As the varsity swim and dive teams continue to make waves in and out of the pool, their hard work continues to pay off with only a few weeks remaining before championship season. Currently, the boys team holds a record of 3-1 while the girls are 2-2.
The boys are led by senior Co-captain Ted Simons and senior Co-captain Leo Zhang. The team is also fueled by the success of senior Damian Czartoryjski, who will continue his collegiate swimming career at Bucknell in the fall. Czartoryjski has set numerous records in his four years while on the team and credits some of his success to the coaching staff at KO. “[Head] Coach [Alex] Kraus pushes all of us in practice every day,” Czartoryjski said, “and he motivates all of us to certainly swim harder each set.”
On the girls side, junior Co-captain Miya Scranton and senior Co-captain Maggie Poulin help propel the team during each meet with their fast strokes and loud cheers.
On Nov. 29, both teams kicked off the year at Hopkins School, a team that often raises hardware during trophy season. Heading into the match, the Wyverns did not know what to expect. Being their first time together as a group since last March, this was truly a warm-up meet. On the boys side, Coach Kraus was understanding of the result because the effort the team put forth definitely fit his standards. The reason for this is that, for a meet so early in the season, it is worth trading the loss for the experience.
Just five days later, both teams faced off against Wilbraham and Monson in a dual meet. This time, both teams won by 10-point margins, the girls winning 50-40, and the boys winning 51-41. Junior Makenzie Gallagher ran away with the 200 IM event, as well as the 100 fly, paving the way for a dominant win. On the boys side, sophomore Daniel Grigorian and junior Eudel Ma placed in key races while Virmani and Czartorjyski failed to lose each time they stepped in the pool.
Over winter break, both teams embarked on a training trip to Florida that was filled with long hours of intense training as well as countless memories. “The Florida trip impacted our team in so many positive ways,” Scranton said. “We were able to practice twice a day and get in a lot of technical work we may not be able to do at home. On top of that, we lived together for a week and got even closer as a team than before.”
The trip proved to be worthy, as the boys came out of the gate after break with a chip on their shoulder, handling Northfield Mount Hermon with a strong team effort. “This meet really challenged us because of how similar our team was to theirs, and so, it really gave everyone that competitive spirit,” Virmani said. “It was amazing because there was no team that was favored to come out on top, and we didn’t know who would battle it out and win.”
Looking ahead, the teams face off against Westminster on Wednesday, Feb. 7, and Ethel Walker on Saturday, Feb. 10.
