By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The Community Park Bluefish were excited to have the opportunity to host the PASDA championship swim meet at their own pool.
That excitement carried over to their swims, as Community Park outdistanced the rest of the Division 1 field to capture the meet championship. CP finished with 3,805 points to easily top Flemington-Raritan, which finished with 2,158 points. Lawrenceville Swimming Association was third and the West Windsor Whalers finished fourth in the meet.
“It was a fantastic meet,” CP head coach Mike Uchrin said. “It was our first time hosting in over 30 years and we wanted to do well and defend our home pool. It was fun to be a part of. We were able to have more kids attend than we ever had on record. The kids were able to go out and showcase what they have been working on all summer.”
Community Park, which finished the regular season undefeated for the second straight year, breezed to the Division 1 title and did so by showcasing its talent at the top of the lineup as well as its depth throughout the lineup. The Bluefish had three swimmers earn MVP honors, while scoring points from throughout every event thanks to its depth.
“It was a full team effort, from our 6-and-unders all the way up to our swimmers that have been with the team their entire lives,” Uchrin said. “They all came out and competed and swam hard. I think we showed the strength of our team and numbers and competitive spirit that we had all across the board in every age group. The kids competed whether they were club swimmers or just summer swimmers.”
In the 10-and-under girls division, CP’s BB Kim was the Most Valuable swimmer after finishing first in the 25 freestyle, 25 butterfly and 25 backstroke (by more than two seconds). She was also part of two winning relays. In fact, the 10-and-under girls played a huge role in the Bluefish win.
“That age group won every single individual event and all of the relays,” Uchrin said. “They all did very well. Courtney (Weber), BB, Piper Dubow and Georgia Johnson, they all swam very well in that age group.”
Weber won the breaststroke and Kim won three events. Kim was joined as a Most Valuable Swimmer by a pair of 15-and-over boys, Stephen Kratzer and Dylan Torrence.
“They both won two individual events, some by a fingertip and some by a sizeable margin,” Uchrin said. They also both were on the same relays that set two PASDA records. The 15-and-over boys went out and showcased their talent.”
As excited as Uchrin was with the swimmers at the top of the results, he was equally as pleased with the depth and the number of swimmers who contributed to the team success.
“What speaks to that is if you look at how we performed in relays, it was not just about placing first,” he said. “In a lot of relays we had a lot of third, fourth, and fifth places in addition to finishing first. The relays really show off your depth. There were some times in the dual meet season where in the 10 relays we would sweep all of them.”
For CP, the meet offered a chance to showcase their talent in the pool, while also showing off their facility. And it all came together with effort from plenty of people.
“It was a lot of fun,” Uchrin said. “It was a great experience to host. We were all a little nervous at first. There were a lot of big expectations we had for ourselves. We had a lot of positive feedback from the community. We had great parent volunteers and the support staff at CP is great. So many people contributed to making this work. It was a lot of fun.
“The kids love swimming at our pool and defending our home pool. Our success was a combination of great support from the community, excellent coaching from our coaching staff, and the kids coming out and having fun. That is what summer swimming is about. It’s about coming out and having fun and competing hard. That is what it comes down.”
