By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The West Windsor-Plainsboro High North swim teams are hoping the lessons they’ve learned this season lead to even more success down the road., Both the boys and girls teams came into this season with rosters filled with newcomers stepping into key roles. And both teams enjoyed success while also giving those new swimmers a taste of what high school swimming is all about., “We lost quite a bit last year to graduation and one of our top swimmers on the boys team transferred to Notre Dame,” said North coach Todd Robinson, whose teams concluded the regular season with wins over Hopewell Valley on Tuesday. “But we always say we’re going to approach the season and swim each meet with what we have. I am proud of these kids., “We have some top level freshmen coming in. Ethan (Yuen). Christina (Kim). Megan Leung is another freshman of note. So we have a nice group of freshmen that came in and the future looks bright for us.”, The North girls got past Hopewell, 101-69, to finish the regular season with an 8-3-1 record. Against the Bulldogs, Kim won both the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke, while Gwen Yuen won the 200 free, Hana Kato won the 100 butterfly, and Adrienne Wang won the 100 free., The boys held off a late Hopewell rally to win, 92-78, and finish the season 8-4. The Knights used their depth to earn the victory, picking up individual wins from Ethan Yuen in the 200 individual medley and 100 fly, as well as Alex Yu in the 200 free and 100 free., “The season has had some ups and downs,” said Kim, a freshman who swims for Hamilton Aquatics outside of high school. “In practice I feel pretty good and in meets I am proud of myself for swimming what I swim. I have been working my best. I love high school swimming. It’s great and I love the people on my team. Swimming has been really fun. It is a different experience from club, which I really love.”, The North girls won’t go into next week’s Mercer County meet as a favorite, but the Knights will give it their best effort and have the potential to place high in the final standings., “I am really excited about the county meet,” Kim said. “I have been training really hard for that and am looking forward to the meet and the results that come out of that meet. Being part of the team is exciting. Cheering on my teammates and being there for them is great. It’s not as much independent as it is in club season.”, On the boys side, the Knights have also shown flashes of what the future might be with a stable of younger swimmers., “I feel like we haven’t been very consistent, but we have been working harder to try to achieve our goals,” said Ethan Yuen, another freshman who has had an outstanding season. “It has been pretty fun. We have a lot of seniors who explain the things to us that we need to know.”, Yuen, who swims for Peddie Aquatics outside of high school, has enjoyed the transition into high school swimming and being part of the team atmosphere., “I feel like overall, the team likes to cheer for each other more,” Yuen said. “In club, it is more about individuality and results. In high school you are doing it for the team and not just for yourself.”, Yuen has been a versatile swimmers for the Knights. His is a distance swimmers by nature, but fills in wherever he is needed most for his high school team., “I feel like the 500 free is my best event, since I am a distance freestyler,” he said. “I also am an IMer. But if they need me in a certain event I will swim whatever they need me to swim.”, The Knights hope to make a solid swimming at the Mercer meet, which they will host beginning on Thursday. And beyond that, Robinson would like to see his team add the experience of swimming in the state tournament., “We’ll see how it goes,” Robinson said. “Hopefully we make the state tournament and we’ll take our chances. Overall, I think we have had a pretty good season. We’ve lost a couple of meets on both sides, but for the most part, especially our younger swimmers, have dropped a lot of time and it is encouraging to see that. They’re working hard in practice and so far we’ve done well and had a good season.”
