Hall of Fame
Margaret Hoehl ’99 was one of the most dominant swimmers in the history of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
A four-year letterwinner and a team captain as a senior, she helped lead Washington and Lee to four ODAC Championships while being named First Team All-ODAC every season. She was also tabbed as the ODAC and Atlantic States Swimmer of the Year following her junior and senior campaigns, when she also earned the team’s Outstanding Women’s Swimming Award.
As a first-year swimmer, claimed the conference title in the 500 free-style As a sophomore, she repeated as the 500 freestyle champion, adding conference titles in the 200 freestyle and the 200 backstroke. Hoehl also swam the ODAC’s top times in the 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyle events, along with the best marks in the 100 and 200 backstroke events as well.
Hoehl added conference titles in the 400 individual medley and the 500 and 1650 freestyle events during her junior campaign, setting a school record in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:46.41.
Her senior campaign was among the best ever compiled by a W&L swimmer. She set the conference’s top time in 10 of the 14 events, winning the league championship in the 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle and the 1650 freestyle, establishing a new ODAC record and ODAC Championship meet record in all three events. She also swam on the winning 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle and 800 freestyle relay teams. Her dominant championship was celebrated in the March 1, 1999 edition of Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd.
During the course of her final season, Hoehl set additional school records in the 200 freestyle (1:57.36), the 500 freestyle (5:03.57), the 1000 freestyle (10:38.77) and the 1650 freestyle (17:35.21). Each of those records stood for at least 10 years before being broken.
Hoehl qualified for the 1999 NCAA Division III Championship, cap-ping her outstanding career by finishing 10th in the 500 freestyle and 11th in the 1650 freestyle to earn Honorable Mention All-America accolades in both events.
