Mountain Club swimmers win fourth straight state title, earn certifications
Mountain Club extended its streak with a fourth straight Spring Finale team title, while younger swimmers posted state cuts and William Dai earned three new officiating certifications.
Mountain Club turned the 2026 New Mexico Swimming Spring Finale into a showcase of depth, not just a trophy haul. At the Santa Fe Community Center on Feb. 28 and March 1, the Los Alamos club scored 1,599 points with 50 swimmers to capture its fourth consecutive team title in a field of 328 swimmers from across New Mexico.
The margin was decisive. MAKO Aquatic Club finished second with 981 points, and Beast Aquatics took third with 696.5. For a program that is based in Los Alamos and coached and operated by Anna Zhang, the result signaled more than one strong weekend. It showed a pipeline that is holding up across age groups and event types, from individual races to relays.
The club’s results page highlighted top performances from Jiadong Guo, Justin Lei and Javier Chacon Cuesta, while relay swims reinforced the team-first identity that has helped Mountain Club keep its place at the top of New Mexico swimming. Younger swimmers also added to the picture of growth. Kevin Zou, Elizabet Wang and Nathan Gellis earned New Mexico state qualifying times, giving the club another set of names to watch as the season moves forward.
That kind of continuity matters in a county like Los Alamos, where youth sports often depend on long-term coaching, family support and volunteers who keep meets functioning. Mountain Club’s 2025 Spring Finale title, won with 1,445 points and 42 swimmers, now reads as a step in a longer climb rather than a peak. This year’s roster expanded that base, and a separate meet-results database listed the club with 49 swimmers and 264 total events at the same Spring Finale, underscoring the breadth of the program.
The club’s competitive reach also extends beyond the lanes. Volunteers Laura Leitner, Yaping Huang, Isabel Cuesta, Michelle Certik, Jacob Robinson, Fan Guo and Tim Waters were recognized for their work, and William Dai earned certification as an N2 referee, N2 starter and N3 stroke and turn judge. In a sport that relies on trained officials as much as fast starts and strong turns, that is its own kind of victory. Swim Standards lists Mountain Club with about 70 competitive swimmers, including 31 girls and 39 boys, a sign that the program’s footprint in Los Alamos is growing as fast as its medal count.
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