Junior helps Pirates to easy win
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
It didn’t take long for Julia Tomei to follow her sister Erika into the pool.
”She started, and soon after, my mom put a cap on me and threw me in the pool,” Tomei said. “I have a picture of me swimming when I was about 4.”
Tomei continued to follow Erika when her sister started swimming for West Windsor-Plainsboro South’s girls’ team.
”I went to all of her meets when she was there,” Tomei said. “I remember seeing them and wanting to be a part of the team even then.”
Julia joined the team the year after Erika graduated and has grown more important to the Pirates every year. She missed the middle of last year due to tendonitis in her shoulders, but returned to help the Pirates reach the state public A final. WW-P South will look for the junior to contribute to another state run this season.
”We need Julia more at the end of the year,” said Pirates head coach Paul Hamnett whose team swims at Ewing on Thursday. “We make sure she’s progressing well and able to perform come February.”
Tomei has begun her year quickly. She won the 200 freestyle ahead of a pair of boys as WW-P South topped Robbinsville in a co-ed meet, 118-52, Thursday. Greg Fat won the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly. Brynja Winnan, Dan Druckman and Erin Lee were also individual winners as the Pirates improved to 2-1 with their second straight Colonial Valley Conference win after losing to Bridgewater-Raritan in the season opener.
”Meets like Robbinsville are great,” Hamnett said. “I get to move kids around. I was really happy. We had a lot of best times the other day from kids. It allows me to see what I can do with my lineup. The lineup in December is different from in February. It’s important that kids can swim hard so I can tell what our best lineup is. A lot of kids don’t know what they’re good at. I’m looking for applicants to fill in some holes.”
Tomei is a bonus for such a role. She can fill in a number of areas for the Pirates. It’s what makes her so valuable.
”She’ll do fly, do IM, do backstroke,” Hamnett said. “I can even use her in the distance freestyle events. She’s a person, if I look at other team’s roster and can match it up, I can use her in different spots. She’ll never be the fastest, but she’ll get us points in anything I put her in.
”You can’t win big dual meets without those swimmers,” he added. “You need the combination of the speed and the depth. Just one or the other will get you some wins, but it won’t get you to the ultimate goal of a state title. To get there last year, those wins were won by swimmers like Julia, swimmers with the ability to move around and score points.”
Tomei has high expectations for the Pirates, who lost Kate Winters and some senior contributors from last year’s team, but returned their young talent. Tomei’s versatility will help make up for the losses as WW-P South eyes another big year.
”We would really hope to get back to the state finals,” Tomei said. “We have to work really hard. I think we got moved into the North Division, so we’d have to swim against Westfield before the finals.
”This year,” she said, “I’ll probably be doing fly and backstroke. Last year, I did mostly fly and IM. It’ll be a little different. We had a lot of backstrokers last year. They all graduated. I feel I’m better at IM, but I feel I can improve in the backstroke.”
Tomei is looking forward to being a bigger help for the Pirates this year. To do so, she will have to continue to battle the shoulder injuries that cost her half the season last year.
”I have tendonitis in both of my shoulders,” she said. “It just keeps coming back. Hamnett is supportive. He lets me do everything. I’ve probably known him for seven years. He knows all the technical parts to swimming and he keeps me really motivated.”
The Pirates continue to train Tomei, who also swims for Hamilton Aquatics club team, with the focus on helping her be at her best at the end. She is willing to handle the pain from her shoulders for the pleasure of contributing to the South team.
”It doesn’t hurt when I’m sitting here,” she said, “but when I swim, it hurts. I’ve been in physical therapy. It’s getting better.
”I’ve swam forever. I still love it. Even though I have pain with it, I won’t stop. I’ll keep coming back.”
As long as she comes back in time to contribute, that’s fine with the Pirates. She wasn’t able to be a part of the winning Mercer County team, but she did aid them in a run to the state final. The Pirates are happy to have another Tomei coming through the program.
”Erika was just as versatile but we didn’t have the breaststrokers then,” Hamnett said. “So she swam that for the majority of her career. We needed her in that spot every meet. Julia, we luckily have people in events who can cover things, she’s more part of the support group. She’s my second swimmer in a lot of events. And she’s become one of our best fliers.
”She came in and was a solid swimmer right away. She had setbacks toward the end of her freshman year and sophomore year. On the whole, she’s learned how to deal with her injuries. It’s become more predictable. I can give her rest when she needs it and save her for the big meets. I pushed her as a freshman. Now I know what she can do so it’s easier.”
What Hamnett says that the Pirates need from Tomei is the sort of consistent points-winning swims that she has been known for over her first two seasons. Tomei would like the chance to help from start to finish.
”That’s one of my goals,” she said, adding, “I think I do have a bigger role this year. Last year, definitely there were people faster than me. I think I can step it up and swim well.”
Tomei started coming to WW-P South meets years ago to see her sister. Now it’s Julia who is a big part of the program.
”I just really love our team,” Tomei said. “It’s so close. I always saw that from watching it. We have a lot of fun. We encourage each other a lot.”
In Julia Tomei, the Pirate girls have someone who can be a big help toward helping them reach their lofty expectations.
”The good thing is she’s versatile,” Hamnett said. “She’s good at so many strokes, she can swim something different every meet and get us points. It’s a tremendous advantage as a coach to have.”

