By: Justin Feil
Being a part of the Princeton High boys’ swim team has become a bit more than what Cranbury’s Devin White originally thought it would be.
"My original impression is that high school (swimming) is a little bit of a joke," the PHS freshman said. "But it’s been a lot of fun."
Though he’s a talented year-round swimmer for Peddie Aquatics, White knew that his chances of making much of an impression with the Little Tigers weren’t that good. PHS returns all but one major point scorer from last year’s state finalist team.
"Last year, I looked in the newspaper and I saw they did really well," White said. "Then I heard that I was going to be the No. 2 guy in the fly. I was surprised. I just try to do my best.
"It’s going really well. I’ve been behind Yoshi (Deligne), who isn’t a club swimmer. It shows how hard he works. After races, he can barely get out of the pool."
Deligne won the 100 butterfly and White was third in a new season best as the Little Tigers went 1-3-5 against West Windsor-Plainsboro High South on Tuesday. White was also fifth in the 200 individual medley in a season best, part of the third-place 200 free relay and swam the fly leg for the 200 medley relay as PHS topped the Pirates, 100-70, at The Bubble. The Pirate girls defeated PHS, 109-61.
White gives the Little Tigers another experienced swimmer, someone who might be more important in picking up big points if PHS returns to the states again, even if that’s a difficult proposition in some events.
"Our 200 IM is three club swimmers," White said. "It is tough to contribute there."
Swimming for PHS has given White something new for his club team. It’s shifted some of his focus to a new event, and it’s helped make his commitment to PHS’ team more important.
"I did mostly freestyle (for Peddie)," the 14-year-old said. "It’s good that I got thrown into the butterfly. Now I have something to focus on."
And White has set a personal goal of breaking one minute in the fly this season to motivate himself. In doing so, he shows as much commitment to the PHS team as a veteran, and Greg Hand is thrilled to see a freshman aiming so high.
"That’s terrific," said the PHS head coach. "That’s a real reach for him, but not out of reach. It’s nice to hear him set something that ambitious."
In just the fourth dual meet of the season for the Little Tigers, White has already shown significant improvement. He set two personal bests Tuesday. His 2:23.8 in the 200 IM was almost three seconds faster than he’d gone before this season. And he finished the 100 fly in 1:03.64.
"He’s a great addition," Hand said. "He’s always trying to pick up something from one of the veterans. He seems real happy to be a part of it. He has a very positive attitude, and every race he gives 100 percent."
White didn’t have any difficulty performing in what was PHS’ most difficult meet yet this season. Both the Pirates and his Little Tigers were unbeaten before Tuesday’s showdown.
"Mr. Hand got us excited for this meet," White said. "We lost a pretty crucial guy and we knew it was going to be pretty close."
As it turned out, however, the Little Tigers, with strong first-place finishers as well as the key fifth-place finishers, pulled out the victory handily.
"Their boys’ team is better than I anticipated," said WW-PS head coach Paul Hamnett. "Their depth is better than I thought it’d be. I don’t think anyone in the CVC can touch them. They’ll be tough in states too."
"It really was a close meet," Hand said. "We expected every race to be hard-fought and they were. I’m really pleased with the win. They were really solid mentally coming into the meet. They focused very well. They weren’t distracted, they weren’t worrying about their times or the score."
On the girls’ side, it was the Pirates that appeared focused in remaining unbeaten. WW-PS’ depth was too much for the Little Tigers.
"They swam really well," Hamnett said of his Pirate girls. "We had girls swim three or four events they hadn’t swum in a while. We need some of our better girls to start getting ready to swim a lot for the end of the year."
"They’re a wonderful team," Hand agreed. "They have very talented swimmers and terrific depth. It’ll be great to see how far they go this year. The matchup I’ll be interested in learning about is them against Hopewell. They’re exciting to watch and a great group of kids."
Both the WW-PS girls and the PHS boys appear primed for the same sort of seasons they enjoyed last year when both were county champions. Come county time, White would like to be a couple seconds faster and thinks he could be a bigger contributor not just at this year’s counties, but in future seasons.
"I’m really excited to be on the team," White said. "My U.S.S coach originally said that I should try high school for my freshman year and then concentrate on U.S.S. But I really like it. I think there’s a lot more technique work. There’s not as much yardage, but we do a lot of stuff with the team. Next year should be really fun."
Next year wasn’t a thought for Devin White originally. But being a part of the PHS boys’ swim team has meant a lot more than he expected.
FINISH LINES: Cranbury’s Mark Fisher won thet 200 free (1:51.76) and 500 free (5:00.89) in the WW-P South meet. For the girls, Cranbury’s Maddy Carroll won the 100 breast (1:13.98) and was second in the 200 free.

