By Kate Fishbone ‘22, Sports Writer

After an almost undefeated season last year, the swim team came out with another bang this season. Since the win in the first scrimmage, they have continued to impress fans. The team looks to continue to be a force to be reckoned with in this coming season, and here’s why. 

The boys’ team is led by Luca Moretti ‘20, Kellen Wang ‘20, and Spencer Linenberg ‘20. The captains of the girls’ team are Taylor Hagen ‘20, Gabi Cantero-Exojo ‘20, and Danning Hu ‘20. All captains had exceptional seasons last year and look to lead the team to success this season.  

The team has grown this season to almost 40 swimmers with talent coming from all grades, especially the freshman class. Ranging from freshman Dina Drogin, to sophomores Sadie Kim and Ali Elmarsy, to junior Claire Ou, and senior Danning Hu, the team has a wide variety of talented swimmers, which could constitute a promising season. Elmasry ‘22 has even made it onto NJ.com’s list of the top 25 male swimmers to watch in New Jersey!

After starting off strong with the first home scrimmage against Montville, the team continues to win. They have swum against and defeated Caldwell, MKA, West Essex, and Millburn. Last year the boys faced a tough loss against Millburn after a hard meet. However, this season they sought revenge and defeated the rival Millers. 

The continued success this season is a true reflection of the team’s work ethic and camaraderie. Anika Verma ‘22 says, “I could tell from the first scrimmage that we were going to kill it. We have such a strong team this season and I am looking forward to swimming with my teammates and friends.” 

Coach Blomn shapes practices in a way that prepares the team in the best way possible for meets. He focuses on different aspects of swimming each day to maximize the strength of the team. Some days will consist of Texas 50’s, which are laps with extra turns, to work on turns. On other days, the team will do hypoxic drills to work on breathing. The team even does relays during practice to simulate the environment of meets. 

To ensure everyone’s confidence and comfort on the team, Coach Blomn makes sure everyone swims in at least one relay each meet. This truly connects the entire team, allowing them to rely on each other and work together for success.

The team will face challenging opponents in the upcoming weeks. From Columbia to Verona to Livingston to Montclair, the team will have to continue to work very hard in both the regular season and postseason. 

A 4-0 season so far brings hope for the rest of the season. The swim team looks to continue their successful season from last year and bring victory and promise to the future seasons and overall program.