Pirates’ frosh is a fast find

Druckman has role in victory

By Justin Feil, Assistant Editor
  Dan Druckman celebrated a birthday last Friday, but it is he who has been a gift to the West Windsor-Plainsboro South boys’ swimming team.
   The freshman has made immediate contributions in his first year of high school swimming, as he did in helping to deliver an 86-84 win at Montgomery High on Friday.
   ”He’s made an impact,” said Pirates head coach Paul Hamnett after improving to 5-1. “For freshmen boys, it’s hard to. He’s had good times. He’s working hard.
   ”Both of his events, he finished less than a tenth of a second ahead of a kid from Montgomery. They were really big races. In a two-point meet, that’s big.”
   Druckman was second in the 500 free behind Montgomery’s Mike Leddy, then came back two events later to win the 100 backstroke in a season-best 1:01.06. When Leddy won the breast with the next event, it sent the teams into the final 400 free relay tied. Alex Lee, Druckman, Hugh Le and Joey Grant delivered the event and meet win.
   ”We were a little bit nervous,” Druckman said. “When we realized it was tie score toward the end, we knew we could do it and did it.
   ”It was the closest one we’ve had,” he added. “Some of the other ones, with Trenton and Hightstown, we killed them.”
   It sets the Pirates up to take on Notre Dame on Thursday at Rider University. The Irish are the early front-runners in the Colonial Valley Conference.
   ”It helps our confidence,” Druckman said of Friday’s win. “We’re probably more confident than we’d have been if we lost to Montgomery.”
   WW-P South has not lost since its season opener against Bridgewater-Raritan. Friday’s win was its biggest of the year.
   ”It was a great win for our guys,” Hamnett said. “We didn’t beat their full team. They’re missing some of their best kids. They were missing the Stirling twins so they make a big difference.
   ”But the great thing was our times and the energy in the building was something I hope to build on. The win was a bonus. The effort and times were encouraging.”
   Druckman has been encouraged by his early results. While he has competed for the X-Cel Swimming club team, he wasn’t sure of his impact on the Pirates varsity.
   ”Everyone sort of hopes I can get second and thirds,” Druckman said. “I try to get some points for the team.”
   He picked a good meet to come through with some of his best performances Friday. He not only recorded a second in a rarer 500 free, but also won his specialty, the 100 back.
   ”I thought I would do reasonably well,” Druckman said. “It surprised me that I got first in the backstroke against them.
   ”The other kid, he said his time was much faster than mine (prior to the race),” he added. “When I started winning on the first or second lap, I realized I could beat him. And I tried and I did it.”
   It took all of Druckman’s energy to get back in the pool after just one more event off to complete the event. He didn’t swim his usual meet schedule, instead Hamnett back-loaded his meet schedule.
   ”Normally, you get more rest between the events,” Druckman said. “He forgot to put me in the fly. Normally I would swim the 100 butterfly. He forgot to put me in that. So he put me in the 500 instead.
   ”I always do backstroke. I’ve done the 500 before. I used to train distance on my team outside of school. They were so close. I didn’t know if I’d have time to recover.”
   After placing second in the longest event at the high school level, Druckman had two events to rest before jumping in the pool to win the 100 back. Then, one event later, he was back in for a 100-free leg to finish his day.
   ”I was dead by the end,” Druckman said.
   But Druckman, as he had in completing the win off in the 100 backstroke, finished the meet off with his best effort.
   Said Hamnett: “He just really showed me a lot today with his races. He wasn’t breathing from the flags to the wall, and that was the big difference.”
   Hamnett is hoping that it’s just a start to a solid career with the Pirates. Druckman has certainly began faster than many do.
   ”Traditionally, it’s hard for boys to make an impact as a freshman,” Hamnett said. “You usually look for sophomores and juniors to make an impact. What he’s done so far has been a big help so far. He’s allowed me to move Hugh Le around to different events. Hugh swam the IM and the fly.”
   Le won both events and was a part of the winning medley and 400 free relays. Grant won the 200 and 100 freestyles and was a part of the winning 200 and 400 free relays. The Pirate girls improved to 4-1 with a 110-60 win as Rebecca Lewinson broke the MHS pool record in the 100 breaststroke. Montgomery’s Gwen Comollo broke the 50 free mark and Courtney Raw broke the 100 free record as the Cougars slipped to 1-2. The boys’ meet wasn’t decided until the final event.
   ”It’s a big meet,” Hamnett said. “We haven’t had too many close meets. You need meets like this to test your team and see what they have when the competition is tough. They responded really well today. We had a lot of personal bests today. I was proud of the way they fought.”
   Added Druckman of the finish: “We sort of knew we could do it. Our best guy had just set the pool record (Grant, 100 free). We felt pretty confident.”
   And with Druckman making an early impact, the Pirates team is feeling more confident about where it will get contributions this season. He recognized a while ago where his talent was after starting to swim competitively by the time he was 9.
   ”When I was younger, I used to do recreational sports like soccer and baseball,” Druckman said. “I gave up everything for swimming by 12. I was much better at it than all the other sports.”
   That decision has paid off already as Dan Druckman helped the WW-P South boys’ swim team win its toughest challenge yet for a fifth straight victory. The freshman figures to be a part of plenty more wins for the Pirates.