By: Sean Richards
It seems whenever the South Brunswick High School swimming team takes to the pool these days something noteworthy is bound to happen.
The latest example occurred when the Vikings recently rolled past Sayreville, 116-54, in a co-ed meet that counted on the boys record (7-1). Swimming at the Dillon Pool at Princeton University, South Brunswick set three more school records, including two that obliterated the old standards.
"Overall we just swam really well," said coach John Harding. "I was able to mix it up and get a lot of people in the meet. The boys are really going fast and looking good."
The assault on the South Brunswick record books came in the boys 200 medley relay, the girls 200 freestyle and the boys 400 free relay.
In the first event, Tyler Wardlow, Henry Ma, Brian Lee and Dan DeOliviera combined for a fast 1:50.48. It was the third time South Brunswick broke its record in the 200 medley relay this year.
Amie McMahon, meanwhile, set a new record in the 200 freestyle race with a time of 2:05.54. To understand how fast that was, McMahon’s effort was over two seconds faster than the time turned in by former Viking standout Amy Wolf in 2003.
Finally, in the 400 free relay Wardlow, Mike Socienski, Ma and DeOliviera turned in an extraordinary time of 3:33.20. This result was an even bigger eye opener as it shattered the school record by nearly six seconds.
"It was a phenomenal race" said Harding. "It put us right there with the winning time St. Joe’s had at the GMC’s last year. That was a real deal time. And the amazing thing is Socienski is swimming for the first time this year."
The South Brunswick boys also set personal bests in three other races. Those results came from Kurt Niebanck in the 100 breast, Travis Wardlow in the 200 free and Tyler Wardlow in the 500 free. Showing what kind of shape he’s in, Tyler Wardlow then participated in the record-breaking 400 free relay.
South Brunswick was to have had a home meet against Metuchen Wednesday and will swim at North Brunswick Friday. The team will then start gearing up for the GMCs next weekend at Princeton University and, hopefully, the states. To quality for states, a team must be in the top eight of its section, which is this case is the Central Jersey A Division.
"I would say the boys are probably in good shape to make it," said Harding, whose boys qualified for states for the first time last year. "We have something like 400 more power points than we’ve had before. For the boys, I think it’s mostly going to be about what seed we get.
"The girls are more of a longshot, but they also have a chance. Sometimes you might be like ninth or 10th, but a team ahead of you decides not to enter. Getting both the boys and girls to states is our goal."
Reaching or even surpassing goals is something this team seems to be very good at.
