Rider swimming
By: Jim Green
Josh Rosenbluth still is lapping his opponents in Lawrence Township only now it’s at the college level.
Rosenbluth, who led the Lawrence High School boys swimming team to two of the best seasons in program history, has made an almost seamless transition to the pool at Rider University. Just five weeks into the season, the freshman already has captured two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference swimmer of the week awards. You can’t start much better than that.
"He’s really responded to the challenge," Broncs coach Steve Fletcher said. "He doesn’t like to lose."
Neither does Fletcher, who has breathed new life into the Rider program. During his five years as head coach, the Broncs have rewritten their record books and captured their first MAAC titles on both the men’s and women’s sides. To top things off, last year, the Rider men won their first Eastern College Athletic Conference championship. Prior to Fletcher’s tenure, the team never had finished in the top 20 in the meet.
This season, the Broncs have picked up right where they left off, as they look to build on that success. The men are off to a 4-2 start, while the women are 2-4 with both teams facing a tough early schedule that aims to prepare them for the rigors of the long college season.
"I think it has the potential to be out best team," Fletcher said. "It has the potential to be one of the best teams and to build on what previous teams have done. People like Bobby DeSandre (a former Notre Dame star who graduated from Rider last year) really paved the way for people like Josh to look at our program and want to be part of the Rider swimming program."
Rosenbluth is one of the standouts of a fine Rider freshman class that is melding with a talented group of veterans this winter. While Fletcher is pleased with the performance of the freshmen so far, he feels it is imperative they realize there is still plenty of room for improvement.
"We’re having some growing pains with a freshman class that’s trying to adjust to college life," Fletcher said. "That’s somewhat normal."
Rosenbluth, an accounting major, captured his first conference swimmer of the week award on Nov. 7. That week, he won two individual events to help lead the Broncs to a 127-115 win over Marist College the school’s first win over the Red Foxes since 1993. He won the 200 individual medley (1:55.40) and the 200 backstroke (1:53.35) and also swam on the winning 400-yard medley relay team that set a Coppola Pool record with a time of 3:29.43.
Rosenbluth, an intense competitor, was not about to stop there, as he came right back the next week and won the award again. In a meet with the University of Pennsylvania and Lehigh that week, he won both the 200 individual medley (1:55.99) and the 200 backstroke (1:53.80).
"I think that’s something I’ve yet to learn from him, in terms of what his goals are," Fletcher said. "As our communication gets better, I’ll know more of what he wants to accomplish. From what I know of him so far, he wants to be as competitive as he can possibly be in whatever environment we put him in. As long as we keep challenging him, that will keep pushing him to get better."
The addition of Rosenbluth and some other talented freshmen has bolstered what already was a deep Broncs squad.
Rider opened the season Oct. 22 by splitting a home meet with powerful University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The men prevailed 130.5-110.5, while the women lost 146-95. Winners on the men’s side included senior Dan Burgess in the 200-yard freestyle (1:42.44) and 100 freestyle (47.52), junior Eric McFerin in the 50 freestyle (21.86), junior Brandon Modrov in the 400 IM (4:10.31) and 200 breaststroke (2:11.60), sophomore Dylan Korn in 1-meter and 3-meter diving and Rosenbluth in the 200 backstroke (1:52.87). Rosenbluth, sophomore Matt Nicolino, Burgess and senior Trevor Vernal teamed to take the 400 medley relay in 3:32.91.
On the women’s side, victories came from junior Courtney Clark in the 1,000 freestyle (10:37.01) and 500 freestyle (5:12.53) and freshman Priscilla Modrov in the 400 IM (4:32.58) and 200 backstroke (2:07.56).
On Nov. 5, the Broncs split another home meet, this one with Marist. Again it was the men winning 127.5-115.5, with the women suffering a tough loss by the same score.
The men had first-place finishes from Brandon Modrov in the 1,000 freestyle (9:50.07), Burgess in the 200 freestyle (1:43.76) and 100 freestyle (46.90), McFerin in the 50 freestyle (21.81), Rosenbluth in the 200 IM (1:55.40) and 200 backstroke (1:53.35), Korn in 1-meter diving and senior Chris Coles in 3-meter diving. Rosenbluth, Brandon Modrov, Burgess and freshman Stuart Barr won the 400 medley relay (3:29.43).
Victories for the women were had by Clark in the 1,000 freestyle (10:46.13), 200 freestyle (1:57.37) and 500 freestyle (5:15.92), Priscilla Modrov in the 200 IM (2:08.42) and Lauren Urbanski in the 200 butterfly. Priscilla Modrov, senior Jen Feenstra, sophomore Stephanie Cosentino and senior Rose Brenner teamed to take the 400 freestyle relay in 3:39.38.
On Nov. 12, the Broncs had a tri-meet with Penn and Lehigh at Penn. They split both sides, with the men beating Lehigh 111-89 and losing to Penn 154-138, and the women beating Lehigh 92-85 and falling to Penn 153-130.5.
For the men, winners included Burgess in the 200 freestyle (1:43.24), Rosenbluth in the 200 IM (1:55.99) and 200 backstroke (1:53.80) and Korn in 1-meter and 3-meter diving. Rosenbluth, Brandon Modrov, Burgess and McFerin placed first in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:29.71.
On the women’s side, wins came from Urbanski in the 200 butterfly (2:08.59) and 200 breaststroke (2:30.77), Priscilla Modrov in the 200 backstroke (2:09.67) and Clark in the 500 freestyle (5:13.16).
Rider split another tri-meet Saturday against LaSalle and Delaware at LaSalle. The women beat LaSalle 126-90 and lost to Delaware 132-92, while the men beat Delaware 136.50-82.50 and were defeated by LaSalle 112-107.
The men’s team picked up wins from Brandon Modrov in the 1,000 freestyle (9:53.28), 200 IM (1:55.93) and 200 breaststroke (2:09.89), Burgess in the 200 freestyle (1:43.79) and Rosenbluth in the 200 backstroke (1:57.48). The women had first-place finishes from Priscilla Modrov in the 200 freestyle (1:54.88), 200 IM (2:10.35) and 200 backstroke (2:08.65) and Urbanski in the 200 butterfly (2:08.19).
While the team has gotten off to a strong start, Fletcher wants the Broncs to remain focused on their long-term goals.
"The goal as a team for this year would be to focus on the championship season," he said, "and to perform as well as we can in the championship meets in February."

