In spite of the weather wreaking havoc on their practice and meet schedules, Bromfield swimmers have persevered in their first few contests. The team, bookended by a number of seasoned seniors and an incoming group of stellar freshmen, has shown that it is a force to be reckoned with this year. Bromfield’s record currently stands at 3 and 1. To begin the season, 36 Bromfield swimmers participated in the Mid-Wach Swim Against Hunger, swimming 102,000 yards in one hour and raising more than $1,000 for the Worcester County Food Bank.
In the team’s first meet at Tantasqua, two school records fell. Freshman Kelly Sherman shattered the team’s diving record in her first high school diving meet, winning the diving event with 232 points for six dives. Freshman Eric Hazoury set his sights on the boy’s 200 individual medley record in his first swim of the season and methodically lowered that time to 2:25.04. Senior co-captains Laura Nocka and Ryan Andrews came through with a sectional-qualifying 100 backstroke time and two impressive sprint freestyle races respectively. With contributions from junior Clark Jacobson and senior Alex Teixeira in the 100 butterfly, freshman Clara Wang in the 100 freestyle, and freshmen Tyler Borton and Taylor LeBlanc in the 100 breaststroke, the team dominated the Tantasqua swimmers.
Bromfield’s second contest was a tri-meet against Worcester and perennial power Westborough. Clark Jacobson came away owning the new school record in the 100 butterfly in 1:06.25, while Eric Hazoury swam a 1:08.44 in the 100 backstroke to add yet another record to his list. Diver Kelly Sherman earned herself a trip to both the Sectional and Division I State Championship meets with a strong performance that featured several extremely difficult dives and some tough competition from the Westborough diver. The girl’s medley relay team of Laura Nocka, Elizabeth Smetana, Kelly Sherman, and Clara Wang qualified for the Division I South/Central Sectional Championship meet in 2:08.41. Senior Stephen Branam put in an excellent early season performance in the 100 freestyle with 57.64 and as part of several relay teams. Bromfield ended the day 2 and 1, easily defeating Worcester, and hungry to challenge Westborough once again at the Quad meet on Jan. 30 at Atkinson pool in Sudbury.
Last Friday Bromfield swimmers proved to be too big a challenge for the Leominster High School team, winning all three relays, and with a different swimmer winning seven of the remaining eight events. Kelly Sherman set the school record in the 100 butterfly with a 1:12.02 in her first attempt at this distance while Eric Hazoury continued his assault on the record board with a 5:40.87 in the 500 freestyle event. Freshman Sam Carlson continued to show his newfound versatility in the sport of swimming, this time in the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke. Veteran senior Rita Fagan and freshman Mackenzie Grant anchor the distance freestyle events this year and have posted key points to contribute to Bromfield victories.
Bromfield faces a tough week ahead with state champions Gardner High School and Shrewsbury High School on the docket. The team is especially motivated to challenge Shrewsbury after suffering an excruciatingly close loss to the team last year. Coaches and teammates are looking forward to the full recovery of injured and ill teammates Elizabeth Smetana, Hilah Connelly, and Kaya Phillips, as they take on tough competition in the weeks ahead.
