Winter Sports Preview: Swimming

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Junior Marissa Lane, who helped the team earn a win by finishing second in the 220 meter individual medley and third in both the 100 meter butterfly and 200 meter freestyle, comes up for air.

BY ANGEL CHIARAVALLO  

            The experienced boys team and the underclassmen-heavy girls team expect to build on their success in GMC’s last year and have better seasons this year. 

            The boys’ team finished with a 1-6 record, while the girls finished 1-5, their first losing record in five years. “I’m expecting that the entire team (boys and girls) will end with a better record than the previous season and will once again be contenders for the GMCs,” said Marissa Lane. 

            The girls team lost sixteen members from last year’s team. “I think it’s going to be a really different year because a lot of our seniors have graduated,” said Madelyn Hopkins. “I’m going in with positive expectations though.” 

            The new members joining the team have given the girls high hopes for this year. “After seeing so many people show up to the first practice, I feel like we can finally say we are in the rebuild phase of this team and I am very proud to be a part of it,” said Lane.  

Sophomore Elizabeth Tchia, who racked up six second-place finishes as a freshman, swims the 400 meter freestyle, her best event.

            The boys team lost four members from last year’s roster.  However, they have new people joining to help with this loss. “This year we have a ton more young talent and a stronger roster with everyone at a pretty high and similar skill level,” said Jacob Piotrowski 

            “While we lost some really good seniors, we got some really good freshmen joining this year, and a good amount at that,” said Thomas Fulton. Having enough swimmers has posed an issue that has made winning difficult in the past. 

            Members of the team have high hopes for their teammates. “I can see Mohamed Elmokadem having a big year because of all the work I see him putting in with club practice as well,” said Piotrowski. 

Sophomore Jake Babst, who finished third in the 100 meter butterfly race in the team’s win over Sayreville last year, swims the butterfly.

            The boys team hopes to score even higher than they did last season when they finished sixth out of 16 teams at the GMC tournament. “My expectations would be the same if not better placement at GMC’s this year,” said Fulton.  

            The swim team starts the season with an away meet at 5:30 on Tuesday, December 19 against JP Stevens. They compete in their first home meet on Friday, January 5 against East Brunswick at the Old Bridge YMCA. 

Posted on 12/14/23

Photos by Lors Photography