Area swim teams begin conference push
Fresh off a challenging but hopefully rewarding winter training, area teams are poised to get back in the water to compete.
Now comes the busiest month of the year.
“After the winter break, it’s like a downhill ride,” North Penn coach Jeff Faikish said. “You got two meets a week and all of a sudden it’s like meet, meet, meet…
“Then leagues, districts and states and it’s like ‘holy cow? Where did the season go?’ So (winter training) really turns into an important time. This is where you really get your base underneath of you so that you can taper off of it at the end of the season.”
The Knights, who were in the water by 7 a.m. and out of the building by 11 during their holiday break, churned out some quality practices those mornings. Winter training, Faikish stressed, is “where you develop the strength and mental fortitude and fix techniques.
“It’s not just about the yardage,” he said. “It’s about becoming a better, more rounded athlete. And we are already talking about people who put in a lot of time and effort so we have to amp up ourselves to make sure that it comes to fruition.”
The North Penn boys and girls, both 2-0, begin their Suburban One League Continental Conference title defense this week, traveling to Pennridge Tuesday and then hosting Central Bucks West Friday.
Fast 50’s
Pennridge’s Morgan Scott owns the fastest 50 freestyle time in the state this winter with a 23.21, which she swam at the Cardinal Classic.
Scott won the state title in both the 100 free and 200 free last year.
Also cracking the top 10 in the girls 50 are Upper Dublin’s Abbie Amdor (24.19) and North Penn’s Rosalinda Rivera (24.26).
Hatboro-Horsham’s Andy Thomas is rising up the list on the boys side — Thomas cranked out a 21.46 at the Cardinal Classic, the seventh fastest time in the state this winter.
Also making the top 10 in the boys 50 is Lower Moreland’s Connor Killion (21.48). Killion led Lower Moreland to its third straight District 1-2A title last year.
Cardinals ready to fly
The Upper Dublin boys and girls come out of winter break intent on defending their titles in the SOL American.
Beginning their 2018 push, the Cardinals are at Upper Moreland Tuesday and at home against Plymouth-Whitemarsh Friday.
“January’s gonna be a long month,” girls coach Pat Redican said. “It always is, but we now know what we have to do to try and make some noise at districts and states.”
“We have good freshmen and we have a lot of returners,” Amdor said of this squad. “Overall, I think we’re better than last year which is great because we’re just improving.”
