued... 

In 2022-23, the girls captured their sixth title and one of their finest seasons. All-American Madison Smith, a University of Michigan commit, won the 500y free at the National Catholic Championships, leading Good Counsel to a third-place team finish. Brookelynn Weinberg placed eighth at Metros in the 100y breast and will compete at Catholic University. Diver Fiona Tworkowski finished eighth at Metros and was the top finisher at the WCAC championship. The girls placed eighth overall at Metros and were second among private schools, highlighted by a regular-season upset over Holton-Arms.

On the boys' side, Owen Watkins won the 50y free and earned All-American honors. In 2019, Ryan Vipavetz was named an All-American in the 200y fly and 500y free, won the national title in the 200m fly at the U.S. Winter Nationals, and qualified for the 2020 Olympic Trials.
Lozupone and Silva have coached several All-Americans, including Brady Welch (2014, 100y free), Olivia French (2018, 100y fly), Sarah Culkin (2020, 100y fly), Sean Santos (2022, 500y free), and Haley Marshall, the top NISCA diver in the country in 2020. Marshall won Metros twice, earned All-American honors in 2020 and 2022, and now competes at the University of North Carolina.

In 2018 and 2019, the boys’ 200y and 400y free relay teams earned All-American status with combinations of Ryan Vipavetz, Jonathan Crocker, Drew Munson, Gabe Laracuente, Alex Brun, and Brady Ott. These performances helped the boys to second-place finishes at the WCAC championships in 2018 and 2019.

Lozupone’s coaching philosophy centers on consistent effort and a growth mindset. “I don't care as much about achieving a specific time, but I do care about your effort every time,” she says.

Lozupone’s swimming career began in childhood and reached the national stage. She competed in 19 national championships, qualified for senior nationals at age 14, and was an inaugural inductee into the Montgomery County Swim League Hall of Fame in 2008. At Robert E. Peary High School in Rockville, Md., she was a three-time All-American from 1977 to 1979 and named the Montgomery Gazette’s Female Swimmer of the Decade.
After graduating in 1979, she received a full scholarship to the University of South Carolina, where she became the first athlete in school history to earn All-American honors four years in a row. She achieved that status 11 times, highlighted by a sixth-place finish in the 400y IM at the 1983 NCAA Championships. She held the school record in the 400y IM for 19 years and excelled in multiple freestyle relays and individual medleys.

Lozupone qualified for the 400m IM at the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Trials and represented Team USA at the 1983 World University Games in Edmonton, where she placed 10th. She earned a B.A. in theatre with a minor in English from South Carolina in 1983 and coached at the Montgomery Stroke & Turn Clinic in Olney from 1999 to 2020.

Born in Washington, D.C., Lozupone grew up and still resides in Rockville, Md. Her husband, Frank, ran cross country and track at Good Counsel and graduated in 1979. Their children — Frank III ’06, Angela ’09, and Anthony ’13 — swam or dove for Good Counsel. Her family’s connection to the program spans generations, with her brother Charlie (’74) on the school’s first swim team and their mother, Mary Frances, serving as team manager under Coach Bill Radcliffe.

Geoff Schaefer ’91 bio continued... 

Schaefer swam under longtime Good Counsel coach Charlie DeSando as a student-athlete before competing at Towson University from 1993 to 1996. He was a team captain and earned Academic All-American honors as a senior. His coaching career began 1993 with summer league teams and continued at the Academy of the Holy Cross from 1996 to 2002.

Schaefer credits two Good Counsel faculty members, Richard Seel and Andy Collins, with shaping his journey as a teacher and coach.

“Mr. Collins is iconic in my eyes … He's set the blueprint for how to do things,” he said.

“It feels like a homecoming,” Schaefer said. “I would like to build upon what Coach Silva and Coach Lozupone have accomplished.”

Known for his energy and ability to foster inclusive, team-first environments, Schaefer is focused on building a program rooted in values and collective success. 

“I don't care if you're the fastest swimmer on the team or the kid who is just getting their feet wet,” he said. “Every single kid that makes the team is important to me. I don't look at the strength of one person. I look at the strength of a team. I don't go in there looking for individual medals. Good Counsel is going for the hardware.”