By doug mckenzie
Staff Writer
East Brunswick High School head swimming coach Charlie Ginex warns against putting too much stock into tonight’s boys’ meet against top-ranked St. Joseph’s of Metuchen.
After all, St. Joe’s is the best the state has to offer, and is coming off an impressive victory over the weekend at a meet in Long Island featuring 26 of the top teams in the tristate area, including Christian Brothers Academy, Middletown, the only team to beat St. Joe’s this year.
"To be honest, we’re not going to beat them," Ginex said. "They’re the best team in the state, by far. Their loss to CBA came when two of their top swimmers were ineligible after transferring from Scotch Plains.
"To say they’re loaded is an understatement. Their fifth- and sixth-best kids would be stand-outs on most teams."
But Ginex is excited about watching his team compete against St. Joe’s tonight nonetheless.
"They’re great kids over there," he said. "They don’t gloat, they’re not cocky. They just get the job done. It can only help our guys to compete against them. I don’t know how lopsided it’s going to be; I just want them to swim their best, and we’ll see what happens.
"The guys are looking forward to facing them. A lot of them know each other from swimming over the summer, so it should be a friendly rivalry. There’s going to be some really fast swimming. I can’t wait to watch."
But the second-year coach has bigger meets on his mind, like next weekend’s Greater Middlesex Conference Championships at North Brunswick. Like a good coach should, Ginex is preparing his swimmers for that meet, and is hoping to use tonight’s meet with St. Joe’s as a springboard.
"Other than St. Joe’s, there isn’t anybody in the GMC that we can’t compete with," he said. "We lost to Bridgewater by six points, but there were a lot of close races. A lot of our kids were touched out at the wall that day.
"And then against Hillsborough we lost by 22 points," he added. "Scoring in swimming is tricky sometimes, because it can be a close meet, and the score may not be indicative of that. That’s kind of what happened that day. Things just went their way that day."
Ginex’s boys are 7-3 in dual meets thus far, coming off a year when they made their first-ever appearance in the Central Jersey finals, where they bowed out to Bridgewater. They also finished third in the GMC, which is something Ginex thinks his team can improve on this time around.
"If we swim to our ability, I think we should take second place," he said. "That’s what we’re shooting for."
The Bears are led by a mix of youth and experience. Senior Kyle King is the squad’s top swimmer, having qualified for the Meet of Champions already in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and the 200 freestyle, though he will have to choose which two he wants to compete in at the MOC. King also swam the fourth-best time in the state in the 50 free.
The Bears will also be sending their 200-freestyle relay team to the MOC, after they placed seventh in the state last year. The relay team consists of seniors Mark Rynone and Joel Maietta, and sophomores Ryan Martinetti and Tom Nawrot. Maietta, who also competes in the individual medley and the breaststroke, is the only new member to the relay team this year, replacing Martinetti’s older brother, Chris, who is currently swimming at Towson State University.
Ginex also is impressed with Nawrot in the backstroke.
"He’s already swam under one minute in the 100 back, and I’m expecting some really big things from him the next two years," he said.
Looking beyond the GMC meet next weekend, Ginex is expecting his team to swim well in the state playoffs. The Bears will compete in the Central Jersey A tournament.
"There are a lot of teams, like West Windsor South, Hillsborough and Bridgewater, that are kind of the same caliber as we are," he said. "It will really come down to what happens that day."
And beyond this season, the coach is confident that the boys’ team will continue to excel with some fresh faces replacing its current top guys.
"We’re losing six seniors, which is going to hurt, but we have no juniors," he said. "We have nine sophomores and six freshman, and they are all tremendously improved from last year to this point. We won’t rebuild as much as we’ll reload. I don’t expect a letdown."
Meanwhile, Ginex is equally excited about the progress of his girls’ team.
"The girls are 6-6 and have kind of gone through a tough run recently," he said. "But the way the schedule’s done, they’ve had to swim against a lot of dominant teams just because our boys need the competition. They’re really better than the record indicates, and more importantly, they’re young."
Coming off a year when the girls finished fourth in the GMC, Ginex is confident that the Bears will qualify for the states this year.
"It goes by power points, so we should make it this time," he said. "It will be nice because we haven’t been there in years."
The girls are led by junior Chrissy LeBlon, who competes in the 50 and 100 freestyle.
"She had mono all fall and has come back strong and is having a great year," Ginex said. "She has already qualified for the MOC in the 50 free, and is the anchor for all of our relays. If she’s close to someone, you’re confident that she’ll bring it home."
Senior Chelsea Carson swims the breaststroke and IM for the Bears, and is a consistent scorer in those events.
"She takes second and third all the time," Ginex said. "I really applaud how hard she works. She understands her role on the team and is a great leader."
Senior captain Lisa Nelson swims the backstroke and is the team’s utility freestyle swimmer.
"She gets moved around quite a bit," Ginex said.
The Bears also feature a pair of freshman standouts, including Kavitha Krishnamoorthy, who has only lost once all year in the backstroke, and also competes in the 500 freestyle.
"She insists on swimming the 500 free, even though there’s only one event in between the two," Ginex said. "She gets not rest in between, which is pretty remarkable. She’s having a great year, and should bring home two medals at the GMC, and will probably qualify for the MOC next year."
Stefanie Dunn is the other freshman phenom, having lost only twice all year in the 100 butterfly.
"Our best butterfly swimmer graduated last year, and Stefanie filled her shoes from the start, as tough as that is to do."
Looking ahead to the GMC meet, Ginex is confident that his girls will be competitive.
"It’s a tossup really between the top five teams," he said. "Bishop Ahr is strong, Metuchen is extremely strong, North Brunswick has a fabulous team, and Piscataway is better than usual. We should win some events.
"It’s much different than a dual meet, so it should be interesting. I could give you five different ways I think it could finish, and I don’t think any would be right."
But Ginex is looking beyond this season with his group of girls, and is optimistic that the future is extremely bright.
"We’re taking baby steps right now," he said. "We’re losing three seniors, and we have only three juniors. But we have 12 freshman and seven sophomores.
"I keep telling them, ‘Hang tough against these tough teams you’re facing. You can’t get discouraged. You have three years to catch up.’
"I expect a big turnaround with this team. We’ll be up there with the best teams over the next few years."