WWP-S forgoes Pirate glory for better results

Pirates finish 11th at own invitational

By: Justin Feil
   Paul Hamnett will value more what the West Windsor-Plainsboro High South boys’ swim team does in the coming weeks than what it showed in Saturday’s Boys Pirate Invitational.
   "Some guys expected to do better than they did," said the WW-PS head coach after his team finished 11th out of 12 teams. "But because of all the work they did, I didn’t expect them to go faster right away. I truthfully did not expect them to go faster at all yet.
   "But if they keep up the work ethic that improved recently, I think eventually it will pay off. They have to continue to work though. One week of hard work doesn’t pay off at the end."
   WW-PS has been busy with its most rigorous training schedule yet. Nine boys and 15 girls traveled to Orlando from Dec. 26 to 31, and there they trained for two hours in the morning, visited the amusement park in the daytime, then trained for another two hours at night.
   "For the guys who went," Hamnett said, "practice was very intense. It’s really going to help at the end of the year. A lot of our better point-scoring guys went. More of the juniors and seniors were there.
   "It’s the first time I’ve done it as a coach. I did it as a swimmer in college. It helps. And this (Pirate Invitational) meet, it helps them as well."
   Hamnett sees the Pirate as being most valuable because of the high-level of competition and the similarities to the county meet.
   "This basically lets me know where the guys are at in terms of conditioning and speed," Hamnett said. "It gives me an idea of what to expect by the end of the year. It’s good for the guys because they see that counties format. That’s the biggest asset."
   Eric Wembacher was the highest area finisher. The WW-PS senior tied for fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke. West Windsor-Plainsboro High North’s Chris Berg finished eighth in the 200 and 500 freestyle events as the Knights finished 12th against some of the toughest competition around.
   "It’s been primarily the same teams every year," Hamnett said. "It’s teams like Greenwich from Connecticut and some of the teams from North Jersey like St. Joe’s (Metuchen). Not every team comes back every year, but we try to get a dozen teams and it’s really good competition.
   "We had some good swims," he added. "Quentin Walsh took two seconds off his 200 free time. The trip hurt the sprinters the most. Dan Le had some good swims in the breast and IM and missed out of the finals by less than a tenth of a second in both."
   WW-PS hosts Hamilton 3:45 p.m. today and swims at Trenton in a co-ed meet 3:45 p.m. Thursday before squaring off with Colonial Valley Conference power and defending county champion Princeton High.
   Hamnett is hoping to see his Pirate boys build on their difficult week of training that was topped off by a highly competitive meet.
   "It was a very humbling meet," he said. "We started off (the season) very well. That situation, where you’re swimming against some of the best teams in the state and from other states, just shows you how big the pond is. Hopefully they see they have to keep training harder. Hopefully it motivates them."
   He’ll be keeping a close eye on how the Pirates react to Saturday’s competition and if they’re able to build on the training base they established over the winter break.
   "This week will be when I can tell which way they’re going," Hamnett said. "They’re either going to keep up their training and work harder or they’ll go back. This is the week where I hope they step up and keep up their better practice habits."
   And this push as the Pirates near the mid-season point could be the deciding factor in the last yards of the Mercer County Championships.
   "That," Hamnett said, "is the hope."