A short, shrill whistle sounds as the swimmers step up onto the ridged diving blocks. One swimmer balances himself, and then grips the block with all of his strength. A long blast comes again from the whistle, and the swimmer lunges off of the block and into the icy Greenhill pool. The Jesuit JV swim team won their meet against Greenhill with ease on December 2, 2015.
Several of the swimmers emphasized how well the whole team swam, and how the team is really starting to come together as one unit. Junior Abbas Hussain ’17 said, “I was extremely impressed with the team’s performance. In spite of just coming back from Thanksgiving break and the disruption of our normal practice facility being broken, we were able to come together and come out with a victory.” Hussain continued by saying that even though some of the guys were nervous for the meet, “Some of the older, more experienced swimmers talked to them and they were able to perform very well for the meet.”
Junior John Matthews was also very impressed with the team’s performance, praising freshman Colin Feehery ’19 on his breakout swim in the 100 breast stroke. Feehery posted a season high 1:06 in the event, wowing many of the parents, coaches, and swimmers. Matthews went on to say, “It’s very impressive to see how the newer swimmers are really improving their stroke technique and improving their times.”
And it wasn’t just the upperclassmen on the team that were impressed with the team’s performance; freshman Braden Barale commented on how “the team performed very well in the meet” and even though “mistakes were made, our talents showed as we commanded the waters and won the meet.” Barale also thought that Alex Segal ’18 was a standout swimmer in the meet, “posting a best time as well as swimming a great race.”
Lastly, Eamon Stack ’17 thought the team performed “exceptionally well as a whole. It was nice to see that without our upper-tier swimmers we could still pull out a win against a dangerous team. And I think that it’s important to see how we as a team grow at these meets and how we develop at the meets.” Stack mentioned that Abbas Hussain, Colin Feehery, and Alex Segal really stood out in the meet, “dropping best times in their events and winning their races. Winning races provides confidence to the team, and those swimmers really were able to execute well in the meet.”
The swim team looks to build off an exciting victory against Greenhill and use their momentum in the district meet on January 29th.
