By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Carly Misiewicz couldn’t be more thrilled with the way her tenure as Princeton High School swim coach has started.
”It is going really well,” said Misiewicz, whose Princeton teams opened the season with wins over Hopewell Valley on Tuesday. “So far things are going well. I have great coaches working with me. And Greg (Hand) has been helping here and there when he has the time. It is great working with him and having him showing me the ropes. They are big shoes to fill and he has been there every step to help me prepare.”
Misiewicz, who swam at Rider University, spent last year as an assistant to Hand at PHS. She had a chance to watch the way the successful veteran coach went about his business and is taking that knowledge into her first season as a head coach.
”It all seemed to happen very quickly,” Misiewicz said of going from college graduate to assistant coach to head coach. “The summer before I started teaching here (June 2013) when I had spoken with Greg on the phone he said he wanted a coach who will be around and wants to stay and knows the sport.
”So he had an idea that in two or three years he might retire. Around spring break he said he made the decision to retire and said he wanted me to take over. He has been a great mentor for me. I watched the way he made sure of all the little details when he was making practices and all of the other things that needed to be done.”
For Misiewicz, a math teacher, the move to swim coach was a natural one after a successful career at Rider, where she was a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference All-Academic team.
”I have been swimming since I was 4 years old,” she said. “I started with lessons and the local Y team then I became a full-time club swimmer. I was swimming year-round by the time I was 8 with the Greater Philadelphia Aquatic Club which swims out of GCIT. I always knew I wanted to swim in college. I swam in the summer and wanted to coach and teach. They go hand in hand and it has been a great experience so far.”
Both the boys and girls programs have been successful at Princeton and Misiewicz is hoping to continue that tradition of success. She understands the commitment it takes to be successful in the sport and hopes to instill that in her teams.
”When I talk to people who don’t know the sport, they don’t realize swimming is so different with club swimmers and club obligations,” Misiewicz said. “People ask how it can feel like a team when people are not always together but everyone is so great and gets along. It is great that everyone has that commitment. That is what I love so much. Everyone is so close.
”The seniors help the sophomores and freshman. I had that throughout college and knew that was what I wanted when I was a coach. This was the type of team I wanted to be with and coach.”
With a year under her belt working and watching the way Hand ran the program, she feels prepared to keep it moving forward.
”I am excited to be following in his footsteps and hope I can be half the coach he was,” Misiewicz said. “I can’t thank him enough for what he has done to get me going.
”One of the things he said to me was you won’t be on your own and I won’t throw you to the wolves. He has been around to help me and I appreciate all he has done to help.”
In Princeton’s opening meets, the boys topped Hopewell, 107-62, while the girls topped the Bulldogs, 145-25.
