GIRLS SWIMMING: A third-place finish at this year’s GMC Championships may only be the beginning of what the Vikings have to offer.
By: Carolyn M. Hartko
The South Brunswick High School girl’s swim team has a lot in common with a rising sun. Like a bright dawn, the two-year old girls’ squad gave off a lot of heat this year, but it’s nothing compared to what’s coming at mid-day.
The Lady Vikings bypassed several established programs to finish third at this year’s Greater Middlesex Conference Championships, capping the day with a set of silver medals in the final event, the 4×400 relay. That is the highest finish for a SBHS swim team, and the first silver medals in a relay for the Vikings.
"I think we ended up really gaining some respect in the conference this year on the girls’ side," Viking head coach John Harding said. "Last year we turned a few heads with a few good races, and a few relays. But this year, people were saying, ‘Wow! South Brunswick kind of came out of nowhere.’
"Both our ‘A’ and ‘B’ relay teams scoring points made a big difference, and that’s the reason we were able to overcome a team like Metuchen. They might have had a couple more individuals that were stronger, but our depth made up for it. We were able to rack up more points."
The girls prepared for the GMC’s by putting together a solid dual meet season. In only their second year as a separate team, the Lady Vikings finished up 5-7, with two losses that were decided in the final race. With a bit of luck, they could have easily ended up 7-5. One of those dual meet victories was a memorable one for senior co-captain Kelly O’Toole.
"For the team, I think one of the more exciting meets was the one against East Brunswick," O’Toole said. "We had never beaten them before, and this year we did it, and it was pretty exciting."
One indication of the overall improvement of the female swimmers is that the 2000-2001 squad broke nine out of 11 school records over the course of the season. Most of the individual marks (200 IM, 100 breaststroke, 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 500 free) were set (or reset) this winter by O’Toole. The remaining individual records are held by junior Rachel O’Holla. The team of O’Toole, O’Holla, and juniors Jen Pizzo and Carin Muchanic own all three school relay records.
"A lot of those times are getting to the point where they’re pretty respectable records," Harding said. "There were a lot of milestones as far as hitting that next level this year, especially with Kelly and Rachel really pushing each other."
Some of the milestones Harding referred to included Rachel O’Holla being the first SB girl to break the one minute mark in the 100 freestyle, and also the first female Viking to go under 27 seconds in the 50 free. It was equally important when O’Toole went under six minutes in the 500 free.
It was impossible for Harding to overstate the importance of depth to the girls’ team this year. In addition to the team leaders like O’Toole and O’Holla, several girls moved up into the second tier, and were consistent scorers during dual meets. Senior co-captain Alisa Santowasso (freestyle), junior freestyler Maria Petrov, and sophomore freestylers Danielle Eige and Jackie Miller are among that group.
Harding was also pleased to have some talented freshmen who were able to step in and contribute from the beginning, like Jennifer Kamm who took a sixth place medal in the 500 free at the GMC’s.
The Lady Vikings are losing four seniors in June, and two (O’Toole and Larissa Luca) have been with the program for all four years. Santowasso and Erika Nothstein are third-year swimmers.
"This is going to be a real tough one to swallow for me because this is the first group that has been with me the whole time," Harding said. "This is the first time I’m saying good-bye to kids that have been around since the start. I’m going to miss this group the most."
Santowasso’s first choice of schools for next year is the University of Delaware, a Division I school, so she doesn’t expect to continue her swimming career. But memories of swimming for SBHS will go with her to college.
"Overall, I’m really proud of how the girls pulled through, and worked together," Santowasso said. "They’re all great people. They were a lot of fun to be with. Swimming was something I loved doing because of the people on my team, and because of the coach. I’ve done other sports and I never enjoyed them as much as swimming. It didn’t at all seem like work."
O’Toole has already been accepted to Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts, but she’s going to wait and see how tough her classes are before she makes a decision about going out for collegiate swimming. That’s the kind of discipline and decision making she learned from participating in high school sports.
"You have to dedicate your time to your sport, so it teaches you to be focused and work hard," O’Toole said. "I also learned how to be part of a team, and I got to meet more people that I probably wouldn’t have met, like some girls in different grades."
It will be difficult to replace the four seniors, but the Lady Vikings do have some good people coming back. In addition to the girls mentioned above, the team hopes to have junior Kelly Debow back after missing most of this year with an injury. Also returning will be junior Laura Kaminsky (‘fly), and sophomores Dhara Patel (IM/free) and Lindsey Rodriguez (free). Rounding out the 2000-2001 squad were freshmen Christina Tupe (‘fly/free) and freestylers Stephanie Haddad, Gabrielle Kachman, Jessica Mandel, Devanshi Patel, Alison Rossi and Jessica Stern.
"Overall, I was just so happy with the girls’ team this year," Harding said. "They did such a great job. They worked very hard from day one."
SPLASHES: Harding’s assistant coach this year was Lauren Sirr. A former competitive swimmer herself, Sirr now teaches at Greenbrook School in South Brunswick.