Although most sports enthusiasts don’t associate “going for a dip” with the chilly winter months, the boys from four area schools are currently gearing up for yet another season of competitive swimming. And this year, there’s a ton of talent in the water. Here’s a sneak peek.
Arlington
Ron Terwilliger, the boys varsity swim coach at Arlington since 2001, likes the way his team looks so far, especially following a 2-and-a-half point victory against Valley Central last Friday in the Admirals’ season opener.
“We’re looking at equaling or bettering last year’s record,” said Terwilliger, whose squad finished last season with a 6-4 record in dual meets. “We’ve got eight new freshmen and we’re still trying to figure out what they can do. But we’ve also got quite a few seasoned veterans. The combination of those two aspects should allow us to have a good team.”
Terwilliger said that despite the inherently individual nature of the sport, he already sees a team dynamic developing.
“It is an individual sport,” he said. “There’s nobody to pass the ball to or rely upon. But the relays get everybody going. So there is a sense of team camaraderie. At our meet (against Valley Central), the guys were getting into it, cheering everybody else on.”
Terwilliger points to rivalry matches against teams like Ketcham and John Jay as important to his team’s success this year. He said he’s also looking forward to today’s Dutchess Relay Carnival at Poughkeepsie Middle School.
“It’s a fun way to kick off the season,” he said of the non-sanctioned event that will also feature Beacon, FDR, Lourdes, Poughkeepsie and Wappingers.
Some of the individuals Terwilliger hopes will qualify for late-season sectionals include senior diver Kyle Molloy (currently ranked No. 1 in New York State), senior Carl MacMahon (backstroke, freestyle), sophomores Ryan Walsh (butterfly, freestyle), Peter Padilla (backstroke, freestyle) and Ryan Hoang (individual medley, butterfly) and freshmen Kevin Walsh (breaststroke, individual medley), Harrison Volaski (backstroke, butterfly), Brian DiSalvo (butterfly, freestyle, breaststroke) and Lucas Amodio (all events).
“There’s an expression I use: just because you don’t win, doesn’t mean you weren’t successful,” said Terwilliger. “My guys could swim a personal best and still only finish fourth or fifth. It doesn’t mean they’re losers. They did the best they could.”
FDR/Highland
Brian Berg, third-year head coach of the FDR/Highland team, is proud of his team’s accomplishments last season despite a mediocre 5-7 record in dual meets.
“We finished first in the Dutchess Relay Carnival, second at the Wappingers Invitational and third at the Section IX Championships,” he said. “We also had two divers qualify for the New York State Championships. This is going to be somewhat of a rebuilding year. Our top diver and sprinter are back. Other than that we have a lot of depth and some important role players back. But almost half the roster is new. So we’ll do the best we can.”
In order to equal last season’s level of success, Berg will need a big effort from senior diver Scott Duncan. “He could vie for the top position in Section IX diving,” said the coach.
Berg will also rely heavily on his best sprinter, senior Eric Schollmeyer (freestyle, butterfly). The versatile Ryan Seagren (freestyle, backstroke), senior middle-distance freestyler Will Wager and sophomore breaststroker Mike Meck – who Berg calls “possibly my top swimmer” – will also play big roles for the team in 2007-2008.
“The end of the season is a bit more individually-focused,” said Berg, “but we really try to put an emphasis in the early season on competing as a team. We’re going to have to learn how to compete together.”
FDR/Highland opens its season on Dec. 10 against Middletown.
Ketcham/John Jay
Mark Piggott has been the coach of the boys varsity team for Ketcham/John Jay for 21 years. So he’s certainly used to seeing players come and go.
“We lost a couple of quality kids,” said Piggott, whose team finished last season at 10-4 in dual meets. “But we have a strong core of returners as well.”
Those returners include Ketcham seniors Geoff Bass (100-yard butterfly, 100-yard backstroke) and Kris Manz (distance freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke), Ketcham junior Neil Crowley (200-yard individual medley, 500-yard freestyle), Ketcham sophomores Anthony and Dominic Buono (freestyle, backstroke) and John Jay junior Charlie Dale (50 and 100-yard freestyle). John Jay freshmen Anthony Rodriguez (200-yard individual medley), Kairat Francis (200 and 500-yard freestyle), Peter Hajosch (100-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke), Tom Birmingham (200 and 500-yard freestyle) and Jeff Hong (freestyle and breaststroke) along with Ketcham freshman Brad Thomas (freestyle and butterfly) are among the key new swimmers for the squad.
“Each year I try to raise the bar a bit,” said Piggott. “We were second in our league last year and we’re trying to win it this year. I think we have a good shot at it. And I always like to qualify as many swimmers as I can for the sectional championships.”
Last year, Piggott’s squad had one swimmer qualify for the state meet: Mark Anderson in the 100-yard freestyle and the 100-yard backstroke.
Piggott added that his team faces a big challenge since it doesn’t have its own pool in which to practice.
“We can’t practice as much,” he said. “We have to have a special brand of athlete who knows they have to travel off-site and will get home later than the other sports’ athletes do. But we expect them to work hard. The boys realize when they go out for swim team that I have high expectations. That’s one of the good things about coaching for so many years.”
The Ketcham/John Jay team opened up its schedule this past Tuesday with a 10-point loss to Arlington.
Poughkeepsie
First year coach Ken Hartling is optimistic about the upcoming season for his Pioneers.
“We lost three seniors from last year, two of whom went on to swim in college,” he said. “But we have five seniors on this year’s team. We’re very mature and have a great work ethic. There are 16 on the roster now and we’re fairly deep in all events. We should give it a pretty good run for the league (title).”
Harltling’s Poughkeepsie team, which opens up its season at the Dutchess Relay Carnival today at Poughkeepsie Middle School, appears to have a good mix of youth and veterans as it heads into the 2007-2008 campaign.
“If we go out and swim the best we can, we should be OK,” said Hartling. “That’s how I’ll judge the team.”
The swimmers Hartling is counting on include seniors Evan Chamberas (500-yard freestyle, butterfly), Adam DiCaprio (freestyle), Mike Sussen (breaststroke) and Alex Harmuth (all events), junior Joey MacElveen (all events) and freshmen Danny MacElveen (all events) and Matt Ryan (butterfly and freestyle).
“Everybody pulls for one another,” said Hartling. “We’ve been practicing for three weeks and I’m very excited to get going. The whole team works hard and there’s a lot of good senior leadership. We’re close as a team and we’re together every day. I always tell them how important it is to have good practice.”