By Owen Kurtiak
“At the end of the season our ultimate goal is to win a state championship again,” said Tessa Oakes (‘16)
The Oyster River High School Swimming and Diving team is coming off three straight state titles on the girls side and two straight state titles on the boys team. The team doesn’t plan on having their success stop there.
With the state championship in February there isn’t a big preseason compared to the sports in the fall. Coach Bill Reeves, who is also a Math teacher at ORHS has this season being another successful one. “Were going to work as hard as we possibly can throughout the season and go through our meets for preparation for the championship meet at the end of the season.”
“I think kids just need to show up ready to work hard on the first day of practice, and every other day. This team really hasn’t lost much talent since last year, so if anything we have only gotten better,” said Brian Stevens (‘16).
“We have a lot more divers than we’ve had in the past which I think will be a huge help for us,” said Tessa Oakes (‘16). With having more divers on the team this year it will greatly increase the number of points they can score at the meets. “In the past we have had few male divers, but this year there are five,” said Alex Symanski (‘17)
The state meet last year was one to remember with multiple records that were set, both for the school and the state. The girls team lead the way by winning every relay there was and setting a state record in the 200m medley with a time of 1:51:89. “Relays are very important because they are double the points,” said Audrey Duvall (‘17). Duvall, who was part of the girls relay, had a very impressive state meet when she set a school record in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:09:49 seconds. Matt Jones tied his own school record in the 100m fly. The two teams won by a landslide. The girls had a total of 271 points and the boys with a total of 242.
“The team to watch out for this year is Hanover, they always have very strong swimmers,” said Oakes. The bobcats manage to get so many points by not going for the first place spot in a lot of the races. “We consistently place in the second or third spots and that leads to us accumulating the points,” said Oakes.
The swim team is sometimes overlooked by people because it isn’t the most action packed sport, and the school doesn’t have a pool so it’s hard for fans to come watch. “It’s a long and boring sport to watch. All you do is watch a person swim back and forth. Also, no one really gets how it’s scored,” says Sydnee Aubin (‘17) a key member of the team.