Swordfish — 597 lb (2020)
Species: Swordfish
Species reference image — not the record catch.
Confirmed against an official or primary source as of the date shown.
Upgraded from unverified during the Records hardening pass (2026-08-09): the official MRC PDF cited above still isn't machine-readable, but a directly accessible official VMRC HTML page — the 2021 'Agency News' archive — independently states the same weight, angler, hometown, and date in ordinary prose. That page, plus the current-records index and vbsf.net's contemporaneous report, now support 'verified.' The PDF citation is kept for completeness, not as the basis for this status.
Virginia Saltwater State Record
- Recognizing authority
- Virginia Marine Resources Commission
- Record program
- Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament
- Status
- Current
- Certification date
- 2020-09-25
- Predecessor record
- Swordfish — 466 lb (2019) — do not treat as current; see its own page for its status.
Official sources: Virginia Marine Resources Commission — State Record Swordfish Announcement PDF (2020) (the official record exists at this URL; the PDF's own text couldn't be machine-read during research); Virginia Marine Resources Commission — Agency News archive, 2021 (January 20, 2021 entry) (official VMRC HTML page (not a PDF) directly stating: a 597-pound swordfish, caught September 25, 2020 by Nicholas Kontodiakos of Norfolk, VA, was certified as the new Virginia State Record by the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament — matches weight, angler, hometown, and date); Virginia Marine Resources Commission — Saltwater Gamefish State Records (current index) (confirms swordfish's current record date of 09/25/2020)
Sources last checked 2026-08-09.
- Weight
- 597 lb
- Length
- 180 inches total length (111 inches lower-jaw fork length)
- Girth
- 69 inches
- Angler
- Nicholas Kontodiakos
- Catch date
- 2020-09-25
- Catch location
- Off Virginia Beach, along the southern edge of the Norfolk Canyon, in roughly 1,000 feet of water
A broad area or bearing description, as published by the source below. This is deliberately not shown as a map pin or precise location — the source itself doesn't state one. - Method / tackle
- Daytime deep-dropping
Hampton Roads connection
- Caught in or near Hampton Roads waters: Caught off Virginia Beach, along the Norfolk Canyon.
- Angler is a Hampton Roads resident: Angler resides in Norfolk, Virginia.
The official VMRC record announcement also exists as a PDF at the URL cited, which this project could not extract readable text from — that citation is preserved below. VMRC's own 'Agency News' archive page for 2021 independently states the same weight/angler/date/hometown in ordinary readable HTML, which is what moved this classification from unverified to verified during the Records hardening pass. The vbsf.net regional fishing-news report remains cited as further corroboration.
This page cites an existing official authority's own determination — it is not itself a certifying body. Always confirm current status directly with the authority linked above before relying on it, since records can be broken or updated at any time. How record certification works →