Strath Haven’s Reswebers deliver in familiar style

RIDLEY TWP. >> Frances Resweber isn’t the only one feeling a little déjà vu these days. Soon, the rest of the Central League boys swimming coaches will, too.

There’s a new Resweber on the scene, Strath Haven freshman Will Resweber. And if Wednesday’s meet against Ridley is any indication, the fourth of the swimming Reswebers will flow seamlessly into the high expectations set by the storied lineage.

Will Resweber won the 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle, helping Strath Haven claim a 112-88 Central League win over Ridley, while Frances did her usual 200/500 free double to help the girls to a 105-79 triumph.

The Resweber family knows the drill by know. Drew, a junior at the Air Force Academy, and Clay both preceded Will through Dina Dormer’s boys team. Frances, a two-time All-Delco and the county record holder in the 200 free, will join Clay, a sophomore, at Davidson College next fall.

So the path that Will is following has been traveled before. That eases some of the pressure on his quest to be an impact freshman.

“I’ve been watching the meets from the stands for a while now, and now that I get to swim in them, I’m really excited,” Will said.

The roles have been reversed for Frances, right down to Drew and Clay’s old SUV that she’s now entrusted with to ferry the Resweber clan to and from practices. She was a freshman when Drew was a senior leader on the Panthers. Three years later, she’s the big sister — literally, for Will, and symbolically to many of the 106 members of the Panthers’ gargantuan squad — and senior in charge.

While she and Will may still have their sibling squabbles (it’s what you get with the youngest of four), she’s also a valuable guiding hand, which includes getting Will more used to the middle distance regimen that is the family staple.

“He’s just become so much more mature in the last two years,” Frances said. “I think he’s learned how to pace himself in things, which is going to be valuable. The swimming aspect, I think he’s just gotten so much more mature in the way he races. I think it’s all starting to come together, the pieces are starting to click which is really vital for this team right now.”

Will showed some veteran savvy Wednesday at key moments. He won the 200 free in a District One auto cut time of 1:50.11, part of a 1-2 with Sean Adams.

Ridley made up ground in diving thanks to Gene Gibbons’ score of 246.70 that earned the win, teammate Peter Williams in second.

Camille Jablonski (lane 3) beats Kiera Wadsworth (4) by .02 in the 50 https://t.co/2q8pdvsbEJ

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) December 16, 2015

Resweber recognized the need for a statement coming out of the break and responded by winning the 100 fly in 58.22 seconds, leading a 1-2 with Colin Brennan to stretch a two-point lead to eight.

“Me and my buddy Colin, I told him, ‘we need to 1-2 this. We need to get some extra points and get some cushioning for us to get the win,’” Will said.

Adams followed by winning the 100 free then joined Will and the Yanceys — 100 breaststroke winner Oliver and 50 free champ Wesley — to claim the 200 free relay.

Ridley scored a win with Chad Wadsworth in the 500 to briefly cut the margin to six points, but even Donnie Taziole’s second win (in the 100 backstroke to augment the 200 individual medley title) couldn’t close the gap.

Frances did plenty to make sure the girls prevailed in a less contested decision. She won the 200 free in a Districts auto cut of 1:57.66, sandwiched between a Ridley medley relay victory and Gab Rudy’s come-from-behind win over Summer Martin in a back-and-forth 200 IM.

The Haven win streak stretched to six after that, starting with Camille Jablonski capturing the 50 free and Phil-Ann Dixon keying a diving 1-2 with Eleni Pappas. Liz Olszewski took first in the 100 fly straight out of the break in dominant fashion to lead a clean sweep of the top three that set the margin at an insurmountable 22 points, 58-36.

“It’s always a really good feeling, and I think having a win like that brings the team up as a whole,” said Olszewski, a sophomore who notched a districts auto cut at 59.78 seconds. “I think we all felt really motivated after that and just wanted to do better and keep having wins like that.”

Martin won the 100 free, followed by Frances Resweber in the 500 in a time of 5:17.08 that was over eight seconds faster than boys winner Wadsworth.

That cushion withstood late wins by Kiera Wadsworth and Rudy in the 100 back and breast, respectively.

It also gave an extra reason for Frances to reflect and celebrate the beginning of the final chapter of her family’s distinguished high school swimming run.

“My mom always reminds me to be nice to William,” she said. “I feel like we’ve come full circle with me being a senior. … I like to think that I help him along while I’m still teasing him a little bit.”

In nonleague action:

Chichester’s Adrian Reimers won the 200 free in 2 minutes, 14.60 seconds to claim a victory, but that was the only win for the Chi boys in a 98-46 loss to Kennett.

The Blue Demons swept all 11 events contested in the girls meet en route to a 96-28 result.