The girls’ and boys’ varsity swimming and diving teams enter the season with hope and belief in an excellent season ahead. The girls’ team has gained a new Head Coach, Matthew Kalinowski, who is excited to get the season underway and is quite optimistic about the improvements the girls’ team can make throughout the long swim season.
On Wednesday, December 3, both the boys and girls swimming and diving teams travelled to New Haven to face Hopkins School and Williams School in dual meets. The boys team defeated Williams but lost to Hopkins while the girls suffered two tough defeats to both Williams and Hopkins.
The girls had 11 swimmers last year, but that number has increased to 14 this year, and Coach K. thinks this depth will help them find success. “Because in most events, if you place second and third, you get more points than if you place just first and fourth,” Coach K. explained. “I do think that depth adds a positive layer to the team rather than just having a couple of really strong swimmers.”
Additionally, Coach K. is optimistic about the team dynamic and the energy the senior captains bring to every practice. “I think we have good leadership and really positive and really driven senior captains,” said Coach K. He also spoke about how the increase in swimmers for the girls leads to positive morale. Girls senior captain Ava Bonsingnore is a leader in and out of the pool for the squad.
Depth is significant for swimming, and it can often win swim meets throughout the course of a season, something Coach K. is very excited about. “You know, a couple really strong swimmers and less,” Coach K, “I’d rather have more swimmers at a more intermediate level…which I feel like has a lot of room for growth, so I’m optimistic.”
Senior boys swimming and diving Captain Samit Virmani is also high on the team’s morale at the start of the season, “Both the girls and the guys team, both have a great dynamic,” Virmani said. “Everyone is really supportive of each other, especially at swim meets. We’re always cheering. You know, there’s never a sour moment.”
Both Coach K. and Virmani think that creating that positive environment plays into both the girls’ and boys’ teams’ most significant strengths, and it seems these swim teams are more connected this year than in previous years. They also mentioned that the depth of the two teams will help carry them far this year. The strongest event for the girls’ team is their relay events, where their depth shines. As for the boys, the most difficult events, like the 200 Individual Medley and the 500 Freestyle, are their strengths.
However, despite new swimmers coming in ready to fill roles left by the seniors, the boys are lacking depth in certain events: the 50 and 100 Freestyle. Coach K. stated that the girls’ team has very few swimmers able to swim the 100 butterfly.
For the boys, Virmani hopes they can maintain the same level of success as last year, with top-four finishes at both the Founder’s League and the New England Championships, while the girls’ swimming and diving team will strive to improve their results following a challenging 2024-25 campaign.
Catch both the boys and girls swimming and diving teams in action on December 6 when they take on Wilbraham and Monson up in Massachusetts.
