[ot-caption title=”Juliette Pozzuoli (11), Jamie Flores (11) and Evin Rothschild (11) after the girls’ team pulled through and won a meet on September 31st. (via Julia Morrissey, freshman)”]

Each morning before school starts, the Pine Crest swim and diving teams are grinding it out in the pool for multiple hours.  With the season nearing the midway point, it’s fair to say we’ve seen concrete validation of this hard work and greatness. From early morning lifts to late nights in the pool, the swimmers dedicate themselves to their sport. As a result, Pine Crest is the home to some of the best swimmers and divers in the state.  About the consistent success, Coach Podkoscielny says, “Our divers are continuing to dominate opponents on both the girls’ and boys’ side. It is not uncommon to see our divers go 1-2-3 against some of the best competition in the state. For our swimmers, we are entering an exciting period as the hard work is paying off.”

The girls’ teams have opened the season strong with only one loss.  Sophomore Daniela Gomez designates much of this early success to the younger swimmers rising up in the ranks.  She explains, “The veteran swimmers really take care of the younger ones by teaching them focus and discipline.” Clearly, the young guns have taken the message to heart, evident in the toughest meet of this early season.  Trailing Boca High late on the road last week, 8th grader Daniela Muñoz clinched the victory for PC, ousting her Bobcat competitor by just two hundredths of a second to give her team a narrow, two-point victory.  An additional swimmer to note on the  team is junior Marta Ciesla. Recently selected to the Junior National Team for the USA, Ciesla is also on route to participate in the World Cup. Last year, she won states in the 100 and 50 Freestyles and looks to further improve her times as her Lady Panthers shoot for glory later this season.

The boys have made positive strides this season as well.  Seniors Ryan Graff and Anton Generalov have lead the charge for the gentlemen’s swimming team and have established an expectation of quality races and high finishes among all team members.  At that same Boca High meet, the Panthers challenged a really tough squad and fell by just six points in the end.  As for the divers, recent Harvard commit Austin Fields and his twin brother Hunter Fields have given a great effort thus far and will challenge in the State Tournament later this year.

While this season has not been without its disappointments, the teams are working very hard to improve themselves as they enter the second part of their season. Pine Crest has historically done very well at Districts and Regionals, a tradition that Coach Podkoscielny hopes to continue, “We will try to get as many swimmers qualified for States and look forward to improve on our team performances from last year. That will be the time for our seniors to show the leadership necessary for team success”.

With so much talent in the water, we can expect an outstanding season from our swimming and diving teams. Go PC!