Council Rock South boys swimming celebrates upset of CR North (PHOTO GALLERY)
NEWTOWN – Spirits ran high in their Newtown natatorium as Council Rock South hosted Council Rock North in their 14th annual border swim war, an event usually dominated by the killer pod of Indian fin fatales.
Though only in his first year of varsity competition, Golden Hawk freshman Josh Belder could not help but get caught up in the swim frenzy.
“It was an extremely important meet. It was the 10th year anniversary since the last time we beat North. We all bleached our hair, which is a tradition. We all went out of our way to ask our friends to come to the meet. That was the biggest turnout this year.”
The Golden Hawks roused their near capacity crowd with a victory in the opening 200-yard medley relay. Greg Roytman, Matt O’Donnell, Nate Olhasso, and Ian Palau torpedoed through the water in a winning time of 1:42.28. Mason Sjostedt followed suit, taking first place in the 200 freestyle event with a 1:52.85 mark.
With his team clinging to a slight lead, Josh prepared himself for the demanding 200 Individual Medley (IM). He followed his usual pre-race prep.
“I have my own routine. A few minutes before my race, I go over to the side, zone everybody out and get my cap and goggles on. Then I go behind the blocks and just look at the pool, focus in my head and do some breathing techniques to relax.”
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Part of the mental focus includes plotting his race strategy. “I think of the IM as each stroke is its own race. You have to transition in between and then you have different strokes so you use different muscles. You go from 50 fly and race all out to 50 back, all out. That is the mentality I use. Because the breaststroke is my best stroke that’s the one I push the most on.”
The strategy worked as Josh captured first place in a time of 2:04.41. Senior Matt O’Donnell kept the Golden Hawk win streak going when he raced to victory in the 50 free.
North’s depth, however, kept the meet close as the Indians took several second and third place points. After the diving event, the two rival teams stood even at 39 points apiece.
Once again, Josh found himself in a crucial spot as he approached the 100-yard butterfly event. “Right after diving, coach (George) Eastburn got us all together and said this meet is going to be close to the very end and we have to fight. He told me, Andrew Ridings and Nathan Olhasso that it was on us. We had to get the momentum back up. We had to get the team back up for the second half of the meet.”
Josh responded to his coach’s plea, taking first in the 100 butterfly with a winning mark of 55.54. “I felt really good after that race. I felt I brought some of the momentum back. That can be a game-changer. I felt we’d be successful after that.”
Josh’s instinctive optimism proved valid as Greg Roytman won the 100 freestyle in 50.05 and Mason Sjostedt recorded a 5:12.74 to capture first in the grueling 500 free.
A victory in the 200 freestyle relay would move the Golden Hawks that much closer to breaking the 10-year losing jinx. Sjostedt, Belder, Andrew Harman and O’Donnell provided just such a spark as they recorded a winning 1:33.20 mark, a success Josh attributes to familiarity.
“Throughout the season, we’ve all gotten really close. That’s really important for relays because you have to have the team chemistry and you have to know each other’s finishes and starts so you can anticipate and get off the blocks at the right time.”
Roytman added another first place, winning the 100 backstroke in 56.72. O’Donnell followed by distancing the field in the 100 breaststroke in 1:03.97.
When the final score was tallied, the Hawks had their revenge, defeating the Indians by a 100-86 margin. Josh relished the post-meet feeling.
“It was great. We all were waiting to thank the seniors for all they’ve done. It was a great atmosphere. Beating North helps set a precedent. We need to beat them for four years and that will set a good tradition.”
On the female side of the ledger, the Indians proved too strong once again as they won 107-74, their 14th consecutive victory over South. Multiple winners for the Lady Indians were Kalli Segel (200 and 500 free), Becca Segel (200 IM and 100 butterfly) and Jacqueline Rounsavill (50 and 100 freetyle). The win assured North a 6-0 record and first place honors in the Suburban One League (SOL) National Division.
With the regular season completed, all the swimmers can now turn their attention to the SOL championships and districts. Josh already has some definitive goals. Most important is to revenge their only league loss of the season, a 95-90 defeat suffered at the hand of Pennsbury.
“We’ll have a period of building up our base to get ready to taper for champs. As a team, we want to beat Pennsbury. I personally would like to break a minute in the breaststroke. I have a 1:00.35 and I’d like to break that.”
Based on the excitement exploding from the Council Rock natatorium on Jan. 29, swim fans should be in for a thrilling ride during the postseason championship meets.
