By GEORGE ALBANO
Staff Writer
FARRAH MAFFAI Nob Valley’s Annie Bucca competes in the 25-meter backstroke Saturday during the club’s meet with the Willows Swim Club in South Brunswick.
NORTH BRUNSWICK — This was supposed to be an "off year" for the Nob Valley Swim Club.
At least that’s what a lot of people thought, including one of team’s own coaches. After all, the North Brunswick-based swim club, coming off a pair of championship seasons, was elevated from the C League to the tougher, more competitive B League of the New Jersey Swimming and Diving Conference this summer.
But the step up in classification certainly did nothing to derail the club’s success. In fact, the Nob Valley swimmers were a perfect 6-0 heading into Wednesday night’s meet against Glen Ridge.
Some "off year," huh?
"We moved up from the C League to the B League, plus a lot of kids on our team are in the young part of their age group. So it was supposed to be an off year," said Josh Schanen, one of the team’s co-coaches. "But we’re still 6-0. We got moved up, but we’re still doing pretty well."
In fact, the last time Nob Valley lost was the final regular-season meet of the 2001 season. They did go on to win the C League championship that year, then went 8-0 and repeated as C champs in 2002. Counting this summer’s 6-0 start, the local swim club has a 14-meet winning streak.
But there has been a noticeable difference between the last six wins of that streak and the first eight.
"Last year we dominated every meet we were in," Brian Rose, Nob Valley’s other co-coach, pointed out. "But this year, with the exception of one meet which we won by 20-something points, all our meets have been close. Even that meet was still closer than any one we had last year.
"This year, most of our meets have come down to a relay," he added. "If the other team had won one more relay or even one more race, they could have won the meet. It’s possible at this point we could’ve been 0-6. We’ve had some really close meets which we’ve won."
Not that the team is any less talented than in the past. The competition is just stronger. Last year, for example, there were A, B, C and D leagues, and Nob Valley was in the third toughest of the four. This year, the format changed a bit because there are just three leagues — A, B and C — but there is an upper and lower division in each league. Nob Valley is in the upper division of the B League.
"So that puts us in the third toughest of six divisions," Rose explained.
But Rose and Schanen are used to tough competition. Both former standout swimmers at North Brunswick High School, they’re each in their fourth year as coaches with the Nob Valley team and their second as co-head coaches.
Their ties to the team run even deeper than that. Schanen, 20, swam for Nob Valley during the summer season from the time he was 8 until he was 18, doubling as an assistant coach his last two seasons.
Meanwhile, the 18-year-old Rose also started young and still swims on the team in the boys’ 15-18 age division. Competing and coaching at the same time, however, can be hectic.
"A little bit," admitted Rose, who swims the butterfly and Individual Medley. "But in general I try to concentrate more on coaching than racing. If I’m swimming, I used to start psyching myself up 45 minutes before a race, whereas now I start about three seconds before."
At least he’s always in shape. A 2002 North Brunswick High graduate, Rose now swims for Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, while Schanen, who graduated from NBHS a year earlier, attends the University of Delaware.
Sixteen year-old Jaclyn Barton, a member of the North Brunswick girls’ swim team in the fall, is on the Nob Valley coaching staff as an assistant, and like Rose competes in meets, swimming the butterfly, backstroke and freestyle events in the girls’ 15-18 division.
"I pretty much coach the 8-and-under swimmers," Schanen said. "Jackie coaches the 9s and 10s, Brian the 11 and 12s, and all of us share coaching the older kids."
There’s no shortage of talented swimmers, either, in any of the age groups.
Todd Bates and Vinny Gibbons, a pair of all-around swimmers, and Dylan Elias in the breaststroke head the boys’ 8-and-under team. Kelsey Alora, Annie Bucca and Samantha Wereszczak and , who all excel in the breaststroke and butterfly, are the top girls in that age division.
The team is also very strong in the 9-10 age group with Matt Burke (freestyle, butterfly), Jason Seidman (IM, backstroke, breaststroke) and T.J. Elias (free, back) leading the boys, and Nicole Gibbons (free, fly), Sarah Stankewicz (back, free, breaststroke), and Rebeca Patten (breaststroke) heading the girls.
Rose’s younger brother Andy, who swims the IM, butterfly and breaststroke, leads Nob Valley’s 11-12 year-old boys, which may be the team’s strongest male age group. It also includes Ian Holubiak (freestyle, breaststroke), Kevin Chibbaro (all-around), Ben Bucca (IM, free, breaststroke) and Joseph Smoot (IM, back, breaststroke).
The girls’ 11 and 12s are led by Victoria Adevai (breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle), her sister Jacqueline Adevai (breaststroke), and Sammi Scocchi (freestyle, breaststroke).
Rose said the girls seem to get stronger and better as they get older.
"I would say the strongest part of our team are the 13-14 and 15-18 girls," he said. "In relation to the rest of the league, we’re very dominating in the 13-14 girls.
"We also have very good 11-12 boys, but we’re not as dominating because that’s where the best overall swimmers in the league are."
Kaitlin Manning (back, free), Nicole Van Avery (fly, free, back) and Tanya Witlen (IM, breaststroke) have been the top 13-14 year-old girls, while Julie, another Rose sibling, freestyler Nina Malanga, and Barton head the 15-18 girls.
"Julie swims the backstroke, butterfly and IM," older brother Brian noted, "and so far through six meets and 18 races, she’s undefeated."
Meanwhile, the team has only a pair of swimmers in the 13-14 boys division with Teddy Haws in the freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke, and Jamie Bates in the freestyle and breaststroke.
"In some events in the older age groups they swim the 13 to 18s altogether," Rose said. "Sometimes I find myself swimming against one of my little brother’s friends."
Rose is among seven solid swimmers in the boys’ 15-18 group. But the No. 1 swimmer in that age division has been Jordan Schanen’s younger brother Jordan, who swims the backstroke, freestyle and IM.
"He started with the 8-and-unders and he’s 18 now, so this is his last year," Rose said. "He’s been swimming longer than anyone else on the team and he’s always been one of the top swimmers in his age group.
"We don’t keep any actual records, but Jordan has got to be the club’s all-time leader in points."
Of course, the perfect farewell present to Jordan Schanen would be another league championship, this time in the B League. Nob Valley still has two more meets left before the championship meet a week from Saturday.
"It should be tough. There are a lot of good teams out there," Schanen said.
"Every meet we’ve had has been close so the championships should be close, too. But I think we have a good chance to win again."
And that wouldn’t be too bad for an "off year."