After a successful season, the Kingswood Oxford swimming and diving team wrapped up the season with a third place boys finish and seventh place girls finish at New Englands.
Led by senior Co-captains Stella Risinger, Allie Wildstein, Marrich Somridhivej, and junior Co-captain Eli Brandt, the KO swimming and diving team has thrived this season. Some of their most memorable meets were Canterbury and Westminster.
“We have had a ton of really close meets this year, but I would say our best meet was Canterbury,” Risinger said. “Although we were missing some swimmers that day, everyone swam well and we had lots of fun.”
Another highlight was the KO Invitational, which was one of their first big meets. In their last two meets against Westminster and St. George’s, the team performed well.
The KO swimming and diving team is known for being close-knit because of their grueling practice and meet schedule.
“Although our team is a lot younger and less experienced than the team from two seasons ago, a lot of people are trying new events and the team is really supportive of each other,” Somridhiviej said. “It has been really nice to see how much success and improvement everyone is having in the pool and how close the team has grown over the season.” The younger members of the team have played a large role in the team’s success this season.
“We have six freshmen on our team – Sydney Parker, Anna Osk, Miya Scranton, Sasha Dausey, Claire Palmer, and Makenzie Gallagher – all of whom have done absolutely amazing this season,” Risinger said. “I love watching them grow as swimmers, and we know that the team is going to be in good hands for years to come.”
At the Founder’s League Championships on Feb. 26, 2022, the team set multiple records.
Sophomore Damian Czartoryjski scored 51.42 in the 100m butterfly and 1:55:72 in the 200 individual medley. Brant also set a new school diving record by over 60 points, scoring 471.45 points on 11 dives.
As the regular season came to a close, the team did not stop working and started preparing for New Englands, which took place in White River Junction, Vt., on March 4-6. The team greatly looked forward to traveling north to compete in the New England Championships against the best schools in the region in their final competition of the season.
The boys team found much success at New Englands, coming in third place with 308 points behind Williston-Northampton and St. George’s. The top finishers for KO were Czartoryjski, who came out in first place in the 200 IM, while also setting a new KO record in this event. He also finished in second place in the 100 free, also achieving a new school record in this event.
Brandt also had an stellar performance at New Englands; he won in the diving event and set not only a school record, but also a New England record.
Finally, Somridhiviej placed fourth in the 50 free and second in the 100 breastroke, for which he set a New England record in the trial rounds.
The girls were also able to show off their skills at New Englands, finishing seventh among 11 teams.
The top finishers were Wildstein, who placed seventh in the 500 free and fifth in the 100 backstroke, and Risinger, who finished 14th in the 200 IM and ninth in the 100 butterfly.
Overall, the KO swimming and diving team had an extremely successful season, working hard and chllenging themselves at all of their meets.
Despite losing valuable seniors and team leaders next year, the team is already looking forward to getting back into the pool next winter.
