Afursin, Knight boys swim to second straight
By: Bob Nuse
Niko Afursin has been with the West Windsor-North swim program since the very beginning.
As a freshman, Afursin was a novice swimmer who had never been a part of a swim team before. Now, as a senior, he’s a captain and one of the swimmers Knights’ coach Cheryl Reca will rely on as her team looks to have his best season yet.
"He’s doing very well and has really stepped up for us this year," Reca said of Afursin, who won the 100 freestyle Thursday as the Knights improved to 2-0 with a win over South Brunswick. "Last year he swam around a 1:04 in the 100 free and he’s already at 1:03 this year. He came into the season pumped up and ready to go. He showed a lot of dedication to the team."
That’s a far cry from his freshman year, when Afursin started with the sport at the behest of his mother.
"When I joined the team in ninth grade I had never swum for a team before," the senior said. "I had asthma growing up and my mom thought it would be good for me to do swimming. I thought I would just go to practice and swim some laps and maybe dive off the diving board a few times, but nothing serious.
"I think at the end of 10th grade I really started to get into how competitive it was and I wanted to be better, so I started training harder. I really enjoy it."
He also enjoys winning, which the Knights have already done twice this season. They followed up a season-opening win over Montgomery with a win over South Brunswick. And despite the loss of some talented swimmers from last year’s team that went 8-5 and reached the state tournament, Afursin is optimistic about this year.
"We have a lot of good swimmers, including a couple of new kids who are U.S.S. swimmers," Afursin said of freshmen Jason Raziano and Josh Chen, who picked up wins in the meet against South Brunswick. "I think this is probably the best team we’ve had and the best the school will see for a while. I can’t imagine it being any better, especially with some of the new people we have.
"We have a lot of experience this year. Even the new guys have experience."
With two wins already in the books, the Knights face Old Bridge on Thursday before hosting the second Knight Relays on Saturday. That meet should give Reca a chance to see just what sort of team she has on her hands.
"We invited the whole CVC as well as Montgomery and South Brunswick," Reca said. "We’re trying to open it up to more teams. It’s a fun meet. It’s not high stress. Because it’s the same weekend as the big U.S. Holiday Classic, this is a meet that really showcases the true high school swimmers."
"We do a lot of different relay events so the coaches can get an idea of what a lot of their new kids can do."
After the Knight Relays, North also faces Trenton, WW-P South and Steinert before the holiday break at the end of the month.
"We have a lot of meets in December," Reca said. "I think it will be good for us to get an idea of what kind of team we have. I know the kids are very excited about the season."
Afursin has been excited since the end of last season. And after a couple of meets, he has no reason to feel any less excited.
"It’s been a good start to the season," he said. "I think we can have a pretty good season."