Joe Warnagiris wanted more.
Although he became the first Frederick County swimmer to bring home a state title the season prior, Warnagiris wasn’t satisfied — he wanted to be etched in the record books.
And at March’s Class 4 state meet, the James Wood High School senior delivered.
Leading the area in six events and finishing his high school swimming career with four state titles, two of which he earned this season, Warnagiris is The Winchester Star’s Boys’ Swimmer of the Year for the third consecutive spring. It marks the fourth straight year a Warnagiris has won the award — Joe’s older brother, Paul, won the award in 2022. Warnagiris’ sister, Kimberly, also won Girls’ Swimmer of the Year in 2018 and 2019.
With those bloodlines, it’s no surprise that Warnagiris set out on a mission entering his senior campaign at James Wood to set a Class 4 record in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Warnagiris lived up to his own expectations in March, swimming the event in 55.48 seconds to win his fourth state title. That time broke the previous 100 breaststroke record held by former Atlee swimmer Brock Rempe, who swam the event in 55.59 in 2022.
“I’m proud of myself,” Warnagiris said. “I’m still kind of in shock over it because it’s a pretty big deal. Virginia has a lot of swimmers, and to be the fastest in Class 4 to ever swim that event is just something that is crazy to think about.”
Warnagiris said breaking the breaststroke record was a goal he set back at the beginning of the school year.
“Back in the fall, I looked at the results from last year’s state meet, and I saw on the sheet with the results it said the Class [4] record,” Warnagiris said. “And I’m like, ‘That time seems pretty attainable for me,’ because my best time was less than a second away from it.”
Warnagiris’ 100 breaststroke performance at the state meet came about an hour after he earned his third state title in two years by winning the 200 IM in 1:49.61.
The University of Missouri commit swam the first leg of the 200 IM in 23.56 and the second leg in 27.46, gaining over a two-second advantage over the next fastest swimmer midway through the race. When it was all said and done, Warnagiris finished the race just over four seconds quicker than any other swimmer. He also swam the final event nearly 3.5 seconds faster than his time in prelims (1:53.08).
Warnagiris led the area in six events: the 50 free (21.98), 500 free (4:41.05), 100 back (53.34), 100 fly (52.66), 100 breast and 200 IM.
Beyond his individual accomplishments, the 17-year-old Warnagiris was proud of how the nine-person Wood boys’ team competed throughout the season. The Colonels finished 10th out of 28 scoring teams at states with just five swimmers competing.
The journey to be the top swimmer on the Colonels’ roster began when Warnagiris first started swimming with Winchester Swim Team at 5 years old.
Wood coach Jessica Barr, who also coaches with WST, has been along for roughly the last 10 years of that journey.
“Joe was very young when I joined the team, so to kind of be able to watch him grow up and work through the year-round swim team process basically his entire career, it’s definitely been special to me,” Barr said.
One of the many things that impressed Barr about Warnagiris is his knowledge of the sport and ability to adjust without much coaching.
“He’s just one of those athletes who [is] so self-driven, and he knows exactly what he needs to do to meet his goals,” Barr said.
A key to Warnagiris’ success is having the right mindset.
“I think it’s really big and important to focus on your mentality and make sure you have the attitude that you want to get better,” Warnagiris said. “Because just being there is a good thing, but it’s not going to help you get to where you want to be.”
Warnagiris added that his ultra-competitive mentality kicked in a few years ago when he began to take competitive swimming more seriously.
“When you see progress at meets, and you drop a bunch of time, it just makes you hungry for more, and you just want to keep getting better,” he said.
Warnagiris said he doesn’t have much time for activities other than swimming, but swimming thousands of laps over the years has given him discipline in every avenue of his life.
“I try to do everything efficiently, and I try to do everything right,” Warnagiris said. “Like, if you’re going to do it, you might as well do it right. That transfers to my schoolwork. I miss a lot of school for some meets that I go to, and I try to just stay on top of all my work and get everything done on time efficiently. I don’t like to waste time. I try to get as much done as quickly as I can.”
Although the final chapter of his high school swimming career with James Wood came to a close in March, it didn’t take long for Warnagiris to reach another career milestone.
Representing WST at the National Club Swimming Association’s Spring Championship held in Orlando, Fla., a few weeks after the Class 4 meet, Warnagiris placed sixth in the 200 IM in 1:48.88 — almost a second faster than his state meet time — to qualify for 2025 AP Race International Competition held in London in May.
Although only the top two finishers in each event qualified for the London trip, those who placed in front of Warnagiris were either already selected for the trip in a different event or opted not to go. That allowed Warnagiris to hitch a ride to London.
Warnagiris said it’s going to be an honor to swim on the international stage in what will be his first trip across the pond.
“I knew the chance wasn’t too great that I was going to get selected, but now that I am selected, I’m just super happy,” Warnagiris said. “It’s something that I couldn’t have imagined doing this early in my swim career.”
Warnagiris’ primary event in London will be the 200 IM, but he will be allowed to swim in other events, he said.
The soon-to-be James Wood graduate is set to take a gap year before swimming on scholarship at the University of Missouri in fall 2026.
Out of the six schools Warnagiris visited, Missouri was the one that caught his eye.
“None of the other ones really felt the same as Missouri,” Warnagiris said. “The coaches and the team were super welcoming. They have a lot of great facilities there. Their team culture was super close and super tight-knit.”
Warnagiris may love the individual competition in the pool, but when he reflected on his time with the James Wood swim team, his performance in races isn’t what stood out.
“The records and all that isn’t really what I got out of it,” he said. “It’s more the experiences of the team and being able to work together in practices and at meets and on bus rides. Just enjoying each other’s company and pushing each other, that’s really what I got out of it.”
— Contact Justin Robertson at jrobertson@winchesterstar.com
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