South boys swim by top returners
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Adam Druckman, Brian Li, Kurt von Autenried and Manish Rachamallu opened West Windsor-Plainsboro High South’s swim meet against Steinert on Tuesday with a win in the 200 medley relay. Even more encouraging was the second-place finish of their second relay with Alex He, BillYan Huang, Rishi Singh and Alex Slater.
The good start mirrors that of the Pirate boys team as a whole after they improved to 6-1 with the 115-55 win over Steinert.
”I’ve been very happily surprised to see us perform well,” said Druckman, a senior captain. “I’m looking forward to us continuing this good pattern.”
Things had to start quickly for the Pirates, who put together a bear of a schedule in the opening weeks of the season with Princeton High, Notre Dame and Pennington. Princeton and Notre Dame were the top teams at last year’s Mercer County Championships when the Pirates placed third.
”If anything,” Druckman said, “I actually think it was incentive to get in shape quickly and get ourselves together and get ourselves moving forward.”
Wins over Princeton and Notre Dame have helped to raise expectations for the Pirates, who expected to be better with the addition of six new swimmers after losing just two to graduation. The net increase is a huge plus for the Pirates, who are deeper in individual and relay events.
”With the addition of those boys, our relays, I do have several options we can use,” said Pirates head coach Anthony Bartolone. “We had a set medley, 2 and 4 last year. This year I have more boys I can choose and more options. I don’t think we swam the same relays in any meet yet. We keep trying new things.
”These boys have definitely proven more than I thought they were going to. I went in thinking we have four more boys than last year and that could help. I know we have a lot of boys working hard. I thought we’d be at least as good as last year, if not a little better. They’ve gone two or three notches ahead of what I expected. They deserve it. They’re working hard at practice.”
Druckman, too, was hoping that the Pirates could build on the progress that he has seen since he arrived at WW-P South.
”I think we’re the best team that we’ve been,” said Druckman, whose brother Dan Druckman is a senior swimmer at Williams College. “My freshman year we were pretty strong. Sophomore year, we fell off a bit. Last year we picked it up and got third in the county. Beating the two teams that beat us, I think this will be the strongest team we’ve had. I’m hoping we can go out with some nice wins.”
Usually, it is a late in the season when the Pirates face Princeton. This year, however, WW-P South moved its traditional first meet of the year against rival WW-P North to its last regular season meet.
”We said it would be great if we could swim each other in our prime,” Bartolone said of the sister schools. “The sacrifice was putting Princeton in early. But we won, and when they beat Notre Dame, it showed them when we put everything we have in the water, we can accomplish a lot.”
After a short-handed loss to Pennington, the Pirates picked up more momentum against a Steinert team with talent. Rachamallu led a 1-2 finish with Cole Ding in the 200 individual medley, von Autenried won the 100 butterfly, Li captured the 100 freestyle with Druckman second and the 100 breaststroke. Druckman won the 100 breaststroke.
”We have a lot of top guys this year,” Druckman said. “Unlike the last couple years, we have more depth. We have more of the middle to high level swimmers. We’ve been consistent in not just getting first, but seconds, thirds, fourths and fifths, that’s what’s been consistent in our meets. I’m looking forward to that continuing as we go forward.
”I find myself swimming 100 free and 100 back and any relay he needs me in,” he added. “I’m hoping I can do well in those events and maybe widen my horizon to do a few more events by the end of the season.”
Even when Steinert did win an event like the 200 or 500 free, it was offset by the Pirates’ depth. Kyle Dixon-Anderson was second and Saager Chitale took third in the 200, von Autenried and He went 2-3 in the 50 free and Dixon-Anderson and Slater were second and third, respectively, in the 500 free. Huang and He went 2-3 in the 100 breast behind Li to give the Pirates a sweep. Druckman also led a sweep in the 100 back with Singh second and Jack Yang third. And beyond the top three, the Pirates have strength from their club and high school-only swimmers who are avoiding sixth-place finishes that score no points.
”Early on the season, the high school-only swimmers tend to be a little behind the club swimmers since they’re not swimming year-round,” Druckman said. “In the past our high school-only swimmers have stepped up and shown to be leaders. They’re cutting time and really contributing to being points winners on our team. I’m hoping they’ll continue to do that.”
It’s a sign of the progress that the Pirates have been taking to get to a higher level. WW-P South has picked up and jumped from where it ended last year.
”I think it’s a good combination of kids working hard the last year or two, and we have a good group of new guys that have been working hard since Day One,” Bartolone said. “And these boys seem to be a closer knit group of kids. The boys team is one united front. They go into a meet, they all encourage each other and cheer for each other. That makes a difference. When you have that mental part of your teammates cheering you on, that goes a long way.
”I’m still learning what all they can do. They’re surprising me every meet. I threw a freshman in the 100 free (Tuesday). I just said, let’s try it and he blew me away. I was floored from what he did tonight vs. what he did three weeks ago at time trials. They’re training and getting better.”
The Pirates were tested early with two of the traditionally strongest programs in the county. It was a huge boost to WW-P South when they were able to knock off Princeton and Notre Dame.
”I’m a little surprised,” Druckman said. “I’m really excited for the future because doing so well early on. If anything, we were just hungry to get them. Last year, Princeton and Notre Dame were runner-up in the state tournament. That made us want to go after them and take them down. We want to get to the level where we can hopefully progress really far in the state tournament. We’re a little more confident.
”I’m also happy because I don’t see us being very cocky about it. Princeton and Notre Dame were really, really close meets. If we get too cocky or slack off at all, they could easily overtake us. We’re going to keep working hard and hope our hard work pays off.”
The Pirates lost last week to Pennington, but was missing several swimmers due to a club event. The loss keeps them motivated going forward.
”We were a little disappointed about the Pennington meet,” Druckman said. “We were missing three of our top guys. If anything, it just made us hungrier to avenge that loss and come back even stronger than before.”
Said Bartolone: “No matter who we swim, we don’t go in with the attitude it’s going to be an easy meet. We go in with the attitude what times am I going to improve today? We lost to Pennington. We had a lot of kids missing, but we had a lot of PRs. That’s what’s going to be important for later.”
Druckman is hoping that he can be a good example to the team as the season continues. He is in his second year as a captain.
”Last year, there was only one returning senior so I was captain junior year as well,” he said. “It makes me want to work harder to be a leader in the pool and lead by example. I want to swim as fast as I can in practice and meets and keep a positive attitude about what we’re doing, whether we’re winning or losing.”
It looks as though there will be a lot more winning for the Pirates. Their fast start and key wins early have already opened their eyes to some loftier goals than they had envisioned.
”I think it has changed a little bit,” Druckman said. “It’s given a little more confidence in what we can do. We’ve taken down two state runner-up teams. The sky’s the limit. We’re really looking forward to the state meets, counties and the Pirate where we have to crank out best times and having phenomenal swims in meets.”