Julie O'Brien

Julie O’Brien swam 4 years for Damascus High School. She was undefeated in dual meets. She held as many as 5 DHS individual records at one time. Some of her records were held for more than 15 years.

She was the first swimmer from DHS to be selected first team All Met in the Washington Post. She won the 200 Individual Medley and captured second in the 500 Freestyle event at the Metro Championship Swim meet. Julie was captain of the swim team, MVP 3 years running, a repeat All-American Scholar Athlete and All-American USA Swimmer. She was also selected as All-County and All-Gazette first team.

Besides swimming for Damascus High School, Julie also competed in USAA Swimming while attending DHS. She competed nationally and internationally. Nationally, she was on the 2nd place team for US Senior Nationals for Open Water. She was the high point winner of the prestigious Tom Dolan Meet. She qualified to swim at Senior Nationals.

Internationally, Julie competed in the European Swimming Championship as a freshman. During her sophomore and junior years she competed in the prestigious CIJ Luxembourg meet. This meet was one of the top European level swimming competitions for swimmers under 20 years of age. She won a gold, two silvers and a bronze. She accepted a scholarship to the University of Maryland. Her freshman year, the Women’s Swim Team was ranked in the top ten in NCAA and won the Atlantic Coast Conference title.

After graduating from college, Julie continued her passion for swimming by coaching. She coached for more than 10 years at top swimming programs around the country including Florida, Texas and California. She coached at the prestigious Bolles School where she coached several Olympians, including gold medalist Caleb Dressel. Julie is now working to help students that are at risk to harm themselves or others.