NHS Swimmers And Divers Look To Make A Postseason Splash

By Andy Hutchison

Newtown High School’s boys’ swimming and diving team has had a nearly perfect season — the only setback was to South-West Conference powerhouse Pomperaug. This week, the swimmers and divers begin their “second season” — the postseason — with the SWC Championships followed by Class LL State Championship competition.

In head swimming coach Matt Childs’ eyes, the team lived up to expectations during the regular campaign. “Now we really need to swim well in SWCs and states to cap off the year,” Childs said. “And they’re focused and ready to do it. I’m really looking forward to the end of the year.”

The SWC diving competition was held on February 27 (at Pomperaug) after this section of The Bee went to press, and the swim competition is Friday night (at Masuk High School).

The swim team has entered the maximum four swimmers for each event, Childs said, and several impressive swimmers had good enough times to qualify and had to be left off the SWC Championship roster. It may seem unfair, but those with the best times will represent the school and Childs thinks it is a fair system.

“The nice thing about swimming is that the times really determine who’s there,” Childs said.

Although it is the boys’ swim season, there are several girls who will be competing in this week’s events because of other sports commitments during the fall girls’ swim season.

Divers who qualified for the SWC meet were seniors Marissa Bobkowski, Allison Jagoe, and Ryan Hudock, along with freshman Maggie Korth. Bobkowski and Jagoe have been on the team since they were sophomores. Hudock joined in his senior year and Korth, as a freshman, of course is also a first-year high school diver.

“She’s only been diving for three months,” diving coach Cindy Freedman points out.

“I came from having never dived before. It was really a new experience for me and I love it,” said Korth, who plays field hockey in the fall.

“It’s been a really exciting year. Being new to the sport, it’s a lot of fun,” said Hudock, who also qualified for next week’s state competition. “It’s a good experience. I never thought the first day that I was going to states.”

“It feels great to go to SWCs,” Bobkowski added. “I just want to be relaxed and have fun.”

Bobkowski, who runs cross country in the fall, says being a part of the boys’ swimming and diving team is enjoyable. “They’re more competitive.”

Hudock is an example of this, Freedman says.

“Ryan really motivates them to try the harder dives — just because he’s fearless,” Freedman explained.

All of the divers have impressed Freedman this winter.

“They know when to be serious and when to have fun,” she said. “They’re all coachable and they all try.”

At the other end of the pool, swimmers who qualified in the various events are: seniors Anthony Fiore, Chris Fragoso, Kevin Herring, Wes Hood, Allen Hubbard, James O’Connor, and Stefan Toi; juniors Tony Fragoso, Chris Parker, and Patrick Stein; sophomores Luke Fiore, Matt Iassogna, Alex Kron, Andrew LaMarche, and Kyle O’Connor; and freshmen Conor Donnelly, Mike Hubbard, and Abben Hung.

Several swimmers should compete for top-three or four finishes and the relay teams will challenge for top-two or three results, Childs believes.

Childs said Anthony Fiore and Alex Kron each have a good chance of winning in the 100 yard backstroke, and Toi should compete for the 100 butterfly title, which he won as a sophomore. Toi will also compete in 200 IM and in the 400 free and 200 medley relays.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Toi said. “I think I have a good chance of placing pretty much in all of my events.”

“As a team I think we definitely are looking really good,” said Anthony Fiore, who will race in the 200 IM and 200 medley and 400 free relays, in addition to the 100 backstroke.

As a team, Newtown is shooting for a second-place finish, Childs said. Pomperaug should be the repeat champion, the coach added. Last year, the Nighthawks placed third behind runner-up Brookfield. Both Brookfield and Barlow were competitive in regular-season meets with the Hawks this year and could threaten Newtown’s bid for second.

“They’re going to push us,” Childs said.

Regardless of how the postseason meets go for Newtown, the overall strong season will be one to remember for this group.

“We had a great season,” said Chris Fragoso, who will compete in the 200 freestyle and 100 fly on Friday. “We’d like [the SWC results] to reflect the success we’ve had in meets.”

Part of the success stems from the growth of the program. This senior class began as freshmen on a team of just 20 swimmers. The numbers have nearly doubled in four years. This year, there are 39 swimmers and Childs and the seniors are thrilled with the increasing interest in swimming.

“It’s been a great senior year,” Fragoso said.