Marty Gordon
Two of the area’s top swimmers have announced plans to take their talent to the collegiate level.
Evie Grim and Trent Hollandsworth from Radford High School signed their National Letters of Intent this past week in the school’s gymnasium.
Hollandsworth will swim at University of California San Diego. Grim will swim at University of Maryland Baltimore County.
Both are defending state champions and will lead their school into the postseason with a lot of optimism.
Hollandsworth crushed his own Class 1/2 record last season in the 100 breast stroke by more than two seconds to highlight the VHSL Championships. He defended his state titles in both the 100 breast (55.91) and 200 IM (1:55.94), making it a three-peat in the latter event. In the 100 breast, he annihilated his own Class 1/2 record of 58.43 from last year. Hollandsworth has been as fast as 54.97 in the 100 breast and 1:05.94 in the 100 fly, both in December. He added a personal-best 50 back (24.38) leading off Radford’s runner-up 200 medley relay (1:49.50).
Trent competed on behalf of Radford High School and broke his own state record twice on Saturday. He swam a Class 2 record time of 58.57 in the 100 breast stroke during the morning preliminaries before conquering the evening finals with a winning time of 58.43 at the VHSL Class 1 and 2 swimming championships. Hollandsworth also won the 200 individual medley.
Grim led the Radford High School girls’ team to a runner up state finish and also gained a win by .04 seconds in the 50 free with a winning time of 24.44. Grim also won the 100 free with a time of 53.27.
Hollandsworth who competed at this past weekend’s USA Winter Junior Nationals chose
UCSD because of its breathtaking location, amazing coach and support staff, the familial nature of the team, and incredible academics. “I knew that I wanted a college that offered both amazing academics and a competitive team culture,” he said. “I hope to break the team records for breaststroke and make it to NCAA’s during my collegiate career.”
He is a 2022-2023, 2023-2024 USA Swimming Scholastic All-American, 2023-2024 National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA) Honorable Mention All-American, (2023, 2024) Winter Junior National Finalist, 2024 USA Swimming U.S. Open Qualifier, and 2022 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards National Gold Medal (for his artwork).
Grim expressed her choice as being home. “Everyone I met was incredibly welcoming and I immediately connected with the team and coaches. UMBC sits right next to both Baltimore and Washington DC, and that creates an extra level of excitement as those areas are completely different from Radford,” she said.
Grim also has a long-term goal that could the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Grim plans on majoring in Biology and minoring in Spanish. After college I am planning to continue my education in medical school. Hollandsworth will major in either Human Biology or Microbiology with the intent to pursue medical school after his undergraduate degree.