High School Swim Team Alters Practice Routine To Prepare For Postseason

By Andy Hutchison

Newtown High School’s girls’ swimming and diving team is ready to scale back, yet ramp it up at the same time. The Nighthawks defeated visiting Masuk of Monroe 99-76 in regular season-finale on October 19, and will now turn their attention to preparing for the South-West Conference championships on October 30 and November 3.

It’s time to taper, or trim, the yardage the team members swim in practice, but they’ll intensify their paces in their laps to get into peak competing form in time for the postseason.

“The taper for a lot of these guys is going to be huge,” said NHS Coach Zach Gauvin, adding that his team members’ times and diving scores should have them in contention for a conference title a year after falling to Pomperaug of Southbury in the final event, the 400 freestyle relay. He recognizes that it certainly won’t be easy. “We’ll see. Every year is different. Hopefully everyone can stay healthy, we can keep working hard, and do everything that we need to do.

“Once we drop the mileage and let ’em rest a little bit, focus on the sprinting, then they’re well-rested and they’re ready to go,” the coach added.

Gauvin has to tinker with his lineup to figure out how to best match up with not just one but several conference schools. In the regular season, the Hawks lost only to Weston and Brookfield by four points, in a pair of down-to-the wire finishes, and Lauralton Hall of Milford by 14 points.

“I think we’ve got a chance — that’s all I can really hope for. Hopefully they can put something together and swim even faster come SWC time,” Gauvin said.

The Nighthawk coach said after the win over Masuk, which left his team with an 8-3 record heading into the second season of sorts, that he is pleased with the time improvements he’s seen toward the end of the campaign.

“The past couple of meets we’ve been getting progressively faster. Tonight it was great because it was Senior Night and we had a couple of seniors who were on the cusp of qualifying all year, and they finally did tonight and it’s a great way for them to go out so they can swim at our conference championship meet,” Gauvin said.

Final year high schoolers Clare Mauer and Morgan Winters joined a long list of qualifiers who will compete among the best in the SWC in the swimming finale, at Masuk High on November 3. The diving competition is scheduled to be held October 30 at New Fairfield.

Gauvin said the swimmers have worked hard all year to a point they are tired in meets, and pushing it. They’ve been getting season-best times despite having been working hard — the team has been swimming more yardage than in recent past years, he said — day in and day out. “When they’re tapered and rested then you can really see what they can do.”

“Everyone’s been training very hard so we know we can do it,” senior captain Zoe Eggleston said.

Sophomore Megan McDonald is anxiously anticipating the postseason. “I’m pretty excited. It’s a lot of fun to be with the team and going to other pools, swimming our fastest, and enjoying ourselves,” McDonald said.

Jen O’Neil joined Gauvin and diving coach Ryan Cutler on a staff of all Southern Connecticut State University alums this fall, and brings an element that the Hawks hope can help push them to the top. O’Neil earned a degree in exercise science and double minored in nutrition and wellness, and has encouraged team members to eat well. She’s suggested they avoid sodas and artificial fruit beverages, and drink water and power drinks, and to choose healthier snacks, such as trail mix over Doritos. She also suggested they get protein into their systems to replenish what has been lost after swimming.

“Protein after practice is important. You’re rebuilding your muscles after breaking them down for two hours,” O’Neil said. “The better you eat, the better you’re going to recover and perform.”

O’Neil, who was an All American swimmer at SCSU, said most of the team members are adhering to healthy diets. “I think the ones that are following it are definitely achieving much more,” she said.

Gauvin is hopeful that O’Neil’s tips and his increasing yardage in practices this fall will pay dividends in the conference and state championship meets.

“Even if it gives us that extra little one percent, I’ll take the one percent because swimming comes down to a hundredth of a second, so that one percent can be big,” he said.