Hopewell Valley boys swimming
By: John E. Powers
The Hopewell Valley Central High School boys swimming team lost quite a bit to graduation last June. And with a very difficult early-season schedule ahead, things might get tough for the young Bulldogs.
But coach Laura Gordon is confident that by the end of the season, the Bulldogs will be a much different and better team.
The Bulldogs are expected to play host Pennington on Thursday and then host Notre Dame a week from Thursday.
"The toughest meets are early, and because we have so much building to do, and our schedule falls the way it does, it’ll be a tough season," Gordon said. "But the kids that are back are strong, and the new kids are coming through and pushing themselves and working hard. Because of that, I think we’ll get a lot better a lot faster."
The Bulldogs finished 9-5 last year, losing in the Central Jersey Public B semifinals to Rumson-Fair Haven 87-83 at The Pennington School’s Michael T. Martin Aquatic Center. Among the graduated were Will McNeees, who won the 200 individual medley against Rumson. Also gone are Scott Orr, Ben Wright, Kevin DeLucca and Alex VanPlantinga. McNees, who earlier won the 200 freestyle (1:54.70) in the Manasquan meet, helped the Bulldogs’ late-event surge by taking the 500 (5:16.2) as Hopewell opened a 60-50 lead.
"It’ll be tough to replace a kid like Will, who was so good all over the place," said Gordon, whose team beat Manasquan in the sectional quarterfinals last year and won the Colonial Valley Conference Patriot Division title.
Returning is junior backstroker Bill Dunne, who broke the school record in the 100 backstroke last year at 57 seconds and finished second at the Mercer County Championships. Lawrence’s Josh Rosenbluth, the county champ in the event, has graduated, so it would appear the title could be Dunne’s this season. He competed for the Princeton Area Swimming and Diving Association for the Penn Brook team during the summer in order to stay sharp and stay ahead of the local competition. He won the PASDA boys 17-and-under 50-meter backstroke in 27.09 and finished second in the 100 individual medley at The College of New Jersey in August.
"Billy can do almost anything," Gordon said. "He’s a quick kid."
Senior breaststroker/distance man Greg Stolowski is back, along with senior sprinter/freestyler Vince DeLucca, senior distance man Wes Purvis, junior sprinter Will Fabrizio, junior sprinter/freestyler/backstroker Drew Palin and junior butterfly and breaststroker Cael Sutherland.
The Bulldogs set 17 personal records last season, having improved by 32 total seconds. Gordon expects that improvement will be similar this year.