By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com
Nov. 28: It was a solid start all the way around for the Steinert swim teams today, as they found out a little more about themselves while coasting to victories.
The girls took a 109-56 win over visiting Ewing, while the boys claimed a 127-37 triumph over the Blue Devils.
“We did great for the first time,” boys coach Jen Smith said. “There are a few little things we need to work on; the turns and the starts. Breathing, taking too many breaths. Using the ladder to get out of the pool. We need to nix that.”
The boys got a strong outing from Felipe Bargo, who won the 200 free (1:50.93) 500 free (5:15.42) and was part of the 200 medley relay (1:54.08).
“Felipe did a great job today,” Smith said. “He got his best time in the 200, he’s four seconds away from the record on the board and he’ll be up there by the end of the season. He’s pretty much our distance swimmer. I can put him anywhere, but I know with distance that he’ll be in the top spot every time.”
Bargo couldn’t ask for a better start, saying, “I got a best time in my 200 free so I’m really happy about that. In my 500 I did pretty good. I tried really hard so I got a good time.”
When asked about breaking the 200 record, he said “I’m going to try. I don’t know if I’ll get it this year, but maybe next year.”
Christian Devine was a triple winner in the 200 MR, 100 breast and 200 IM (2:17.80); while Alan Sun won the 100 back (1:06.28) and was on the 200 MR and 400 free relay (4:12.13).
“Christian did an awesome job today as well,” Smith said. “And Alan had a fantastic day. They all did very well today. It’s just trying to find where they fit.”
Gavin Shin won the 100 free (56.64) and was on the 200 free relay (1:41.50), while Dylan McGettigan won the 50 free (24.73) and was on the 200 free relay; and Spencer Oliver was part of the 200 medley and 400 free relays. Kyle Calamia rounded out the 200 free relay and Jordan Hill, Scott Ackerson and Chris Dunfee were on the 400 free relay.
Shin, Oliver, Calamia, Joey Berg, Andrew Norton, McGettigan, Dunfee, Ackerson, Jordan Hill and Christian Limato all chipped in with second- or third-place finishes.
The girls had two quadruple winners in Hannah Devine and Jordyn Cascone. Devine won the 200 IM (2:27.26) and 100 breast (1:20.14) and was part of the 200 medley relay (2:17.89) and 400 free relay. Cascone won the 50 free (30.31) and 100 free (1:07.37) while swimming on the 200 medley and 400 free relays.
Sam Woolf won the 500 free (6:16.19) and was on the 200 MR and 200 free relays (2:13.99), while Courtney Krajcsovics was on the 200 MR and 200 free relays; Andie Bedford was on the 100 back and 400 free relay and Allison Barsoum won the 100 back (1:27.08) and was on the 200 free relay. Gia Costantino rounded out the 200 free relay after honing her craft in Aruba.
“The effort that they gave as a team is great to see as a coach,” Summers said. “We have a strong new class. We lost a lot of seniors last year so we’re gonna see where people fit in the lineup and move things around and see where we can kind of go from here.
“I think it’s gonna be a great season because we can only go up from here. A lot of newcomers are looking for the strokes, and that’s some places where we lost a slot of seniors, was in strokes.”
Barsoum, a senior leader, feels that it could be a nice season.
“I’m looking forward to us getting closer and just working together,” she said. “I think a lot of the girls have a lot of potential.”
Taking seconds and/or thirds for the Spartans were Barsoum, Costantino, Bedford, Alexa Vizzoni, Woolf, Adele Bradley and Melina Andrews. Summers also had praise for the 200 freestyle effort of Marissa “Daughter of Rocco” Shiarappa.
